The Hardware Societe, Hardware St, Melbourne CBD
July 19, 2015
Of course, for those who knows Melbourne and its home to all of the interesting food and European style laneways, you will not be surprised by the amount of Best Breakfast in town that was listed. Of course, don't forget the Melbourne coffees.. I definitely know that Brissie has topped up their game in the food industry and have presented us with various openings of new creative and unique food culture. Brissie or Sydney or Melbourne, they all have their food culture, in their own uniqueness and dashing way.
Originally wanting to try out a different spot of Melbourne's Best, we thought we would try The Hardware Societe first and if it gets too long to wait (we weren't sure if we should be expecting lines or not..), then we would move and go to the other choice we had. Please note that this post may be outdated since I came around near the end of last year, so the food may have changed or the place too.. Just that I'd just recently found the photos to here and thought I would just post it anyways. Apologies for late reviews which might affect the current or past views of the place.
The Hardware Societe is known to be one of Melbourne's best breakfast, with its Spanish and French influenced dishes. The place wasn't that big nor was it that small, it offered quite a large number of seats both indoors and outdoors but I guess since their turnover isn't as quick as they would liked it to be, and they probably have realised that people are willing to wait, so people would just stand around waiting for their names to get called.
One downside was, we waited and waited for our seats and when it was about nearly 30mins since we arrived, we thought we would just give the other place a go. But, maybe the place had their own thought of mind, our name were called to be seated so there you go.
The place itself, I wouldn't neccessarily call it a cozy place to dine in, with the amount of noise and tight rooms and tables nearly being right next to each other. It just didn't feel, in a sense of having your own private time to dine. However, the staff was quite friendly and it was good to see staff working quickly as soon as diners left and clearing the tables for the next incoming.
As we sat down, we were given the food and drinks menu as well as being informed of the specials of the day. At first when I first looked at the menu, it seemed that their choices consisted of traditional breakfast dishes. After some consideration, we decided to order one of the specials of the day and ordered a dish off the menu.
I decided to try one of their unique teas, Tea by the Pot ($5 for one, $6 for two) in which a few choices were offered including, French Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Liquorice & Peppermint with Fennel and Green Tea. Okay, at first I usually don't like trying out weird or unique types of teas because I love my teas and I usually prefer the classics but for some reason at the time, I just felt like trying something different. So, I ordered the Liquorice & Peppermint & Fennel tea.. Seriously, I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into but if it's in the menu, then people would've ordered it and liked it right? Well, I thought I'll just give it a shot but I just hope it won't kill my tastebuds that's all as I am definitely not a fan of Liquorice.
First sip.. tasted the peppermint and not much of the liquorice and fennel. I was glad because I thought that the liquorice's strength would overpower the peppermint. However, as soon as the tea was in my mouth before swallowing it, the strong liquorice taste appeared. After a few more sips after that, it just felt like minty liquorice and no, it wasn't nice or soothing. No, I did not finish the tea and opted for water throughout the rest of the meal instead. Did I regret it? Ye, I think I did, but at least I tried something I haven't before. Would I order it again? Probably not, I'll stick to my classics and elegance. I do have to mention though, I did quite like the fact that the teapot had the knitted cosy over it but what I always wonder about these is that it makes me wonder of the cleanliness of the teapot and how many dust or germs may be in that knitted cosy.
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| Coffee by Padre, As you like ($3.8) - Flat White |
I wasn't sure of what to expect for the Specials of the day in which I ordered the Fried Brioche, dulce de leche bavarois, poached pears, cookie crumble ($18 I think..) and when it came, it looked delicious but just lonely. Presented in a big round white plate, a big slice of brioche topped with half of a poached pear and cookie crumble on top and some scattered on the plate as well. The presentation dissapointed me, it just felt so lonely. As for the taste, the poached pear was poached nicely, the cookie crumble was just a nice extra touch to the dish giving it that textural crunchiness and fun within. The dulce de leche was delicate and sweet but wasn't overly too sweet and the brioche was fried well although it lacked flavour within it. It was a well combined dish but it wasn't breath taking.
Scrambled Eggs Un ($18) with hot smoked salmon, pickled green tomato and avocado puree. It was presented beautifully on a long wooden board with a small pan filled with scrambled eggs with chives and a thick toast next to it that had the avocado puree, pickled green tomato and hot smoked salmon.
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