Ladies Who Lunch: Power Breakfast Edition at Cumulus Inc

Cumulus Inc.
45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne (map)
9650 1445


A few weeks ago the Ladies Who Lunch decided to mix things up: instead of our usual catch-up over lunchboxes at Cafe Vue, we made it a Friday morning Power Breakfast.

(Can I just say that Friday morning Power Breakfasts ROCK - we don't have to wear suits on a Friday, we can saunter in the morning sunshine all the way down Flinders Lane back to the legal district afterwards, and the combination of socialising with good friends and eating fabulous dishes puts us in great moods, making the last day of the working week that much easier to swallow.)


The venue of choice was Cumulus Inc, Andrew McConnell's city restaurant that I drooled over when I wrote it up last year. I'd only ever eaten there in the evening, but had heard great things about their breakfast menu and was excited to say the least. We ensconced ourselves in the corner table and commented on how nice the lofty interior looked by daylight.

Miss T had the pink salad of strawberry and watermelon, served with rosewater, mint, pomegranate and yoghurt ($10). Sensational combination. The yoghurt was smeared on the plate under the cubes of watermelon, and Miss T drizzled the rosewater over the top. It tasted fantastic!


Miss B and Miss L both ordered a dish described as smoked salmon, 65/65 egg, sorrel, apple and dill ($17). "Ooooh, 65/65 egg... is that what I think it is: an egg cooked at 65 degrees for 65 minutes?" I asked our waitress, a little breathlessly (if you can't tell from the food porn photo at the top of this post, I have a bit of a thing at the moment for slooooooow cooked eggs).

Out waitress confirmed with a smile that I'd guessed correctly. I didn't end up ordering it (I wasn't in a salmony mood), but Miss B and Miss L lurved it.


As for me, I had the Turkish baked eggs with spiced tomato, dukkah and labne ($16). I must say that the dish overall was slightly on the acidic side (too tomatoey), not sure I'd order it again. The dukkah was fabulous though.


Upon arrival I'd been delighted to see that the $2.50 lemon curd madeleines I'd so enjoyed when I'd had dinner at Cumulus Inc were also on the breakfast menu, so I'd promptly ordered four of them for the four of us to have as a cheeky little breakfast dessert. They arrived just as we were finishing up, hot lemon curd dribbling lazily out of them. Nom nom nom!


Despite the slight misfire with the Turkish eggs, Cumulus Inc is still one of my very favourite restaurants in Melbourne at the moment. I'm taking Dad there for an Oyster Tasting and Shucking Class during the Food & Wine Festival, hopefully I can talk him into dinner there too... :)