The Beachcomber - brunch at the beach

It was a busy weekend of birthdays, balloons and the beach. We were blessed with winter sunshine, good food and good company.  And who isn't cheered up by a blue sky over the shoreline, even if it is too cold to swim in the sea.  My brother Andy had wisely chosen to have his birthday brunch at The Beachcomber Cafe in St Kilda.  It has huge windows out onto the beach and a good selection of food.

The cafe was spacious.  Our party of 11 adults and 6 kids easily found room inside, though all the seating outside was busy.  One can only imagine that it must be bursting at the seams in summer.  Likewise the menu is large with something for everyone.  Our table of omnivores, vegetarians, celiacs and fussy eaters were all pleased.  On offer was gluten free toast, a big breakfast with lots of variety and a decent children's menu.

I chose the home made baked beans with toast.  I enjoyed them.  They were on the sweet side but the beans were soft and the sauce was generous.  Sylvia and I shared a Berry smoothie.  It was chock-full of mixed berries, frozen yoghurt and tropical juice.  Unlike many smoothies I encounter in cafes, it was fruity rather than milky and was pleasingly thick.

Sylvia had the pancakes with maple syrup off the children's menu.  She gobbled them up before I had a chance to even have a taste.  The waitress didn't have a problem with leaving the cream off her pancakes order or with changes to the big brekkie when E ordered.  And when the kids got restless, we took them outside to play in the sand.  It was lots of fun with sandcastles, cartwheels and seashells.

Also on the weekend I visited my mum who made an amazing lunch.  I must get the recipe to the above zucchini and eggplant bake from Ottolenghi.  She served it with green salad, cheese pastries and bread.  For afters there were fluffly buttermilk scones and a delicious layer cake warm out of the oven, sandwiched together with raspberry jam.  Not a bad effort after flying home from Ireland 3 days earlier.  After lunch, we visited my sister, Susie, in her lovely new house. 

Less sunny but equally enjoyable was our visit to the Edinburgh Castle Hotel late in the afternoon.  E was playing with his ukelele group.  They seem to have lots of fun.  There were cowboy costumes, kazoos and jokes.  And lots of lively music that got us up and dancing.

I ordered chips for the three of us.  They were hot and crispy.  In fact, if we hadn't had a fridge full of leftovers I might have even stayed for dinner.  But there was pizza, tofu nut balls and my mum's baking.  We headed out into the cold night for a long wait for the tram.  Oh well, at least there were no problems with navigation and parking!

The Beachcomber Cafe
10-18 Jacka Boulevard (near St Kilda Pier)
St Kilda Victoria 3182
(03) 9593 8233
www.beachcombercafe.com.au