Gravy Train Cafe - yummy yabbering in yarraville

The family birthdays continue. After Quin’s superhero party on Friday, we went to brunch for my sister Francesca’s birthday yesterday. Fran always manages to find groovy places to gather family and friends for celebrations. Yesterday it was the Gravy Train in Yarraville. I was pleased to find it was a café we had loved visiting when house hunting in the area a few years ago

It is a deceptively large place (the web review said it seats 120) because the space is divided into three areas. You can take your pick. Out the front is lots of plastic chairs and concrete where you can smoke and people-watch, inside with snuggly lounge chairs and wooden tables and chairs in a warm red area decorated with funky artwork, or in a sheltered greenhouse-style area out the back with the sun and gentle breeze finding a way in through the mesh ‘windows’.

We were quite late because Sylvia had wanted to party all night and sleep all morning (I thought we didn’t get such behaviour till she is a teenager)! By the time we arrived, everyone else was finishing their meals. I was starvin’ marvin because we had rushed around to get out of the house and not even had time to eat. I rarely leave home without eating something. So I sent E off to order food soon after seating ourselves at our table out the back.

I pounced on my food when it came. My big vegie breakfast was delicious and hit the spot. It was a fine spread of lovely sour dough soft with melted butter, fantastic grilled mushrooms, wilted spinach, juicy soft grilled tomato, sweet caramelized onions, a crisp hash brown and a little bowl of home made baked beans (I was pleased they were much less intense than my recent baked beans). E loved his plate of pancakes, fried eggs, bacon and maple syrup. I also heard that the meaty big brekkie was very good.

It was a pleasant and relaxed place to catch up with my brother Andy’s family and some of Fran’s friends. Large groups and babies were well catered for. Erica was pleased there was a high chair for little Cooper. Sylvia got lots of cuddles and had a friendly tug of war with Cooper over her favourite rings.

After the rest of Fran’s guests left, we had a nice chat with her and her partner John over coffee and cake. Actually I had a raspberry, blueberry and banana smoothie. It was huge and I needed to eat most of it with a spoon because it was so thick. That is almost a meal in a glass.

Fortunately E helped choose a cake to share with me. We had a chocolate mousse cake that was not too heavy although it was quite rich and creamy with layers of chocolate biscuit, dark chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache. E sat with fork posed as he patiently waited for me to take a photo or two. By the time I had finished Fran and John were halfway through their piece of cake.

It was good to catch up with Fran and John in a smaller group. We left having had an elephant’s sufficiency. A great way to celebrate Fran’s birthday.

Gravy Train Café
83 Gamon Street
Yarraville VIC 3013
Phone: (03) 9687 9866
Web Review at Australian Good Food and Travel Guide