Friday, January 22, 2010

Estelle....not so much.

So one Sunday, my mother decides we should go out for lunch.

And so...comes half an hour of deciding where we CAN go on a Sunday! I mean, don't get me wrong, there are a million and one places in Melbourne to eat...but on a Sunday...I think everyone is out in the masses, filling up all the best cafes.

Or the ones I like in the city are all closed.

Hmm. A bit of a dilemma.

Then I remember reading in M magazine the week before, the write up on cafes in Northcote, so we decide to head up that way to try something new.

I decide on The Estelle, since they had the biggest write up in M and it's opened by the same people who own/run (I forget which) Lily Blacks, a cafe my ex-co-workers used to frequent and love quite often.




So upon arrival, I thought the place was absolutely charming. It had that kitsch, retro feel to it and the people who worked there fit the energy as well. I thought it was all quite adorable, the men in their ray-ban style glasses, fitted singlets, floor length long white aprons...that's it, it made me think of a cute little diner in the Grease era.

So my mother and I settled ourselves down by the bar, as all the other tables were taken at the time.

And...we settled ourselves down for a while.

And that's where this place started to lose me.

It took a while for the waiter to give us the menus, which were quite cute as they were slipped into old children's picture books.

But of course, once we had made our decision of what to order, it took a while to get their attention to take our order....



Of mushroom ragout and zucchini carpaccio. And y'know what? They even forgot our drink orders completely! (Although i did really like my organic grapefruit juice once I got it...)

So whilst the food was tasty, there was nothing extraordinary about it and I think impatience had gotten to myself and my mom. Although the service was friendly it was quite impersonal which really made quite the difference.

Somewhere I really don't see myself going back.

243 High St
Northcote, 3070


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