Brother Nancy - The other other side of Essex Street

Ok ... lets try and keep this one short and sharp at least! But not before waxing lyrical about the community spirit inherent in WeFo and its environs ... well thats if you have kids! Or a local business, or work in the community. More of this later on.

My first visit to Brother Nancy was brief. Quick enough to order a takeaway coffee and finish three quarters of it a table on the footpath. My initial impression was not promising. I couldn't believe I was actually drinking a Proud Mary roast! Still the main purpose that day was to go for a walk (Essex Street is delightful btw) and to instagram (please to follow me - temasek68 - do it! do it!!). So 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

Second visit was for brunch with M! My first gripe was that brekkie cuts out at a certain time! Which I don't really get, considering that there is hot food options to be had for both the Morning and the Midday sections, which means that the kitchen would have had to be used regardless.

Anyhoo, moving right along, its a Melbourne cafe, so it has all the standard design touches. It has the perfect location with the bus stop being right outside. I'm sure the morning takeaway business is brisk. This side of Essex Street is decidedly residential, but seeing the renos around here, I'm sure its the right dynamic for a brunch spot! 

Going back to my take on the WeFo community spirit, the camaraderie was in full swing when we sat down, but being offsiders, service seemed to us a little perfunctory, or perhaps slightly distracted.

Still the coffee this time round was great. And our Fish and Chip burger ($14.50) was a delight. I'm a big chip sandwich fan, and this was exactly that in a brioche bun with a lovely aioli to boot.

I think along with the Sandwich at POD, this is going to be one of my goto lunch dishes when I'm craving simple and honest flavours with just a touch of gastro glam. (Gastro ... what a word!) But is it really that hard to pit olives in a salad? Or at least give your punters fair warning? We're not all spring chickens with perfect teeth round here!

We were slightly dissappointed at not being able to order from the Morning menu as the breakfast options looked really interesting on paper. But I guess there's the excuse for a repeat visit which hopefully will happen soon. So in summary, I think Brother Nancy is still finding its feet, but it certainly is a welcome addition to the neighbourhood and in an odd way it is like a little tucked away oasis in what is a surprisingly busy and hectic suburb.