The Petty Officer
It’s too hard to decide where to brunch in Melbourne.
It took about a week of brainstorming before Daisy and I could settle on a place for a brunch date. It wasn’t a matter of not liking suggestions – we just had too many ideas. One suggestion was The Petty Officer in Albert Park and we settled on it in the end because I hadn’t visited before and had heard good things about the place.
On the day of our brunch day, Daisy misjudged her timing and arrived ridiculously early. So by the time Alastair and I showed up, she had already nabbed a table, saving us a wait.
Inside, The Petty Officer is very pretty, with its high ceilings and bright airiness. I particularly liked the big bird motif by the counter and the splashes of black to offset all the white.
Foodwise, the breakfast menu is fairly brief. This post is a couple of months old, and at that time the choices were muesli, porridge, banana bread, smashed avocado, baked ricotta, toast with butter and jam, and then four egg based dishes. (Check their website for the most up to date menu – it’s slightly different now.)
Reading other blogs, I know that they used to do corn fritters – it was a bit sad to no longer see them on the menu.
Both Alastair and Daisy ordered the smashed avocado with feta, radish, monet and lemon on grain toast, adding a poached egg ($16.00).
I normally eat something savoury for breakfast, but I didn’t feel like eggs or smashed avocado. So I ordered the three grain porridge with rhubarb, whipped yoghurt and candied orange ($11). The porridge was a surprise – I’m not a big porridge eater – and while still creamy, the grains made it different from the usual stodge.
And of course, Daisy had to finish with a bite of something sweet. She ordered a little carrot cake, which was pretty good: moist with a good balance of spice and sweetness.
Our meals at The Petty Officer were nice, but there’s probably not enough variation on their menu for us to cross town to visit often. Too bad we don’t live closer.
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The Petty Officer
113 Victoria Ave
Albert Park VIC 3206
Phone: 03 9686 3000
Web: thepettyofficer.com.au
January 10, 2014 @ 11:40 pm
What?! No more corn fritters? But that was the only really nice thing there! Booooo… wants corn fritters
February 17, 2014 @ 5:25 pm
I wanted corn fritters 🙁
January 11, 2014 @ 5:12 am
Woah. If that avocado dish really did come with a Monet, then that would be pretty much the best value meal of all time.
February 17, 2014 @ 5:26 pm
:p
January 11, 2014 @ 3:24 pm
I’ve been meaning to go back to The Petty Officer for aaaaaaaages now (I first went back in their opening week and really loved it), that porridge looks delectable enough to finally entice me back!
February 17, 2014 @ 5:29 pm
The porridge was really good – it was a pleasant surprise 🙂
January 13, 2014 @ 10:50 am
I nearly forgot about you being so KIND to meet me for brunch that weekend 😛 Menu was definitely too small but it’ll be a nice local cafe to have around if we lived closer 🙂
February 17, 2014 @ 5:29 pm
I’m a very kind person. :p