Poke the Bear, Northcote

I think Melbourne is the best city for brunches. Slept in? Can't be bothered having breakfast? Bland breakfast foods? Brunch is the answer. I like brunches, they make me feel good about skipping one meal in the day. It gives me the illusion that if I only did brunch, I could lose a whole lot of weight because I only had 1 meal instead of two. 

For brunch today, we chose a cafe on High Street, Northcote called Poke the Bear. There is a bear theme to the cafe, but luckily it's not overbearing (haha, get it?). Definitely not the 'stuffed toys everywhere ala freaky Chucky in a teddy bear suit' type. So, nothing to be afraid of. All the dishes on the menu has bear in their names e.g. Bear and Grin, Papa Bear (which is what I ordered), so cute! There were also little bear figurines and toys dotted throughout the cafe in a tasteful manner, like behind the counter, in the tip boxes and so on. Also cute. 

The cafe was buzzing when we got there and the waitpersons were friendly and helpful, especially towards their many regular customers - they must be doing something right! A good sign indeed.

Gaz ordered one of the daily specials - ham, cheese, cherry tomatoes, potatoes omelette with toast ($19.50). It almost looks like a pizza, loads of stringy mozarella cheese and ham until I found the omelette underneath. It is a generous serving of all the things I like :) There is probably more cheese to eggs, and I could do without potatoes but I love it the way it was.

I ordered the Papa Bear ($19.50) which was cheese and potato hash, poached eggs, arugula salad with a choice of toppings - I chose bacon. I enjoyed the poached eggs and hollandaise sauce the best, which provides so much flavour when eaten with the crispy cheese and potato hash browns. My only gripe was that the bacon looked black and burnt in some parts. It would have been better if the bacon was less black and with more salad on the side.

After brunch, we had fun menu surfing the many multicultural cafes and restaurants along High St, and the many artisan shops selling crystals, home made knick knacks, organic food stores etc. It was a wonderful way to start the day.