Jour Cafe, Collingwood: fine French food

It is a beautiful thing when fate leads me to an excellent French meal.  A few weekends ago ended up at Jour cafe after a couple of other places were too busy.  We were really happy to be at Jour because we had been there about a year ago for an impressive meal.  Yet the meal managed to exceed our high expectations.  And in such an elegant space with such great service.

Their website describes the cafe as a "contemporary take on vintage".  Indeed it looks like a mix between a country farmhouse and stylish modern apartment.  The rustic wooden dresser, table and chairs are all painted a contemporary white with a splash of colour from a bowl of fruit or a brightly painted orange side table, just needing a plant and loaf of bread to complete the picture.  The white walls are decorated sparingly with empty ornate picture frames painted white, and blackboards for the specials framed in similar white frames.  The white space is all that are needed as a backdrop for the beautifully simple meals.

My first visit to Jour was in July 2024 with Sylvia, my dad and E.  It was quite stunning to walk into a Collingwood warehouse and find that we were in such a gorgeous rustic space.  The menu was a modern take on French traditional dishes such as omelettes, tartines, savoury crepes and croque monsieur.  I loved how the classic Melbourne option of sourdough toast with avocado had the option of substituting a croissant for the toast. 

With a good menu, some interesting specials and a display of more options at the counter, there was plenty of choice.  Sylvia had the Shakshuka - oven baked eggs in spiced tomato & capsicum sauce with yoghurt & coriander - with sourdough toast, E had a salmon, dill and feta quiche, my dad had the Portobello mushroom and truffle tartine, and I had the sweet potato and dukkah soup.  My soup was a bit spicy for me so I asked for yoghurt.  The staff obligingly brought me a bowl.  Sylvia shared my yoghurt because her tomato sauce was quite intense. 

We all loved our meals but in particular, the sourdough toast was absolutely amazing.  Sylvia and I loved dipping it in our meals.  My dad had it in his tartine which I wished I had ordered, despite not been keen on a lot of mushroom.  The open faced sandwich with Portobello mushrooms cooked in cream & thyme with truffle oil & shavings of parmesan on toasted organic sourdough impressed us all as we took turns to taste it. 

We finished with dessert.  My Chia and rhubarb cake was nice but I much preferred the Warm bread pudding with chocolate sauce that my dad and E shared.  It was served in a generous slab with lots of sauce and hazelnuts.  Sylvia had a canelé.  It is a small cake that looks burnt and miserly, albeit baked in a cute mould.  The dark crust is intense and chewy with a soft squidgy baked custard inside.  It was so good that Sylvia still raves about it.  That canelé is the reason that Sylvia was so determined to return to Jour.

That canelé was the reason that we had been discussing how much we wanted to go back to Jour.  It was the reason we were so happy to have fate open the door to us returning even sooner than we expected.  Despite the winter sun shining, we chose to start with warm drinks.  I had the hot chocolate and Sylvia indulged in the cafe au lait combo with croissant.  I was surprised to see her coffee come in a large bowl.  The waiter saw my expression a reassured me that it looked big but was only slightly bigger than a large coffee.

Sylvia ordered the Omelette du Jour: a French style free range omelette filled with garlic chives & Gruyére served with toasted sourdough. She raved about how it was one of the best omelettes she had ever had. It was rich and so filling that she brought half of it home along with half of her croissant from her coffee combo.  She finished her meal with one of the wonderful canelé.

I had the Galette du Jour from the specials board: Roasted pumpkin, black olive and Gruyére galette with roasted beetroot salad. The galette was a wedge of meltingly soft slice of pastry toppedwith a beautiful tasty toppping served with the chunks of roasted beetroot hidden in a mountain of mixed leaves and pepitas. It was amazing enough to make me declare it was the best French meal I have ever had.  I am sure we will back.

Jour Cafe
29 Keele Street, Collingwood
Open: Weekdays: 8am-3pm, Weekends: 8.30am-3pm
https://jour.com.au/