Miss Jackson, St Kilda by Big Fil

The first thing which struck me about Miss Jackson was just how crisp and minimalist it looked. I'd always thought of St Kilda as the home of good but grungy cafes but Miss Jackson is definitely not made from that mould. No 1960's or 70's retro feel here more an ode to modern Scandinavian style - uncluttered, everything in its place and no wasted elements.



That's fine in itself although not really my style. I like uncluttered but I found the combination of white walls and brown tables quite stark. That's not to say that Miss Jackson lacks colour, but that comes through the staff and food rather than through the décor.


The guy who served us was friendly, even having a laugh with us about having first pick about where we wanted to sit (we were our normal early selves). And unlike some well known cafes where we've searched for something a little different to try, many of the dishes here had small twists to them to make them a little less ordinary. Our choices - herb scrambled eggs with homemade corn bread, ricotta pancakes with grilled banana and honeycomb butter, and homemade crumpets with raspberry butter.


I think assuming it would be the quickest dish to prepare Snooze requested for the crumpets to come first, before the other dishes. I don't want to seem overly picky because they were fine, but we both found them a little dense and not as hot as they should have been. The raspberry butter wasn't something I'd seen before and an interesting touch although it didn't rock my world. While hardly regretting trying them given the number of things I wanted to sample on the menu I'd probably not order them again.


Being a little pushy I asked Snooze if she wouldn't mind ordering the eggs and cornbread. A little selfish maybe but I knew I'd like the pancakes and also wanted to try the cornbread. The eggs were delish, light and fluffy and speckled with little flecks of parsley. The cornbread had little kernels of corn in it, which I hadn't seen before and making it a little more like a fritter than I was expecting. Still good though.


To me though the pancakes were the dish of the day. The pancakes were light and fluffy, looking almost like omelettes when they hit the table. Combine that with honeycomb butter (a taste combination that was always going to work well with pancakes) and some of the best lightly caramelised banana I've ever had and you have a sweet breakfast winner.


Overall
An interesting little café which although it isn't quite me, I still want to return to because of the menu and its little twists on more common café food. The food is very well presented and thought out and while its not somewhere I'd want to sit for hours it is still a nice place to eat. The only downside (and I didn't notice this especially) was the noise level when Miss Jackson filled up and how Snooze felt as though she was sitting at our neighbour's table based on how close we were sitting.

Verdict
Food - 8
Ambience - 7
Service - 7
Price - 7

Address
Shop 2, Grey Street
St Kilda Victoria
Tel: (03) 9534 8415