Cafe Troppo

Early morning socialising with friends saw me at Cafe Troppo, located on Whitmore Square in the CBD. This  trendy little cafe has been on my radar for a while, always appearing crazy busy whenever I have driven past. They serve breakfast, light lunches and on Friday nights they do Tapas and Pizzas as well as often having local live music. 

When we arrived we had to wait for a table, I had expected this given their popularity and that they don't take bookings. The wait however was short, maybe ten minutes? and it was obvious that turnover here is pretty quick. The venue itself reminded me of all the great things I love about the Melbourne cafe scene, slightly quirky/hipster, very organic feeling and a nice atmospheric buzz. We were brought menus and told that when we were ready we ordered at the counter. Service was friendly and efficient, you could see how under the pump the staff were to keep up with both in house diners and the steady stream of takeaway patrons yet they still managed to serve with a smile and some light hearted conversation.

Coffee's ordered by the table were a piccolo, flat white and a long black. I can safely say this place does a mean long black, robust, strong and clean with no bitterness or burnt aftertaste.

One of my co-diners ordered the Egyptian Eggs, their verdict was that the salad base was the stand out part of the dish. Describing it as having a great acidic dressing that went well with the herbs and spring onion. They said that whilst the dukkah definitely complemented with the eggs it was overpowered by the stronger flavours of the salad.

Fitness wise I am currently living the bulk life, this mean's I have a ridiculous amount of calories I need to eat a day (#fitgirlproblems) so when I saw that this cafe had a breakfast pizza there was no doubt that it would be my choice of meal. A spelt flour base with homemade red sauce, seasonal greens, swiss cheese, bacon and a poached egg, this was crazy good. Honestly I would go back for this alone, the base was perfectly crispy with a soft/slightly chewy texture, the tomato sauce was well balanced, not to sweet but not too acidic, there was just enough green to cut through the richness of the crunchy-crispy, salty and oh so moreish bacon and gooey melted cheese and the egg... well I really should have taken a photo of the yolk porn because it was an A grade-could not fault in any way-bang on the money poached egg. I also ordered an orange juice, I rarely partake in juice these days but had serious cravings alllll week and thankfully this ticked all the boxes. Very fresh, nice sweet/tart balance and well chilled this just rounded off a great dining experience...I was a very content and full patron.

The last meal ordered at the table was a poached eggs-mushroom-halumi combo. My friend said the halumi was nicely fried, the mushrooms were rich and had been cooked so that they retained a firm and juicy texture, again perfectly poached eggs, the salad was fresh and the bread well toasted. The only fault they had was that because we were outside the meal went cold super quick, which is more a criticism of Adelaide's current unpredictable and cold weather then Troppo's service or food quality :)

Final verdict? If you love funky, hipster Melbournesque cafes that serve decent coffee and delicious food then Cafe Troppo is the place for you. I really enjoyed my meal here, not only was the food of excellent quality but the efficient and friendly service despite how busy they were was appreciated. Definitely worth the trip into the CBD I will certainly be paying Cafe Troppo a revisit.