Pascoe Vale’s Forty Flips Cafe bends towards the Middle East and keeps the locals happy
FORTY Flips Cafe equals happiness for locals in Pascoe Vale but its generous vegan friendly brunch fare, which bends towards the Middle East, is winning fans from further afield.
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BEFORE you ask, no, Forty Flips has nothing to do with aerobics or circuses. The name comes from an old Turkish saying to do with feeling joyous, as in, “I’m so happy, I could do 40 flips.”
Huss and Hural Avci have every reason to do some flipping themselves because their six-month-old cafe in deepest Pascoe Vale is humming.
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Even on a Monday morning, when we call in, tradies are wolfing down egg and bacon rolls, while chatty retirees linger over their lattes and children fumble with ham-and-cheese toasties. Yep, Forty Flips looks to be on a roll.
FOOD
“Delicious eats” are promised here. And they deliver.
The mushroom ragout ($20.50, pictured) is generous in every way, from two perfectly poached eggs squatting on slabs of sourdough to slow-cooked portobello mushrooms drizzled with hollandaise and showered with parmesan.
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It's the sort of dish you dream of encountering at a cafe breakfast, and rarely do.
With Huss and Hural hailing from Cyprus, the Forty Flips kitchen bends towards the Middle East. Hence the inclusion of harissa feta in the smashed avo ($19.50), a side of grilled haloumi ($4) with your free-range eggs, and dukkah pepita crumble in the Brekkie Burger ($15).
There are also scrambled egg and spinach leaves between those soft buns, but it’s the addition of sucuk (Turkish sausage) that gives this burger bite.
For a full Mediterranean mouthful, order the Ottoman Feast ($23), where Turkish-style scrambled eggs in a tomato and sweet pepper sauce bed down with grilled sucuk, haloumi, feta, olives and Turkish delight.
That’s your flippin’ lot … unless you’re vegetarian.
In which case, Huss and Hural can charm you with Vegan Deluxe ($21), a health-giving medley of mushroom, tomato, zucchini and crispy onion. Many dishes here are vegan friendly.
As for the Belgian waffles ($21.50), they come with rose and spice poached pears straight out of Ottolenghi-land.
DRINK
Forty Flips’ Brew Bar runs on St Ali coffee and the team pulls a mean espresso. The full beverage list runs to Sensory Lab teas (served in a teapot) and bottled kombucha, freshly squeezed juices and vegan smoothies.
SERVICE
The phrase “family-friendly” gets bandied about a lot, but Forty Flips really does look after the little ones, from a good stock of toys to babyccinos with Freckles and a well-considered kids’ menu (like the sound of popcorn chicken and chips?).
X FACTOR
Forty Flips, all white-washed walls and filament lights, has had a clever reno. The rear courtyard is sun-splashed.
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BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
Competitive, with just a few dishes creeping over the $20 mark.
VERDICT
The Forty Flips motto is “eat, drink, smile” and it’s hard to do otherwise at this vale of plenty.
FORTY FLIPS CAFE
250 Sussex St, Pascoe Vale. Ph: 0410 531 706
FOOD Mod Med
HOURS Mon-Fri 7am-3pm, Sat-Sun 8am-3pm
CHEF Burak Demirci
BOOKINGS Yes
TIME BETWEEN ORDERING AND EATING Seven minutes
PERFECT FOR Family-friendly brunches
DESTINATION DISH Mushroom ragout with poached eggs and hollandaise
NOISE LEVEL Joyous
ONLINE facebook.com/fortyflips/
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