Rustica Canteen (Melbourne Central)

Smashed avo, miso tahini, feta, salad. Very basic but also very good. The whole thing came together really nicely, and there were pickled ginger slices that gave the dish some heat which was interesting. Gotta give it to the sourdough which had a delightfully crunchy crust + fluffy insides. Might be one of the best sourdoughs I’ve tasted!

This is apparently one of the cafe's most popular items, so I ordered it because I was craving something sweet after the long flight even though I had my reservations with "wholemeal" waffles.
Well, the wholemeal waffles were as good as I thought it would be (meaning not very exciting because I would very much prefer buttermilk) and the pears though tender, did not have much of a chai taste (which sadly I was looking forward to). The other components of the dish though were lovely, especially the puffed quinoa which made the whole thing much more exciting to eat.
On hindsight, I would have chosen their gorgeous pastries on display to satisfy my sweets craving (e.g. their famous croissants), but well at least I got to try their signatures from the brunch menu!

I love that Melbourne is full of cafes tucked away in hidden alleys, it makes them feel like secret hideouts. Rustica Canteen is one of them (albeit not so secret for it was bustling with people!) though the smell of bacon permeating the air even before walking into the lane was a dead giveaway.

This dish came greatly recommended by my brother, who said it was one of his favourite chili scrambled eggs in the city. Unfortunately, I can't say I enjoyed it as much as he did because I found it all too salty (might be a perfect hangover meal though, but no I can't/won't imagine my precious baby brother touching alcohol ever). I did like the texture of the scrambled eggs, which were sufficiently fluffy but the most amazing thing on the plate was definitely the bread. They came in the form of sliced pumpkin seeded sourdough toasts, with a beautiful orange hue and good crunch from the seeds. It is of no surprise to me then, when I learnt that the bread was from the well known Rustica Sourdough Bakery.
It was sooo good, I immediately thought of packing it back for my work friends who love bread as much as I do, only to realise I'm 77625 miles away :'(