What I liked as much as anything about Galleon is that it feels so unpretentious. Some cafés seem to shout 'Look at me, look at me, I'm so casually hip' but Galleon felt like the real thing. Early morning patrons included families with kids, local hipsters and blow-ins like me. The breakfast menu, with a couple of exceptions, tends towards the comforting rather than the adventurous and the music was more Andrews Sisters than Scissor Sisters. Despite being busy it feels like a place to hang out, put the feet up and read the paper more than somewhere to be seen ... and the advertisements for local events help with this idea.
From the outside Galleon never looks quite right to me though. You know that it's a café with its small but brightly coloured roadside tables but it always looks at first glance that it should be a furniture store or large laundry. I do however like the inside a lot, with its bare floors, booths along one wall and mismatched tables and chairs. It's brightly coloured, open and well lit, which to me is part of what a seaside café should be.
The menu includes most of the usual muesli and eggs type options but I was looking for something a little different. The Bubble and Squeak comprises lightly fried potato with peas, carrots, corn and tomato on the top. Traditionally a way of using up the previous night's leftovers, it's a simple, tasty, filling and great morning after the night before type food. There is also an option of a sausage on top which is a really good idea.
One of the few meals with some more unusual ingredients is the pancakes, with strawberries, vanilla bean ricotta, pistachio praline and maple syrup. I think it's normally served with bananas, but with the problems the Queensland farmers have had they've switched to strawberries for now. While I'm not entirely convinced about the pistachio praline, which seemed to want to stick to my teeth, it did add a nice crunch to the other softer textures in what really were good fluffy breakfast pancakes.
The limited selection meant that I wasn't able to go for a normal post breakfast cake but there is the option of a few biscuits and muffins. My choice, a nice fresh, slightly warmed blueberry and white chocolate muffin.
Overall
Galleon is definitely a quality café, somewhere that could easily be a regular haunt. From others who live closer by I understand it gets very busy resulting in queuing and occasional slow service, but for my early morning visit there were no problems whatsoever. Service was efficient, the food was good, I enjoyed sitting there reading the paper and the prices were more than reasonable. Not much more to say really.
Verdict
Food - 8
Ambience - 8
Service - 7
Price - 7
Address
9 Carlisle Street
St Kilda VIC 3182
Tel: (03) 9534 8934
From the outside Galleon never looks quite right to me though. You know that it's a café with its small but brightly coloured roadside tables but it always looks at first glance that it should be a furniture store or large laundry. I do however like the inside a lot, with its bare floors, booths along one wall and mismatched tables and chairs. It's brightly coloured, open and well lit, which to me is part of what a seaside café should be.
The menu includes most of the usual muesli and eggs type options but I was looking for something a little different. The Bubble and Squeak comprises lightly fried potato with peas, carrots, corn and tomato on the top. Traditionally a way of using up the previous night's leftovers, it's a simple, tasty, filling and great morning after the night before type food. There is also an option of a sausage on top which is a really good idea.
One of the few meals with some more unusual ingredients is the pancakes, with strawberries, vanilla bean ricotta, pistachio praline and maple syrup. I think it's normally served with bananas, but with the problems the Queensland farmers have had they've switched to strawberries for now. While I'm not entirely convinced about the pistachio praline, which seemed to want to stick to my teeth, it did add a nice crunch to the other softer textures in what really were good fluffy breakfast pancakes.
The limited selection meant that I wasn't able to go for a normal post breakfast cake but there is the option of a few biscuits and muffins. My choice, a nice fresh, slightly warmed blueberry and white chocolate muffin.
Overall
Galleon is definitely a quality café, somewhere that could easily be a regular haunt. From others who live closer by I understand it gets very busy resulting in queuing and occasional slow service, but for my early morning visit there were no problems whatsoever. Service was efficient, the food was good, I enjoyed sitting there reading the paper and the prices were more than reasonable. Not much more to say really.
Verdict
Food - 8
Ambience - 8
Service - 7
Price - 7
Address
9 Carlisle Street
St Kilda VIC 3182
Tel: (03) 9534 8934
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