I met my friend Charlene before work recently for breakfast at Toast in East Perth. Regular readers and Twitter followers will know how much I love this place. I wish I could eat breakfast there every week!
Charlene was running late that morning, so I amused myself by taking photos of the lake at Claisebrook Cove. After that I grabbed a couple of menus and sat at a table outside, still taking photos as I waited.
A waiter brought over a bottle of water with two bright blue plastic cups. So here is my still life of a Pernod bottle with cups. :)
A couple vacated a nearby table, leaving behind their own still life. :) I love how glassy the lake looks, in the background.
I imagine these tables get pretty busy on sunny weekends. By the time Charlene arrived there was a decent Friday morning breakfast crowd.
Regular readers may have noticed in the comments that Charlene has been calling me a “photo geek”. I guess I am a photo geek! Charlene is a total photo geek herself – even more photo geeky than me – she’s a freelance photographer and is hired for her expert geekery! :D She was very excited to see my new camera and of course had to have a play with it. For a while I thought I’d have to wrestle it off her. :P
We each ordered a pot of tea – Earl Grey (AU$4) for Charlene, English Breakfast (AU$4) for me.
Charlene is a big fan of smoked salmon, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce – she ordered the the eggs Norwegian (AU$16.90), which seems tailor-made for her – I think should really be renamed “eggs Charlene”! The dish consists of two poached eggs served on a toasted English muffin with smoked salmon and hollandaise. Charlene ordered her eggs Norwegian with spinach. She pierced her eggs immediately with her fork and was thrilled by the vividly orange soft yolks within.
The first time I ate at Toast, I ordered the corn fritters and bacon with maple syrup (AU$15.90) – a totally “me” dish! On this, my third visit to Toast, I ordered the same, but this time, with scrambled eggs.
The corn fritters were just as wonderful as I remembered them, freshly fried, full of bursty corn kernels, tasting deliciously golden-brown. The eggs were soft, not too runny – really tasty! I reckon the corn fritters and bacon could use more maple syrup though – maybe next time I will ask for extra syrup on the side. Corn fritters and bacon with maple syrup and scrambled eggs is a fantastic combo – I will order this again for sure.
It was the usual story – my dining companion digging into her food while I photographed mine! When I look at Charlene’s poached egg yolk in this photo I can just imagine how beautifully gooey and soft it was. I loved how bright and orange it was.
On my previous visits to Toast I’ve been tempted to order something from the “On toast” section of the menu: toasted challah with Nutella (AU$6.90), or with banana and cinnamon sugar (AU$7.90)… or toasted sourdough with roasted tomato, feta and basil (AU$10.90), or with tinned sardines (AU$9.90). But I haven’t been able to look past the lure of corn fritters and bacon. And the caramelised banana crepes with bacon. This time, Charlene and I discussed the possibility of ordering Nutella on challah toast, but in the end we resisted the urge – she remembered that there was to be a morning tea at her work that day, and I had to admit I was just being greedy. Perhaps next time I go to breakfast at Toast I will share a starter of Nutella on challah with my dining companion (whoever that shall be :P) before moving onto a big fry-up… or corn fritters, bacon and scrambled eggs. :D Or I need to take the advice of Aurelia, who commented last time:
What you need to have is a game plan. Bring 10 of your most awesomest friends, and then have them each order something different, as well as plates to share. MENU ORDERING WIN!!
We enjoyed breaky very much. I felt a little depressed when it was time to leave and go to work. I could’ve easily sat there for hours and then ordered lunch when I got hungry again! :D This time around, the staff knew who I was, which was weird, though a nice kind of weird. They’d read my previous write-up and when I first arrived they were sure they recognised me – and then when I pulled out my camera and started taking photos they knew it was me for sure. :) I felt kind of bashful at being recognised!
For those of you who think being recognised got me special treatment – when our dishes were served, my scrambled eggs were missing! But the mistake was quickly rectified and the chef himself came out from the kitchen to deliver my breakfast, along with an apology for forgetting the eggs! It was a glitch but handled promptly so I didn’t have a lot of time to get annoyed. It’s pitiful how easily distracted I am by the arrival of bacon! But seriously, I think most reasonable people know that things go wrong at any workplace, including restaurants – and most reasonable people are forgiving when mistakes are dealt with quickly and appropriately. As long as there isn’t a stuff-up every time you go there (or worse, multiple stuff-ups) and they aren’t serious, life-changing mistakes, of course.
I wish I had time to meet friends for breakfast more often. Charlene and I are both so busy we tend to schedule our get-togethers weeks or even months in advance. Which reminds me – I need to lock in another breakfast date with Charlene for October!
Toast remains one of my favourite places for breakfast – read my first review of Toast, East Perth.
See my photos of Claisebrook Cove taken that morning as I waited for Charlene… and later that night after Jac and I had dinner at East Perth (the dinner post is coming up).
Toast
Shop 21 / 60 Royal St
East Perth WA 6004
Telephone: (08) 9221 0771
Open 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week (kitchen closes at 5pm)
Public holidays open 8am to 6pm
They don’t take bookings – just come on in!
