Once a Waitress

Crowded

New to the neighbourhood, I’ve been exploring the Hawthorn area while I settle into my new digs. Liar Liar, off Glenferrie Road, was top of the list, mostly because it came with the highest number of recommendations.

My first visit came on a dreary, drizzly Saturday morning, but there were no winter blues at Liar Liar. I like to breakfast alone on Saturdays since I left Tassie. It’s a good time of the week to debrief, hog all the good sections of the paper and have a third coffee if I really, really want one. One day, if I ever meet my other half, they will probably have to have a similar outlook on Saturday mornings.

It’s not a large venue, but the decor is funky and well placed communal tables and window seats ensure there is almost always space for a lone breakfaster such as me. Tables generally turn over fast enough so as not to deter too many locals, although at one stage the line stretched out the door and around the corner.

Sometimes, however, I like to play grown-ups, so on my second visit I was accompanied by @littledrummrgal and her fine other half, Dan who re-built and hosted this website. Unlike my first visit, where I was cheerily seated at the first available table, we were told to wait (which is fine). Then forgotten about. Then rudely told to keep waiting for the next table after newcomers pushed in and seated themselves on the table that we had hoped was being cleaned for us. I’m hoping this isn’t a common occurrence.

Our bad seating experience aside, the coffee was sensational, much to my delight, and it’s obvious that the proprietors of this venue value experience and expertise from their staff – they otherwise have a skilled team on board, excluding the aforementioned waitress. A peppy blonde was attentive and cheery, a pleasant surprise considering the ratio of prams and/or screaming toddlers to adults – to be expected in a suburb like Hawthorn.

Coffee

House-made beans on pesto sourdough with grilled haloumi (15.5) sounded promising, and in fact Liar Liar, you had me at haloumi (for this I blame Nigella Lawson).

Beans

The dish looked sensational, but didn’t quite hit the mark. The beans, always the benchmark for judgement, could easily have been the combination of canned diced tomatoes, canned haricot beans and nothing else – not the sticky, slow cooked variety I was seeking. Haloumi, once grilled at a high temperature and cooled again, will become as rubbery as an old shoe, I’m sad to say my meal didn’t arrive as hot as it should have. Still haloumi is haloumi, and nothing on earth could stop me from eating it, hot or cold. The pesto was neither here nor there, I could easily have done without it, or with a drizle of good quality olive oil in its place.

On my return visit, eggs florentine ($15.5) pleased. Buttery, tangy hollandaise and soft poached eggs atop turkish bread really hit the spot. Muffins are over-rated in my book, and I was a bit frightened of the sourdough from my breakfast the week before – why cafes are insisting on serving four-inch thick toast I have no idea. No picture for this – we were sitting in a super sunny spot and the light was all wrong. I promise it was good though. Excellent even. So good, I’ll go back next weekend – but if that waitress keeps up her Saturday rudeness, It’s all over.

Liar Liar

90 Kinkora Rd
Hawthorn VIC 3122
(03) 9818 8864

Open breakfast/lunch 7 days

Tags: Hawthorn, Liar Liar

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 at 10:59 pm and is filed under Hawthorn. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.