Las Chicas - Balaclava

Mom arrived on the red-eye yesterday night so we took her out this morning to introduce her to the wonders of delicious Melbourne brunches. On the recommendation of a foodie friend with EXCEPTIONAL food, wine and coffee knowledge (Arthur, you reading this? Have you found me? :D) we picked Las Chicas in Balaclava. It's really easy to get to as well if you don't have a car- the cafe is right next door to the Balaclava train station. Upon arrival there was a 20 minute wait as there were heaps of people waiting for a table. You know what they say- good food attracts a crowd and crowds are always a good sign!

Finally managed to get a table- haha I don't know what Mom is doing or looking at.

Honey for my soy chai. The soy chai was good as they used the leaves and spices instead of syrup or powder. What's this thing used to scoop the honey called? It sorta reminds me of Pooh.

We were lucky to be seated outside in beauuuuuuuutifullllllllllll sunny weather.

Ohai iz us!

Ohai iz lady with funky hair behind us!

Enjoying a cuppa on a sunny Sunday arvo.

Food fit for gluttons like us! nomnomnomnomnom.....we were stuffed by the time we finished everything. Yes, we finished EVERYTHING (except a lil bit of the pancake)! The BBB (Bikini Blowout Benedict on the bottom left) was AWESOME. The saltiness of the bacon worked really well with the creaminess of the avocado on the bagel and the poached eggs were super yummy with the hollandaise sauce (which was one of the better hollandaise sauces I've ever had). You can always tell how good a cafe is by how good their hollandaise sauce is.

I thought the Brekky Bruschetta (top left and bottom left- only diff is the extra smoked salmon on the bottom left) was nothing extraordinary. The pancakes (with boysenberry coulis, orange mascarpone and fresh mint leaves) were a little too thick for my liking but the coulis and the mascarpone were so so so yummy!

This is definitely the place to go to for hearty, delicious big breakfasts as servings are massive and the food is really good. Our friend mentioned that the Big Brekky was good, but portions were superbig so I think that kinda put us off from ordering it but next time I'm there I'll definitely give it a go. They use ordinary ingredients like bacon, eggs, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms so you won't find any fancy creations here, but I guess as long as the food is good- that'll be enough to make us go back for more :)