See previous breakfasts with Charlene
I'm TFP, a food blogger from Perth, Western Australia.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Breakfast with friends is awesome. You get to plan the rest of your day together over amazing food. And this is amazing food indeed… I’m getting all emotional for some reason. Something to do with the deep posts I’ve been reading just now… but I miss having friends to dine with. Breakfast would be a dream… it’s sort of a hallmark of the closeness of your relationship (being able to meet in the morning with not too much gussying-up).
That corn fritter looks so good! I’m going to make them. A little research and corn fritters will be a part of my life! Are they at all sweet? I’ve made pancakes with cornbread mix before. They were a little too sweet. I guess from scratch would be the way to go.
It looks delicious as usual!! The smoked salmon looks heavenly.
“Perhaps next time I go to breakfast at Toast I will share a starter of Nutella on challah with my dining companion (whoever that shall be :P) ”
*Me!* :-D And I’m paying.
Such a super-lovely spot. I was taken with the pics of surroundings and Toast and its food the 1st time. I envy you!
OMG! My sister Facebooked me and said I was mentioned on your site and I was like, “What crazy juice have you been sipping, lady?”.
But honestly, thanks for reviewing all these places, I only go to them if you’ve reviewed them and given them a thumbs up. =)
I am not a fan of poached eggs, but I love how gooey and brilliant those yolks look. The corn fritters, on the other hand, are so drool-inducing. I wouldn’t even need the maple syrup!
HI
Must try Toast – so many good reviews and great location! Just a teensy thing – Claisebrook Cove isn’t a lake :-)
Yes! I tried the corn fritters bacon and maple syrup with scrambled eggs too and i love it!! sssooo delicious :-) i’m completely in love with toast – i’ve been 4 times within two weeks and two of those times was two consecutive days lol the corn fritters are my favourite.. try the parmesan and potato toast it’s really yummy warm with butter :-)
I’m LOVING the new camera. Your photos always looked great before, but now they’re positively amazing. I feel like I could reach through the screen and grab that plate of eggs Norwegian. Yum! And the corn in the second picture – delicious!
Please keep going back here TFP. I need you to keep reminding me that I haven’t been here yet despite wanting to. Basing all your posts around trying to help organise my life would be much appreciated, thanks.
I love how the perfect orange of the egg yolk is lurking in the background of your last picture!
OMG! Just stumbled upon your site when i goggled Taurus Hawker in Willeton and then i saw this post! I loveeeee Toast too! Such a cool place eh? And I always always order the corn fritters with bacon and scrambled egg without the maple syrup and it’s the best thing in the world! :o)
For Eggs Charlene they’d have to make one small amendment – find out how to work chilli into the eggs, hollandaise, or turkish bread :D When my dad used to bring me fishing in the Malaysian islands, the cook there knew him so well that one morning, she brought out French toast with sliced chilli padi embedded in the bread. It was pretty damn good too.
Yes, October! Please!
Pleased I have breakfasts organised out this weekend!
what a lovely tea service! the ricard jugs are adorable. :)
Wei-Wei,
Not that I’m much of a gussy-up kind of gal, but we were both presentable in our work clothes ready to go straight to our respective offices after breakfast. :)
kathy,
In this dish they have been drizzled with maple syrup so they do taste sweet, but the fritters themselves are probably not sweet – the corn kernels are naturally sweet though. :) I’m not sure if I’ve answered your question! ;)
Jon,
Everyone I know who likes smoked salmon loves the look of it. I’m totally unexcited by it as I don’t like smoked salmon.
Cindy,
I envy the people who live near there and can enjoy regular walks around the water. Or can simply wander over to Toast for a weekend breakfast without needing to jump in the car or on a train to get there.
Aurelia,
Haha. I thought your eating/ordering strategy was great, so I had to refer to it! Unfortunately, I don’t think I have ten friends to go eat with. :)
Dea,
Same – I don’t eat poached eggs very often (always prefer scrambled or fried) but those eggs looked fantastic. I could’ve done with more corn fritters, myself. :D
Hi Mags,
I refer to that general area as Claisebrook Cove and the body of water as the lake. I got the terminology from the East Perth Redevelopment Authority website. :) Hope you do try Toast, it’s well worth a visit.
Karen C,
Although I will be terribly tempted to go for the corn fritters and bacon dish again, I resolve to try a different dish the next time I go to Toast so that I can take a photo of something new! :D
Thanks, The Home Cook. I’ve been really happy with the pictures I’ve taken using the new camera and have been thrilled by all the great feedback from you guys.
Conor, no worries, glad to be of assistance. Just let me know what else you need reminding of. ;)
Megan,
:D I started to take a photo of the table but then thought “Ooh I will take a stealth picture of that egg yolk”. I’m happy with how it turned out.
Jolene,
Oh yes, I love Toast! As I’ve said above to others, I will make every effort to order something new next time I go to Toast, even though I know I will be strongly tempted to have the corn fritters, bacon, maple syrup and scrambled eggs. It is such a perfect combo, isn’t it?
Charlene,
Of course, chilli! French toast with embedded chilli, wow! I reckon it wouldn’t be hard to work chilli into the dish. Maybe someone from Toast will read this and do just that (to Toast: please let us know if you do! ;))
Fiona,
Hope you enjoyed your weekend breakfasts!
bowb,
A lovely tea service is such a big part of the pleasure! I love it.