Ernest V, Elsternwick by Big Fil

For what was a fairly dead end area not too many years ago there are now a whole swag of decent eateries down the Elsternwick end of Glen Huntly Road. One of the better ones is Ernest V, offering a middle eastern slant to weekend breakfasts.

First impressions when you enter are promising. The set up is a little different to your typical Melbourne cafe with lots of earthy colours and one wall completely covered by tiles. While personally not quite my thing the affect was warm and welcoming, complemented by some of the friendliest and most helpful waitresses I've come across in a while.

 
I have trouble passing anything over that includes haloumi, my favourite squeaky cheese. This combined with the promise of middle eastern influenced flavours lead to the dukkah eggs, with the aforementioned haloumi, and a rocket, avocado and preserved lemon oil salad on the side. The eggs were nicely poached, although one was reaching its cooking limit, the dukkah gave the dish texture and the haloumi was nicely squeaky and a good match for the egg. The salad had a bit of a tang and its freshness complemented the egg and cheese combo well. Overall a nice dish.

What I was really interested in though was my pancakes. Banana pancakes with maple butter, candied walnuts and topped with Persian fairy floss. Nice sweetness from the maple, the pancakes not overly dense and heavy, but to me the winner was the fairy floss. It's nowhere near as sweet as you get at the show, it initially adds texture to the dish but then just melts in your mouth. Love eating it on top of pancakes or even just by itself as a dessert or snack.

Overall
If you want to try somewhere a little different it's well worth checking out Ernest V. It's warm, it's friendly, the food is good and there is just so much smashed avocado on toast you can eat before searching for something different. Melbourne is a fabulously multi-cultural city and while this is well reflected in the cafes on the north side of town, not so much in most of the Southside. Ernest V and a couple of the newer cafes (such as Manakish and Spout) are taking the area in a new and welcome direction.

Verdict
Food - 8
Ambience - 7.5
Service - 8
Price - 7

Address
432 Glenhuntly Road
Elsternwick VIC 3185
Tel: (03) 9532 4322