Dundas Place Cafe, Albert Park by Bureaucrat

Continuing the documentation of my post-xmas but pre-nye eats, I took the opportunity of going out to Albert Park for brunch one day.  I haven't explored much of Albert Park as I tend to only associate it with St Kilda Road, apartments and the Grand Prix.  I did eat out around here in years ago at The Point (for the Lawyer's graduation), which is a fancy restaurant in the middle of said park.

I quite liked all the boutique shops and ultra cool cafes that were situated along Bridport Street and Victoria Avenue.  The laid back, unhurried vibe and the quiet affluence totally won me over.  While there are many cafes and restaurants to choose from, on this day, it was Mother Hen's choice.  And she chose Dundas Place Cafe.

Based on looks, DPC is one of the less cool, hip and happening cafes around the area.  It has more of your unpretentious neighbourhood cafe vibe.  As I'm unapologetically bit of a wank, I was rather hoping that Mother Hen would pick one of the cool, hip and happening cafes that were just a few shops down from DPC.

To brush off the mid-morning cobwebs, we got some tea and coffee.

Deciding what to order was a bit of a struggle.  None of us felt particularly hungry, but because we had things to do and people to see, it necessitated that we have an early lunch/brunch.

So for the three of us, we ordered two dishes to share.  The first was my choice, sweet corn fritters w poached eggs, smoked salmon, smashed avo and tomato basil salsa ($16.90).  This wasn't as good as I had hoped.  The fritters were more pancake in nature - so more doughy and only some token nibblets of corn through it.  For me, fritters are meant to be crispy, and these weren't.  The good points were that it had a reasonable amount of avo and the salsa was fragrant.  However, the serve of smoked salmon was a smidge less than average and was of an 'okay' quality.

Mother Hen chose the club sandwich w cheese, bacon, lettuce, toms and egg.  It came with either chips or salad ($15.90).  This was of similar quality to the fritters.  While Mother Hen and Mr Strong seemed to like it, I was rather 'meh' about the whole dish (except the chips, which were nice and crispy).  It's an old school style club sanger - with the white loaf bread, slice of cheddar and iceberg lettuce - which is keeping with DPC as a unfussy neighbourhood cafe.  I guess I was still hoping that I was eating at a different cafe where they would use homemade bread, cos instead of iceberg lettuce, a nice schmear of homemade aioli and/or chutney.  But this club sanger was generous in serve, though.

Verdict

Food – 6

Ambiance - 7

Service – 7.5

Price - 7

Overall

An unfussy neighbourhood cafe.  I don't have anything against the place, it's just not a cafe that I'd pick to go.  The service is friendly and congenial; and despite the popularity of the hip cafes nearby, DPC does have its fair share of local customers coming in for a coffee or meal.  

Address

Dundas Place Cafe

131 Dundas Place 

Albert Park 3206

Telephone: 9699 4561