• A good brunch at last: Las Chicas

203 Carlisle St
Balaclava 3183
03 9531 369
www.laschicas.com.au

The girls, the girls.  With a name like this, it is no wonder that the guy on the door calls everyone ‘babe’.  M was not impressed.

Las Chicas was our meeting point for brunch last Sunday.  Situated on busy Carlisle Street, I was thankful that we got a table relatively quickly.  We were seated in the courtyard, which was pleasant, though cold and I regretted not bringing a coat despite the sun.

The friendly waiter supplied us with menus and I hastily ordered a coffee – needing the warmth.  I admit, the coffee was the best I had drunk in a while;  strong but well made with the obligatory leafy decorations on top.


Browsing the menu I was surprised I had not visited Las Chicas sooner.  Not only do they have a delicious looking menu, but a whole section is devoted to the vegetarian bruncher.  Each dish has a little distinction.  The eggs Florentine, for example, are served on bagels instead of muffins, the omelette is accompanied with a Japanese dipping sauce, other dishes are sprinkled with pine nuts.  The new plethora of brunch spots in Melbourne make the little differences count.

I ordered the ‘baked beans breaky’.  The element making this one stand-out was the pumpkin and polenta bread, house made with seeds and herbs, cut in slabs and toasted golden.  This was adorned with dark, green, wilted spinach and house-made baked beans.  A perfectly poached egg sat on top.


The food was very good.  I was relieved not to have another disappointing brunch experience.

M really enjoyed her breakfast burrito.

“It’s hard to make good guacamole,” she advised, implying that Las Chicas had done a good job on this front.

I disagreed but was pleased that she enjoyed the café that she had been begging for us to go to for weeks.

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