The Servery East, Glen Huntly by Big Fil

For somewhere that had been a café light zone Glen Huntly has certainly changed in the last few months.  There had always been Whyte, a decent if not outstanding option, but now you can add Big Bear Café (which I have yet to try), Workshop Specialty Brothers Coffee (which I have tried and liked) and the newest kid on the block, The Servery East.



The Servery East is the younger sibling of The Servery in West Melbourne, operating as a cafe during the day but dispensing pizza and pasta at night.  It's located very close to Glen Huntly train station for ease of access, is family friendly and is cutely decorated, from the bare light globes to the flowers placed on every table.



The menu style is modern Melbourne breakfast, very familiar to anyone who regularly eats out for lunch particularly on the northern side of town.  Staff were friendly and welcoming and casual, and as it is as yet relatively undiscovered we had the place almost to ourselves for most of our time there.



Snooze decided to try the corn and zucchini fritters with homemade relish, avocado and two poached eggs.  It also comes with either bacon or haloumi, although I managed to convince her to order both.  The fritters were nicely cooked, crisp on the outside and moist in the middle, and the bacon while lean was crispy without being dry.  The eggs were beautifully poached releasing their runny golden yolks when pierced, and Snooze indicated she thought rosemary had been added to the relish which boosted its flavour.  And my favourite haloumi cheese was salty, creamy and beautifully squeaky against my teeth.



My own choice was the ricotta pancakes with berry compote and vanilla ice cream.  I liked my pancakes although I thought Snooze's fritters were better.  While the pancakes were fluffy the texture was more like sponge than a normal fluffy pancake.  Not sure whether or not that was the intended effect, but it isn't my preferred style of pancake.



There are also a small selection of baked goodies available at the front counter.  All of these are baked by The Servery except for the almond croissants (which I knew looked familiar), which come from Noisette in Port Melbourne.

Overall
With good food, friendly atmosphere and reasonable prices, Servery East brings a little northern style on the southern side of town and is just the sort of place I was hoping would come to my local area.

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

Address
5-6 Royal Avenue
Glen Huntly VIC 3163
Tel: (03) 9571 5337