STREAT

A couple of weekends ago, Brad and I, along with a couple of other friends participated in the Color Run (spelt the American way since that is where it originated from). This essentially consisted of a 5km run, where at every kilometre, volunteers threw a different colour of powdered paint on runners, so by the end of the run, each runner was a wonderful rainbow of colours! 

Although it was an early start, and it was a cold day, Brad and I still had a lot of fun and I don't think I've ever run such an energised 5km's. When I saw the yellow zone, you should've seen me go, got the crowd running around me all riled up for yellow!

After the run, we were naturally starving, and me being me, had already scoped out breakfast options nearby for after the run. So we ended up at STREAT on Racecourse Road.

STREAT now occupies the space that used to be the Social Roasting Company, and therefore not taking it far from the original mission of the Social Roasting Company, which I think is fantastic. 

STREAT provides training and work experience in the hospitality industry for underprivileged youth, and it's been doing great work for a while already, with several little coffee stalls up around the city, but it's nice to see a brick and mortar space to call their own as well.

We were warmly greeted and seated on the communal table, I was sort of surprised that there weren't more runners from the Color Run there! It looked like STREAT had come in and only made a few subtle changes to the interior, they've kept the blackboard wall of menus, cleaned up, changed a couple of pictures, but kept the same laid back vibe.  Even the menu has kept a lot of the original items that were there previously such as the 'Hunter' and the 'Gatherer' big breakkies. 

Excuse the weird red lighting on everything, there was a traffic light in the corner next to my seat which made everything a little bit psychedelic...baby...

Coffees and chais were lovely, with smooth and velvety milk. Although after an early start and a run, we were all starving so the warm drinks were certainly quite welcome!

Food did take a little while to come out, and since we were all a bunch of hungry runners, it was a bit more noticeable than usual. I think we might have been waiting for around half an hour. 

But when the food did come out, it was just lovely. Fresh produce, piping hot, great flavours. 

Brad got the 'Gatherer', which is essentially the vegetarian big breakfast, with eggs, spinach, tomato, eggs, pesto and some pretty excellent looking hash browns. Slight let down though? Overcooked yolks. We're in Melbourne, brunch is serious business, and business means melty runny egg yolks. 

I got the baked eggs, with hash brown, cherry tomatoes, olives, Spanish onions, basil and feta, which I had ordered last time and they were still totally delicious. Loaded with cheese and hot juicy cherry tomatoes, the baked eggs were savoury and moreish with a great mix of flavours. I particularly enjoyed the addition of olives which gave the dish a bit more bite and a contrast. Just so warming. 

So although food took a little while, one has to keep in mind, it might still be a learning kitchen out back and the occasional slip up can happen. I do hope when I visit again (for I am sure I will return), the wait for food won't be so long next time!

STREAT

307 Racecourse Road

Flemington 3031

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Social Roasting Company

Brad has his uses.

Like taking me to the airport on a Sunday morning at some ungodly hour to the airport. While hungover. And also insisting I pick a cafe on the way for breakfast.

Nawwwww.

So after doing a little research, I settled on the Social Roasting Company on Racecourse Rd, after reading raving reviews of their baked eggs, which I tend to be quite a fan of. The Social Roasting Company also prides itself on being socially and ethically responsibility, taking care of not just the coffee, but the people who make it too!

Even at 8am in the morning, the little cafe was quite busy already. I loved the wall-sized blackboard with the menu scrawled all over it. It had a cute DIY, grown up classroom kind of feel, with the old school chairs and tables and a patchwork styled counter.

Brad's coffee looked beautiful, my chai was okay.

I decided to order the dukkah poached eggs with wilted spinach, hashbrowns and beetroot relish on toasted sourdough. Although when I went to order, I think I must have just asked to have 'the poached eggs'....which was also an item a few spots down the menu. So when my dish arrived, I just had poached eggs without the trimmings. Oops.

Fortunately the staff, a little begrudgingly, said it'd just take a minute to add everything and promptly took my plate back and returned it in full glory. I always love a bit of dukkah and the beetroot relish was quite subtle, but nice and sweet. The eggs were cooked well, although the hashbrowns weren't amazing. Overall, a fairly clean and straight forward dish which I quite enjoyed, since I had a long day ahead of me yet...

Brad went with the infamous baked eggs, with hash brown, cherry tomatoes, olives, spinach, pecorino and basil. And some bread on the side. These baked eggs reminded me a little more of how my mum does them, not so saucy and a bit drier. The cheese was beautiful, lightly shaved on top and I really enjoyed the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes and the saltiness of the olives to give some flavour. It was an atypical combination, and it worked well.

However I couldn't declare these the best baked eggs, but they were definitely very good, and certainly different to your norm, which I totally appreciate.

So whilst the staff were a little sleepy on a Sunday morning, it was a fairly nice and quiet breakfast. Considering my pickings in my neighbourhood are quite generous and also very good, I may not take the venture out this way too soon. However, if you aren't far and want a decent fill, I would be happy to suggest you try it out too!

Social Roasting Company

307 Racecourse Rd

Flemington, 3031

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