Bending the dining rules at Hawthorn cafe
Start the day with a porterhouse steak sandwich or green eggs and ham at this Hawthorn eatery where all-day breakfast and lunch is the way to go.
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What do we really want when we go out for breakfast? Home cooking or dishes we would never try at home? A bit of both, I suspect. Which makes Shanklin an attractive prospect.
This smartly attired cafe in Hawthorn East works both sides of the street, waking up sleepyheads with quirky top-of-the-morning treats as well as standard issue brekky fare.
Shanklin’s “all-day breakfast and lunch’’ menu is also an invitation to bend the rules. So, if you feel like a Peri Peri chicken salad with your first coffee of the day, or a Bircher muesli with your last one, here’s where you can do it.
FOOD
Funny name, Shanklin. It’s a take on shanklish, a cheese popular in Lebanon made from sheep or cow’s milk. Here it’s folded wonderfully into the house special: a humungous scramble of canary yellow egg with cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs on thick, toasty slices of Oasis bread ($20). Shanklish reminds me of feta but it’s drier and way more savoury.
Chef Jimmy Wong keeps things Middle Eastern with baked eggs shakshuka ($20). Two poached eggs — well done — are lodged deep in a heavy black skillet, all but submerged in a bubbling brew of red pepper, tomato and chorizo. Our hot-to-touch serve was scattered with snow white goat’s cheese and freshly torn herbs. A triumph.
But it’s not all eggs. Shanklin’s handsome sweet corn fritters are kissed with guacamole salsa and a lick of yoghurt ($18), while the breakfast burrito ($18), dense with chilli beans, corn and mozzarella cheese, will have you tipping your sombrero.
Then, there are the big dishes you can have anytime. Who says you can’t start the day with a porterhouse steak sandwich ($19.50) or a wellness-inducing quinoa salad ($19)?
Bizarre-sounding Nutella stuffed pancakes ($19) — bulging with strawberries, grilled banana and Oreo crumble — keep things sweet.
I’ll be back for Shanklin’s impeccable green eggs ($19). What a sturdy stack — rose pink slices of Christmas ham crowned with chunky avocado, then drizzled with house-made pesto. The googies? Soft as ordered.
DRINK
A spanking new Synesso espresso machine has pride of place and the baristas draw full bean flavour from their single origin blends. It can be a taste of Panama one morning, Kenya the next. Non-coffee drinkers are well served by juices, milkshakes and herbal teas.
SERVICE
Genuinely warm and welcoming, the floor staff at Shanklin put us at ease straight away. Bottles of water on our table in a flash.
X FACTOR
It’s housed in a 19th century building, with Victorian-era lace, but Shanklin is as mod as they come. Indoor-outdoor spaces are united by exposed brick and polished concrete, while metallic tiles and pale timber rub up against each other at the rear.
BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
Generous servings. Nothing over $22.
VERDICT
Locals have fallen for Shanklin — the place was packed on a Friday morning — so if you’re going to join the throng, arrive early.
SHANKLIN CAFE
500 Tooronga Rd, Hawthorn East
9882 7549
FOOD
Coffee house for breakfast and lunch
HOURS
Weekdays 6am-4.30pm, weekends 7am-5.30pm
CHEF
Jimmy Wong
BOOKINGS
No
TIME BETWEEN ORDERING AND EATING
Six minutes
PERFECT FOR
Eggs every which way
DESTINATION DISH
Baked eggs shakshuka
NOISE LEVEL
Bustling
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