Jake & the Beans Talk, Malvern East by Bureaucrat

We arrived at Jake & the Beans Talk at the right time. It was Saturday, midday. And we got there after the breakfast/brunch crowd had moseyed on but before the hoards of hungry luncheon seekers descended.

I had Googled Jake & the Beans Talk for my lunch with Beaker. We needed somewhere that was nearby to Chadstone Shopping Centre but wasn't actually located inside the road-rage inducing fashion capital (I mean, who could enjoy their meal after having to fight tooth and nail for a car park?).

Jack & the Beans Talk, Malvern East, buttermilk fried chicken

A spacious table and a friendly waitress bode well for our lunch. My buttermilk fried chicken was quite yummy. Tender breast fillets with a crunchy crumb. The sweet potato chips were also very good - big and chunky and it had a nice crunchy polenta crust. The slaw was a bit of a let down - there was far too much mayo, making it rather claggy.

Jack & the Beans Talk, Malvern East, nasi goreng

Beaker opted for one of the specials - a chicken satay nasi goreng. I was a bit suss with her ordering this dish - I mean, I didn't imagine serving a classic Indonesian street hawker dish as being a brunchy-cafe's forte. As such, while it looked good on the plate, Beaker left most of it there. For a fried rice dish, the rice here was rather soggy and was excessively coated in this sweet-ginger sauce - simply put, the dish lacked wok hei. Missing also was the typical condiments - crispy fried shallots, crackers, chilli, etc. She was only too happy to steal some chicken and chips off my plate.