Auction Rooms
107 Errol St
North Melbourne, 3051
03 9326 7749
Located in the old WB Ellis Auction house, this is another new addition (though not so new anymore – est 2008) to the Melbourne’s warehouse style roastery-café scene. The distressed bricks, cylindrical lights made from industrial piping, fruit and veggie crates, was accurately analogised in The Age as coming together “artfully, assembled from skips and salvage yards by a couple of blokes with a spot welder, a nail gun and a good eye”.
Though it was a chilly-wintery Melbourne morning, the warmth streaming through the windows was pleasantly warming against my woollen jumper.
Latte with the house blend ‘Candyman’ (bottom left) – lighter coloured brew with a slight acidity, delightful caramel notes and overall a softer bodied blend. Mmmm I was quite pleased!
Next time I should definitely try something different for once… maybe a siphon? Though, café latte is currently my only baseline comparison for coffees. (Flat White pictured top left – not sure what happened there with the art?)
The knuckle sandwich – thinly carved slices of braised pork knuckle (earthy, moist and not overly fatty) is complemented by the slightly tart mixed pickle and piccadilli in a warm ciabatta roll with rocket and aged cheddar. And, of course a generous serving is always welcome by Almost Always Ravenous – i.e. moi!
Oat porridge – A simple but satisfyingly good boil of creamy porridge with poached pear and a deep red rhubarb puree. Enough said! Om nom nom.
The opening bid – two perfectly poached free-range eggs that ooze all over the sourdough toast was another simple pleasure for a lazy weekend breakfast. One can opt for extras, but sometimes simple is better. Plus there was already too much food on the table =P.
Rating: Yummy+1 – simply excellent coffee and brunch. Though my choice of food today has been ‘knuckled’ down to the basics, but no less pleasing for the stomach.
You may also like other brunch places: St Ali, Dead Man Espresso, Duchess of Spotswood.
Almost Always Ravenous 
=O <——- feed me!!!
Another place to add to the list!
hahaha, mouth wide open and everythng =P. careful you don’t catch any flies/ bugs.
Oh how cute! This definitely looks like my kind of place! 🙂 Looks surprisingly spacious!
Sometimes, the simplest of things can truly astound. 🙂
that is so truE!
definitely amongst the top of my list. baked beans to die for.
Oo.. another one to add to my growing list.. sigh.. Loving how spacious it looks!
Porridge, one of my most favouriterest of breakfast! Would you believe I’ve never once ordered it at a cafe? Actually, perhaps that’s not so surprising; after all, my standard porridge is served with peanut butter, Lindt 85%, and maple syrup, and I’ve yet to see that on a menu 😉
now that u say that… u better MAKE me some!!!! i want some porridge with lindt choc and maple syrup.
rather ironic use of DARK chocolate with minimal sugar, then you over compensate by adding maple syrup hahaha.
must say.. it never occurs to me to order porridge out either.. one, cos i’m not crazy over it.. and 2 – way too easy to make your own perfectly. and…. it’s more… breakfast in bed kinda food where u snuggle under ur comforter with a nice warm bowl of steamy porridge… oooh., and allan… wats wrong with adding maple syrup? the key would be to add the maple flavour.. hhahaha..so u can’t use milk choc cos it’d wind up too sweet. been adding this super good dark palm sugar to EVERYTHING lately. salad dressings, hot chocolate sauce, caramels, milk tea……….addictive. and guess what? i’ve learned that it has an even lower glycaemic index compared to honey! with more nutrients too.. scoree!! 😛
that oatporridge looks delicious! great photos, love your style 🙂
Great Photos – what lens do you use?
unfortunately i am yet to upgrade from my nikon kit lens =P. dilemma’ing over a new camera at the moment.
Oh yum! That oat porridge sounds (and looks) perfect for crappy winter days … mmmmmm