Eurovida for Breakfast

Eurovida
http://eurovida.com.au/

Whenever I make a mistake or stuff something up these days, I try and put a positive spin on it by thinking "what have I learnt from this". Sunday morning, on my way to Eurovida, I learnt that distances on Google Maps can appear much closer than they end up being in real life.

I'm not averse to walking. In fact, I love it. I've been known to walk more than 3hrs to get from one suburb to another (once at 2am in the morning but that's borderline psychotic so I won't go into details) and one of the things I enjoy most about overseas travel is walking through new cities. For some reason, this particular morning I was not in the mood for walking. Everything felt like it was uphill (even though it wasn't really). It was early on a winter morning but despite the fact that it was probably cool, I felt hot and annoyed and lost.

When I finally got to Eurovida, I was euphoric. It was like seeing an oasis in the distance and have it actually be real, rather than a mirage. Bliss. Joy. Somewhere to sit down.

Eurovida is a cute cafe located on Given Terrace in Paddington. Paddington is a cute cafe hotspot so there are many in this region and it's difficult to stand out. I liked the openess of Eurovida's dining set-up. Weatherwise, it was a stunning morning and the semi-indoor/outdoor seating area was bathed in sunlight. I couldn't have wished for better breakfast conditions. Plus, I'm a sucker for fresh flowers so put that on a table and I can't help but feel happy.

Latte

I arrived first so I ordered a coffee to get me going. It was a lovely, rich blend and gave me a little energy boost that was just what I needed after my travels.

Hot chocolate

When Kat arrived, we set out to order more food and drink. She ordered a hot chocolate and I chose a banana and honey smoothie.

Banana and honey smoothie

The banana smoothie was very obviously made from real banana, which is great but I don't expect anything less from a proper cafe. Fake banana syrup is for takeaway stores! It was a yummy smoothie that wasn't too sweet.

House made zucchini bread - with salt cured cherry tomatoes, charred zucchini ribbons, roasted field mushrooms and lemon ricotta

There were a number of items on the breakfast menu that stood out to me but I ended up going for the zucchini bread. I don't know what it is with me and zucchini lately but it's one of my grocery staples and I'm constantly looking up new ways to cook it. Zucchini bread is something I've seen a few times in menus but never tried before so I was curious. It came on a platter of grilled zucchini slices, mushrooms, ricotta and cherry tomatoes.

Texture shot of zucchini bread

The zucchini bread was more moist than I expected and on its own didn't have much flavor. Individual components were fresh but nothing special. When eaten all together though, they complimented really nicely. I thought this was a great breakfast meal because it was hearty but healthy.

Open omelet - with ham, asparagus, herbs and creme fraiche

Kat wanted the omelet, which is listed as sandcrab omelet on the menu, but she doesn't like seafood so she requested an alternative. The kitchen was happy to accomodate and she had ham omelet instead. I tried a bit and thought it was really great. Kat has this habit of putting tomato sauce on her eggs but she didn't this time and still ate it all so I think that must mean the omelet was good enough to distract her from asking for tomato sauce. I think it was the creme fraiche that did the trick. It was so delicious and reminded me of a lighter, zingy version of hollandaise.

I loved Eurovida. I know that I say that a lot about brunch places because I just love that style of food but on the flip side, I have been to so many cafes that it's not easy to make a positive impression. Eurovida did just that with impeccable service, tasty food, a menu that is creative without being too unfamiliar and a generally pleasant atmosphere. We got there early and it wasn't too busy but by the tine we were finished, there was a queue for tables. I can certainly see why they're so popular.