I am that predictable girl who always scans the menu for some plain and boring (as if) avocado smash on toast. Of course with some poached eggs, some greenery and Persian feta you cannot go wrong. Oh and smoked salmon too is always a good final touch. I have found my top 10 breakfast places in Canberra and put their smashed avocado and toast specialties to the test. Here are my reviews. Hope I don’t offend anyone – I am a tough critic… especially when it comes to soggy toast or hard eggs!! #RAGE

In no particular order…

1. Edgar’s Inn, Ainslie – ‘Mambo Eggs’ Avocado on dark rye with corn, tomato and coriander salsa and poached eggs.

This dish is my go to at Edgar’s café. It is close to home and doesn’t involve trekking half way over Canberra (which isn’t that far hehe) just for a delicious breakfast. I guess the problem with ordering the same thing every time is noticing the inconsistency that a ‘one off’ customer wouldn’t know of.  Unfortunately, this meal DOES come with some inconsistency in plating up and portions. I once had to ask for avocado because the ‘scraping’ on the toast was somewhat offensive. Sometimes is comes with more corn than you could imagine and other times the eggs are too hard. Oh and the ‘dark rye’ has come out a few times not looking too dark at all. But overall a solid meal reasonably priced.

MY VOTE – 3/5

2. Elk and Pea, Braddon – ‘Smashed Avo and Shrooms’ with feta and torn basil on sourdough.

The shrooms are the main star of the dish with the thyme butter, torn basil and feta and it sure it delish. We were a table of 6 on a busy Sunday morning (am I making excuses for them?) but they got a few of our orders mixed up. Mine came without eggs to begin with and my partner got the big breakky when he ordered the veggie breakky. Good thing he wasn’t a vego! BUT don’t let this change your opinion – Elk and Pea is my favourite DINNER destination! You cannot go wrong with the Jerk Chicken, Peas and Q salad and the slow cooked Lamb! Absolute sensation. Shame about the breakfast though…

MY VOTE – 2.5/5

3. Local Press, Kingston Foreshore – Ten Seed A.Baker Sourdough with smashed avocado, lemon and seeds (ten seed? are there seriously 10 seeds out there? hehe)

Local press is an absolute stand out when it comes to breakfast. 9/10 times order the Green breakky plate which comes with quinoa, eggs, avo, feta, yoghurt, kale, almonds and smoked salmon…FEAST (is there anything better?) ! Today I ordered the Ten Seed Sourdough with smashed avocado and seeds. It came in a brown card take away box with a wooden knife and I was in heaven!! For $11 it is an incredibly filling, large and wholesome meal. The toast was perfectly toasted and super thick, not to mention probably the largest pieces of toast I have seen. This photo does no justice. The avocado came in a espresso coffee cup on the side (winning because it didn’t make the toast soggy) and was definitely a generous CUPS worth of avocado mixed with some crunchy seeds for added protein. I also loved the whole DIY factor as I gobbled the ENTIRE thing up! obviously! The little dash of sea salt, squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of pepitas made a huge difference in jazzing it up true Local Press style. Goodness me I love that place! Could NOT fault!

MY VOTE – 5/5

4. Stand by Me, Lyons – ‘Smashed avocado’ corn salsa, goats feta and sprouts on rye toast.

This was so good that I went back a couple of weeks later and ordered the same thing. (sounds like I have a bit of a habit of doing this) The dark rye was unfortunately not as crunchy or toasted the second time and the poached egg seemed to sit in a bit of extra unwanted vinegary water. BUT the first time I went I was utterly impressed. It was a 1pm brunch date with my ladies and I had already had avo smash at home that morning but this didn’t stop me from ordering it again. You can never have too much avocado smash and rye right? The goats cheese was a divine touch and I liked the alfalfa sprouts too.

MY VOTE – 4/5

5. Chatterbox, Belconnen – ‘Smashed Avocado’ and feta on sourdough.

A table of 6 once again and 5 of us ordered the smashed avo. I usually hate ordering the same as other people but in this case I wasn’t going to choose anything else. The sourdough was toasted with butter and had a nice ‘sour’ tang to it. The poached eggs were nice and runny and the fresh basil leaves and feta were a nice touch. The avo wasn’t ON the toast but rather on top of the eggs which I corrected but I guess this was a presentation thing. Overall a wholesome simple meal. The boys agreed however that it wasn’t a ‘mans meal’ and were left hungry.

