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It’s hard to review Eat Drink Man Woman without mentioning Retro, the cafe that previously occupied this space. While Retro was retro (in all the wrong ways unfortunately, having not having progressed since its heyday in the nineties), Eat Drink Man Woman is a modern affair.

The interior has been given a complete refit, and takes advantage of the expansive windows on two sides to provide excellent natural light. Light coloured furnishings adds to the airy feel. You can get a good idea from the great photos in Jetsetting Joyce’s review.

We were there for breakfast, and that menu is short but interesting. I was torn between the son in law eggs and the shakshuka, but settled on the latter option. As you can see from the photo, Eat Drink Man Woman commits the breakfast sin of providing just a single piece of ‘toast’. I guess at least it was a thick slice of toast, and had nice flavour from being charred on the grill rather than toasted.

The tomato sauce contained capsicum, preserved lemons, olives and various herbs, but despite this, was a little bland and underseasoned. Even the feta on top failed to lift it. The other issue was that some of the olives were unpitted, which wouldn’t be a problem except that some of them were quite small, meaning you didn’t necessarily know when you were about to bite into one. On the plus side, the eggs were perfectly cooked.

My girlfriend had the poached quinces with couscous (or was it quinoa?), nuts and yoghurt. It’s a nice idea, but she thought the poaching liquid had given them an unidentifiable, and slightly unpleasant, taste.

The coffee was very good, especially for a cafe that appears to be focusing more on the food. And the service was professional and friendly, which is what you want at breakfast time.

It had only been open for just over a week, and I’ve got no doubt that once the kinks with some of the dishes are ironed out, it’s going to be a deservedly popular addition to Brunswick Street.

Don’t make the same mistake that we did, and visit Johnston Street Foodstore (256 Johnston St, Fitzroy) expecting a menu of breakfast standards. If you come here looking for poached eggs (or any sort of eggs for that matter, you’ll be disappointed. Instead it serves pre-prepared breakfast fare, such as pastries and tartlets.

We tried a blueberry danish and a citrus cake. Both were a bit dry, suggesting they may have been made the previous day. The coffee was good, without being great.

The sandwiches on the other hand look very tasty, so perhaps breakfast isn’t the time to visit Johnston Street Foodstore, and it’s more of a lunch spot.

At some stage, Atomica (268 Brunswick St, Fitzroy) would have been a cool new Fitzroy/Collingwood cafe. That was in the past, and it’s been overtaken by the likes of Birdman Eating and Cavallero in the cool stakes. The interior is looking pretty tired and the menu doesn’t look particularly exciting.

What it lacks in style, it more than makes up for in substance. The coffee is the best and most consistent in Fitzroy – much better than many of Melbourne’s cafes that makes up the so-called ‘third wave’ of coffee.

Similarly, the food, while not particularly imaginative, is executed perfectly. Scrambled eggs are actually scrambled rather than being mashed up omelettes, and poached eggs are done just right. Side are equally good, with crispy bacon, ripe tomatoes, and beans that actually taste home-made, or house made, as other cafes might phrase it. Even the bread is even baked there.

Service is friendly, and when a mistake in service is made, the staff is happy to acknowledge it.

Next time you’re wanting a nice breakfast out, instead of queueing for a table at the latest cool cafe, give Atomica a shot.

When you pay $14 for scrambled eggs and hash browns, you want everything to be close to perfect. Charcoal Lane (136 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy), a newish cafe/restaurant/social enterprise, ultimately fell short.

The scrambled eggs were well executed, reasonably fluffy and nicely seasoned. They were also listed as free range, and the serving was pretty generous. Even better were the hash browns, a mount of buttery, salty (but not too much so) grated potato.

Apologies for the photo, taken after I’d started the dish

The dish was let down by the toast, which was made from thin slices of decidedly average bread. I wouldn’t quite say it was supermarket quality, but it was much too light and didn’t taste much like sourdough, as the menu promised.

My girlfriend ordered corn fritters, which came with a chutney, and were superb. The texture was just right, and you could actually taste the sweetness of the corn kernels.

The coffee wasn’t too bad, although I’m not too sure about the Bodum double walled coffee glasses my long black was served in. It did keep the coffee hot, but I don’t think it did the flavours any favours.