Toast, East Perth 2
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
