Kanteen
| Where | 150 Alexandra Avenue, South Yarra, 3141—View map |
Contact | 03 9827 0488 |
Website | www.kanteen.net |
Open | Breakfast Monday to Saturday 7.00am to 3.00pm |
Payment | Cash |
Diet | Vegan, Soy |
Seating | Inside and outside |
Kids | Welcome |
Pets | Welcome |
Best Toilet Block in Town
Ellie Parker 27 June 2008
Things have changed. These days, you meet at the toilet block for coffee.
Kanteen is a converted toilet block situated on an S-bend of the Yarra river. Over the years local Toorak residents have fought to keep this café’s “toilet block charm” against the Council's push for re-development. As a result, Kanteen is now a fiercely guarded institution. Devoid of any pretension, this Toorak toilet block really is something special.
The location and simple amenities-based environs are distinctly charming. Even on a dim Winter’s morning, the windswept river and flurrying bulrushes create a sense of dramatic beauty. Gas heaters and heavy plastic sheeting create cosy warmth despite the fair-weather oriented architecture.
Kanteen caters for everybody. School boys cup Frauhaus hot chocolates in their mittens. Juicy Couture mums enjoy Pear Tree muesli with fresh fruit and yoghurt. Men in suits pull up in Porches to grab take away rye melts and Genovese coffee.
Given the overcast weather, I justified the Spanish Eggs. A shallow terracotta ramekin arrived with a large bubbling mound of egg and cheese. Beneath the perfectly melted parmesan cheese crust was a delicious lava-like feast of flavours. The Napoli sauce was spiced with generous slices of good quality chorizo. Spanish goats cheese oozed out of corners. Toasted pide formed the foundation of all of this. An inspired touch, the good people at Kanteen have decided to make pide toast the bedrock of their Spanish Eggs which means that no yolk or Napoli sauces escapes. I am normally not a big fan of soggy bread, but this won me over. The bottom was crisp and the top held all the juices that would have otherwise had me licking the bowl.
Other menu options include black sticky rice with banana, strawberry and coconut milk or the breakfast pide, consisting of eggs, homemade mayonnaise, cheese, fresh herbs and spinach. There is also Kanteen Eggs served on pide with smoked salmon, spinach, mascarpone and lemon vinaigrette. Kanteen does its eggs particularly well. They are consistently perfect (I watched dozens come out of the kitchen, each one identical to the last). Whilst Kanteen's rye melts (ham, cheese and tomato) are popular in their own right, their appeal is heightened by the option of ordering the chubby little addition of a poached egg. It's the done thing.
Beverage wise, there is an extensive offering of T2 teas, in addition to Emma and Tom juices and something sexy called a Mangajo Green Tea (lemon, goji-berry and acai berry). If you wear Juicy Couture, you will be completely au fait with Mangajo. For the rest of us, it's an exciting new discovery on the tea front.
All in all, this is more than your average toilet block could ever hope for.