Au Matin Calme, Adelaide (South Australia) by Big Fil

Au Matin Calme, it’s a bit like someone took a little slice of country France and placed it in Adelaide. At least that’s how appeared to me when we went up the steep stairs to the gorgeous, peaceful upper dining rooms.


Not much to look at from the outside, we walked on in to be greeted by a cabinet full of nice looking cakes and a sideboard covered in artisan style loaves. On a cold winter’s morning we basically had the place to ourselves except for the two counter staff, one who appeared to be the owner or manager and the other a new waitress still with her training wheels on.


While our first impressions were positive it wasn’t until we got the top that this patisseries class really started to shine through. Spacious, relaxing, comfortable, bright, airy, you wouldn’t know that outside winter was coming or that you were still on busy (for Adelaide) Hutt Street. A few foodie style magazines promoting the SA food scene to while away the time waiting for our cooked breakfast completes the picture of somewhere bringing a touch of class to the CBD breakfast scene.



The range of options is a little larger on the weekend when crepes are also offered but we contented ourselves with the ham omelette and the French toast. While not the most visually appealing omelette I’ve seen it was both fluffy and filling, well complemented by the cute mini croissant and the flavoursome homemade tomato compote.


My French toast came with yoghurt and berries. The bread was nicely ‘eggy’ without being overly so, and the slight sourness from the yoghurt was a good match from the sweetness of the strawberries and the buttery flavours of the brioche.


Given this is more a cake shop than anything else I had of course to order a breakfast dessert. I forget what it was actually called, but it was effectively a three layered chocolate mousse cake, with white, milk and dark mousse over a crispy base. As you’d expect, as a breakfast treat it was rich, luxurious and decadent. But then, as the ads say sometimes you’re worth it.


Overall
Certainly in the best handful of breakfasts I’ve had in Adelaide, great spot to eat and I loved the background jazz played at the perfect volume. The only slight hiccup in the service was when we were brought a latte rather than the ordered black coffee, but this was quickly fixed with an apology and a new coffee. For the Adelaide scene it’s probably slightly more expensive than most cafes but then if you want quality you should expect to pay a little more for it.

Verdict
Food – 8
Ambience – 8.5
Service – 7
Price – 7

Address
Shop 1/210 Hutt Street
Adelaide SA 5000
Tel (08) 7225 2707