Elle Cafe, Canterbury

Our Sunday morning search for something special took us to the busy inner city suburb of Hawthorn. There is a place there we've driven by hundreds of times and said, "We must try that place one day." It's always busy and looks like it could be something very special as far as breakfast is concerned. Upon arrival, the place was buzzing and there simply wasn't a table to be had. So instead of waiting around, we decided to continue our adventure and search elsewhere.

Our second choice of venue was Elle Cafe at 80 Canterbury Road in Canterbury. Again, this is a place that we've driven by numerous times, but have never tried. We arrived at Elle Cafe at about 10:30am. It looked as if it had been quite busy early on and there were still some tables set with reserved signs whose diners were yet to arrive. Luckily for us, there was a table for 4 available and we grabbed it.


The cafe itself isn't that large inside. The tables are relatively close together, but there are nice views of the park across the road and plenty of light. We waited patiently at our table for one of the staff to bring us a menu. After a few minutes, it became clear that the staff weren't going to bring us a menu, so the Handsome Australian took it upon himself to source a few from the counter up the front of the cafe.

A quick look at the menu, and the Handsome Australian and I knew immediately what we'd be having...The Big Breakfast. We are often Big Breakfast people. During the week, it's All Bran and Muesli for us, the same boring breakfast every day. So on the weekends, we like to lash out a bit and have something a bit indulgent. This indulgence, more often than not, comes in the form of the Big Breakfast.

Once we sorted out what we were having, it was time to decide what to feed the little people. Princess Pancake had her heart set on...yes, pancakes. Unfortunately, there weren't any pancakes to be found on the menu. Good thing her happiness can also be bought with a greasy side of bacon. Normally we'd order her some scrambled eggs so she could pretend to eat them (she always asks for scrambled eggs and bacon, but never touches the eggs) but this menu had a few surprises...for the kids there were Rice Bubbles (aka Rice Crispies in other parts). At $3, they were a good gamble since we had no idea if Princess Pancake would actually eat them or not. As we discussed whether or not to throw the dice on the Rice Bubbles, we discovered that we've never exposed Princess Pancake to Rice Bubbles before. She's not a huge cereal eater anyway, but even so, you'd think she'd have come across them at some point in her four short years.

After a bit of umming and ahhing, we settled on Rice Bubbles with a side of bacon for PP and then the kid's breakfast for Prince Gobble Guts. If memory serves, the kid's breakfast was scrambled eggs and bacon on toast for about $5.50 (I did write all this down while I was there with the idea that this sort of info would be useful for the writing of this post, but I think Princess Pancake needed more drawing paper or something...needless to say, my notes were sacrificed for a greater cause. So, sorry about the approximations).

Whew! You think choosing what to have was time consuming--you obviously haven't waited at Elle Cafe for the wait staff to come and take your order. We were sitting there for quite awhile before the Handsome Australian caught some one's eye and informed them what we'd like to have.

In addition to our food, we also ordered two lattes and an orange juice. Elle Cafe has a separate juice bar next door to it presumably run by the same people. They have a special drinks menu which includes a large selection of freshly squeezed juices. The orange juice was about $5.50 and came in a really large glass. The glass was so large, that we actually ended up splitting it up amongst the four of us in the smaller water glasses they provided on the table. The juice was indeed freshly squeezed and was absolutely divine. It was a winner all round.


The coffee lived up to the Handsome Australian's very high standard. It was smooth, creamy and arrived very hot.

It seemed to take a bit of time for our food to come out of the kitchen, but luckily, there were large plastic containers filled with crayons and some drawing paper on a nearby bookshelf. Both PP and PGG spent the time waiting for their food trying to find their inner Van Goughs--the results were mixed.

Finally, the food arrived. Princess Pancake was amused with the Rice Bubbles and the snap, crackle and pop symphony emanating from them. Prince Gobble Guts was excited by his meal, his sister's meal and my meal. He had something from every one's plate...how do you think he got his name? He eats everything!

The Handsome Australian and I were pleased with our Big Breakfasts (about $16.50) which included 2 poached eggs, bacon, grilled mushrooms and tomato, chipolata sausages all on two pieces of thick crusty toast. The poached eggs were properly cooked--nothing annoys the Handsome Australian more than a poached egg that doesn't run. The sausages were very tasty and the bacon, mushrooms and tomato rounded out a very delicious meal.

Final verdict on Elle Cafe: The food, juice and coffee were all of a high standard. We were pleased to see menu items that catered for the kids. The atmosphere is bright and busy and our kids really enjoyed the diversion of the crayons and drawing paper. Elle Cafe's downfall is the indifferent service by the staff. We had to get our own menus and get a staff member's attention each time we wanted something. When we did get their attention, they weren't particularly friendly or helpful. It was as if they really didn't care if there were customers there or not.

If you live nearby or happen to be in the neighbourhood, Elle Cafe would be a decent place to have breakfast and is good for the kids--crayons aside, the lovely park across the road is a great place to visit before or after your meal. I wouldn't, however, go out of my way to have breakfast at Elle Cafe.


The outdoor seating area at Cafe Elle as viewed from the park.