Pope Joan

77-79 nicholson street, brunswick east
Ph: (03) 9388 8858

http://popejoan.com.au/

“Circa & Kent, Wilkinson & Foster, Wooden & Stylish, Fancy & Decadent.
Enough said.”

So, F recently graduated and before we went to the ceremony I took her out to PJs for a “celebratory brunch”! I was kinda put to shame by some of my friends for being a foodie and not having visited their ‘favourite’ cafe.

So anyway. here we are!

Can see a bit of Matt Wilkinson working in the open kitchen here…(sorry, bad picture). Oh there’s the pastry cabinet too!

The usual Cappuccino! Light body, slightly acidic, not very bitter – didn’t leave much of an impression on me. No points for the Rosette…But, for a standard coffee it was definitely one of the bigger cups I’ve seen.

It’s an All-day menu with a gourmet selection of sandwiches and a couple of options for kids (spacious, very mother/kid friendly cafe). Aside from the beans, they also offer alcohol (for those who like a hit during the morning…..) – wine, beer and cider.

Crumbed coddled egg, Jim’s black pudding & anchovy salad (17)

I’m not a big fan on anything anchovy but the offer of Crumbed egg and Black pudding were to hard to resist! Have a look at the presentation!

YOLK WATERFALL!

The black pudding was beautifully crisp on the outside and the ‘heat’ & flavour on the inside was a bit of ‘guilty indulgence’. Same goes for the egg!. The anchovy dressing was drizzled all over the food. So, if you’re a big fan of anchovies, you can’t go pass this dish!

F’s choice of the: Prawn cocktail, avocado and crisp lettuce (12)

So simple but so well executed. The sandwiches here at PJ are definitely a hit!

Service was excellent. The waitresses were very genuine, outgoing, appropriately attentitive and very informative.

There are currently renovations going on next door for their upcoming bar, ‘The Bishop of Ostia’. So keep an eye out for that!

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Rating: 8.5/10

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Palatable

dishes
service
environment/decor

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Unpalatable

coffee

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Overall

Woo for Pope Joan! I can see why my friends’ call this their favourite cafe. Indeed, the place, the food and the people are very, very likeable. It might be a bit harsh to put coffee under ‘unpalatable’ because it wasn’t shockingly bad…then again, it wasn’t particularly good either. But anyway, it’s easy to forget about that when the food is this good!
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