Revisiting a past favorite with Three Monkeys

Three Monkeys Cafe and Tea House
58 Mollison St, West End

I'm going through a reminiscent phase with my blog. Reblogging one of the first cafes I wrote about makes me almost warm and fuzzy inside. My first post about Three Monkeys was from early 2009. Now, over 3 years later, so much of my life has changed but that cafe is still a solid point of comfort for me in West End.

I was wandering through the suburb late one night and found myself gravitating towards Three Monkeys. I'd never really gone solo before. My past memories of the place were of coffee and cake catchups with various highschool and uni friends. Ah, those were the days. I had an hour to kill while Marc was at a gig at the Hifi so I decided to pay tribute to the younger me and revisit my old hangout.

Three Monkeys is still the same as its always been in my mind: a quirky, dim and cluttered cafe with booths and small tables tucked away in its various twists and turns. The cake stand is as impressive as I remembered. The menu is completely unchanged.

I had cocktails and food at the Laneway with Blossom earlier that night so I wasn't exactly hungry. All the same, I ordered a couple of things to nibble at.

Haloumi platter

The haloumi platter was something Hien (one of my old coffee gossip buddies) used to order all the time. It's a small platter with pita bread, fried haloumi, tzatziki and Greek salad. As far as I'm concerned, that's all I need for a well-rounded lunch or light dinner. Simple but tasty.

Baklava

I used to get a different cake every time I went to Three Monkeys. The New York cheesecake was my favorite but there are so many good ones it's hard to go wrong. On this occasion, I chose the baklava because I wasn't really hungry and I wanted something I could easily takeaway.

Latte

Finally, a coffee completed my meal-for-one. I remember Three Monkeys for its bowl-sized coffees and chai lattes. Another blast from the past.

I didn't get a chance to tuck in before Marc finished up at his end but my short stay at Three Monkeys reaffirmed it in my mind as one of West Ends little gems. No matter what aspects of my life will change, I'll always be a sucker for coffee and cake.