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Commercial Bakery
Rear 360 Lt Collins Street, Melbourne (map)
9670 7214In late May I reviewed the newly-opened Commercial Bakery, tucked into the side of an alleyway off Lt Collins St. On that occasion I had an almond and chocolate danish, which I really liked, and I left with intentions to revisit the bakery one lunchtime and sample their savoury fare. Recently I did just that over lunch with a colleague of mine, M. We sat facing the bakery itself: they've now opened up the back room for patrons.
M and I shared two meals: one was the beetroot, caramelised onion and goats curd (and lettuce) sandwich that had caught my eye the previous time I'd perused the menu. It was delicious - great combination of flavours and the bread was (as you'd hope) extremely fresh and soft.
We also had the mushroom tartlet, which rather than being studded with mushrooms was a plain quiche hidden under a mountain of fleshy field mushrooms. It was accompanied by a little salad with a light vinaigrette. I proabably would've preferred the mushrooms to be embedded in it, but on the plus side the pastry was very tasty.
Please let me know of any dishes you've enjoyed there!
Cafe Illia
180 William St (cnr Lt Bourke St), Melbourne (map)
9640 0422
Cafe Illia is nestled deep in the heart of Melbourne's legal precinct; hemmed in by the Supreme Court, the Old High Court building, the Law Institute of Victoria and the building site of a new skyscraper (called CBW ("Corner Bourke and William") which, interestingly, will be the first high rise office building in Australia to be awarded a 5 star Green Star rating), future home to law firm Blake Dawson Waldron. It is not uncommon to walk into Illia and see bewigged barristers standing in front of the coffee machine, awaiting the barista to serve up a quick macchiato before court resumes... whilst Illia's clientele does extend beyond the legal profession, in this part of the city it's mostly professionals.
Illia serves up great hot breakfasts and a lunch menu slanted toward Italian bistro fare, but what I like best are the freshly made wraps and pide from the display cabinet. The most interesting one, in my opinion, is the roti wrap with poached trevally, pesto, mayonnaise, baby spinach and sun-dried tomatoes (see below). It's pretty rare to see any fish other than tuna or salmon in a wrap, but the poched trevally works a treat - the moistness of the fish and mayo is a great contrast with the chewiness of the roti, plus there's a zing in your mouth each time you come across one of the SDTs. Highly recommended!
