I'm a kid of the nineties.
I liked Pokemon.
I still buy every new game that comes out.
So when 'Slowpoke' Espresso opened up, the name gave me giggles and stirred up the primary school girl in me. For those not so in the nerdy loop as I, 'Slowpoke' was the name of a Pokemon. That was pink.
Source: http://knowyourmeme.com/system/icons/128/original/slowpoke_pokemon.gif
Fortunately Slowpoke Espresso does not take it's cues from Pokemon (although quietly, I would totally be down for a pink cafe...) and instead, is a very, very small but quite adorable little cafe on the Gertrude end of Brunswick Street.
With a little bit of a DIY vibe with a patchwork wall of random strips of wood, although a small space, Slowpoke Espresso still felt quite open and somewhat spacious. Once you were seated at least anyway! I suppose it also helps the lovely, large windows let in lots of light in to the space.
We were seated on the communal table, which was quite low, Brad had a tad issue with squeezing his long legs underneath, but there is also some bench slash counter space by the window, or a few cosy tables for 3 or 4.
I also really enjoyed the fresh flowers that were around the place, added a very fresh and lively feel.
Slowpoke keeps it fairly simple, clean and friendly, aiming to use organic, local and sustainable produce wherever possible on the menu. This is reflected in a menu that is scrawled on a blackboard and is kept quite short and concise. No big breakfast here, but there was a lamb shank stew or something of the sort that was quite tempting as well!
Brad's latte and my chai. Although it took a little bit of time to get our drinks to us, as they did have quite a number of people coming in for takeaway coffees and sweets, it was definitely worth the wait. I was quite impressed with the chai latte, proclaiming it to be one of the better ones I have had in Melbourne. It really had a lovely tea flavour to it, was not too sweet, with of course the hint of spices typical in chai too.
I can't remember exactly what was in Brad's sandwich, but I think it was smashed eggs with jamon, parsley and chilli jam.
A little messy, but a lot of delicious. Creamy eggs, offset beautifully by the salty jamon, and with just a little heat. The bread was pretty darned nice as well, toasted to perfection!
I went with the avocado and fetta mash on toast, with herbs and chilli flakes. Whilst I was slightly lamenting the fact that there were no mushrooms on this, I did really really like this. The avocado and fetta were quite nice, but what really caught my attention was the chilli flakes. It's certainly a combination I've never come across before, but I thought it worked really well. The chilli cut through the richness of the avocado and fetta.
Other than the tasty, punchy flavours and interesting combinations, what I also liked about Slowpoke was the portion sizing. It's far more realistic to probably what we should be eating. So although they look a little smaller than you would expect for breakfast, you still leave feeling satiated. Although after a stroll around Brunswick street, you may find yourself in Little Creatures Dining Hall with cider in hand and chips in the other....
157 Brunswick Street,
Fitzroy, 3065
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