MY VOTE – 3/5

6. A.Baker, New Acton – ‘Kale feta dukkah poached eggs’ with dark rye and a side of avocado

Maybe it was because it was Valentines Day and I was feeling extra lovie BUT oh my this was an outstanding meal. I even gave my partner a ‘bite’ of my toast (as you can see in the image) and then didn’t shut up for the rest of the day (possibly week) how I clearly loved him MORE than my addiction to avocado on rye! (is that even possible?) The avocado however was an addition to this meal but it was 100% necessary. The toast is my ultimate favourite and the free range local eggs were cooked to perfection. I was utterly impressed with the kale, and locally sourced feta and dukkah. This was a show stopper I could have eaten it twice. NOW before you jump the gun and think “yeah but this isn’t an Avo Smash meal” I totally agree HOWEVER they do have an avocado smash option on the sourdough of your choice and I would have ordered it with eggs, dukkah, feta and kale extras anyway! I don’t really mind what you want to call it – IT WAS OUTSTANDING!!!

MY VOTE – 5/5

7. Espresso 86, Kingston Foreshore – ‘Avocado on Rye Toast‘

ever have those mornings when you are super hungry no matter what and can’t stop thinking about food? Yep well this was one of those mornings. For some reason I was feeling super hungry (bottomless pit) and knew that the only thing that would satisfy me was some crunchy german rye and smashed avocado. I had heard of this little café called 38 Espresso a stone throw from work and my 10.30am munchies lead me right to their door. It was exactly what I needed. The rye baguette (from Melbourne) was only mildly rye but still delicious. Unfortunately the avocado was hard and therefore sliced not smashed. You know when you try to smash the avo and it just weeps and goes almost watery? yeah that! However the pepitas, salt and lemon was a nice touch AND it was $8 which is just unreal.

MY VOTE – 3/5

8. Penny University, Kingston – ‘Avo goats cheese smash’ on dark rye w Quinoa Tabouli and 60 degrees egg

Ever heard of the growing popular 60 degrees egg? The one where the white is just as runny and clear as the yolk? This is not for everyone but for someone who loves a runny egg I quite enjoyed it. This meal is the perfect combination of hearty wholesome carbs (quinoa AND dark rye) and healthy fats and protein (goats cheese, avo and egg) and the chili oil gives it a real nice kick. Good for the hungry folk like ME! I loved this dish and have been back 3 or 4 times to order it again. The consistency each time was pretty spot on although once I just HAD to ask if the avocado was ‘store bought’ tube guauc because it just looked a little too smooth for fresh smashed avocado.

MY VOTE – 4/5

9.  Mocan and Green Grout, New Acton – ‘Savoury Granola and Avocado’ on sourdough.

I was really looking forward to this dish after googling the menu. I love smashed avo and I love granola – but wait… this dish had both! I requested for rye bread as opposed to regular seed sourdough and I also requested the addition of a poached egg. Firstly our meals took forever to come out and when they did my egg was SUPER hard, it wasn’t rye bread AND the avocado was hard and sitting in a 1/4 avocado sliced portion not smashed onto the toast. The ‘granola’ wasn’t crunchy (I was expected more of a nut and seed dukkah style mix) but it had oats and puffed rice and quinoa in it. Literally granola… which didn’t go very well with the hard egg, hard avocado and plain sourdough. Ok sorry that’s a bit rough… but it didn’t put a smile on my dial!

MY VOTE – 2/5

10. The Cupping Room, New Acton – ‘Smashed Avocado and pomegranate on toast’

If you want to try The Cupping Room you better be prepared for a long wait list or queue out the front. However – this is a sign of a good café right? Oh you betcha. The staff were friendly and funky, they had some good tunes playing and we ordered some take away coffees as we waited. Oh and what’s even better is that their menu is an all day menu meaning you could go at 2pm and still order breakfast – one of my favourite things to do.  The toast was toasted to perfection, the avocado was super creamy and well smashed, the pomegranates gave it a nice sweet touch and the poached egg was HUGE and RUNNY!!! Win win! Oh and the coffee was simply divine – we had 2! AND they have the most insane looking smoothies – salted caramel and popcorn anyone?? uhh haa!!!

MY VOTE – 4/5

It was hard to pick between Local Press Café and A.Baker. One of the reason’s Local Press is so good is because they use the most amazing A.Baker sourdough. BUT I did add avocado to the dish at A.Baker and therefore for damn fine simple Avo Smash – my vote goes to Local Press!!!! Convenient or dangerous that it is 200m from work?

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

Number 1 – Local Press >> Website HERE

Number 2 – A.Baker >> Menu and Website HERE

Number 3 – The Cupping Room >> Menu and Website HERE

 

HAPPY BRUNCHING THIS WEEKEND !!

K