5th Earl, Rosebery – Rating: 21.5/25

5th Earl

It’s always interesting to watch some new ‘phenomenon’ cafés. The ones that open and just have the right atmosphere, marketing and word of mouth dishes that cause the crowds to flock. 5th Earl can be added to this list.

It was opened in November in its heritage listed building by cousin-owners Klea Panousos and Liam Kay along with John Kozma (who is also the head chef). Klea discovered that Archibald Primrose Rosebery (after whom the suburb is named) was the 5th Earl and the name jumped out for the café!

You’re either very foolish (like I was) or don’t mind waiting, if you arrive after 10am! Despite very polished and friendly service, the word is most definitely out and the line starts to build after mid-morning so you will most likely experience a twenty minute wait. But who cares, its’ worth it…

Flat white

Toby’s Estate. Everyone knows it. 5th Earl uses it. I loved it. So for $3.50, start your day off with a cup of brilliance.

Ovvio organic loose leaf tea comes in a variety of flavours for $3.50.

Freshly squeezed juice

Freshly squeezed juice ($6.90) is available and my guest’s cloudy pineapple tasted as good as it looked. No ice but the fruit was chilled. You can add up to three of apple, pineapple, orange, watermelon, carrot or celery and then add ginger, mint or lemon. What more could you ask for?

Chocolate milkshake

So yeah, I finished this in about three big gulps. Milkshakes ($6.90) are available as chocolate, caramel, strawberry or vanilla and mine certainly hit the spot. Nice and thick with a strong chocolate hit.

Granola super bowl

Close to one of the best muesli or granola bowls I’ve had recently. The granola super bowl ($13.50) utilises Farmer Jo muesli and comes with your choice of coconut or natural yoghurt as well as rhubarb compote, fresh fruit, nuts, seeds and honey. I’m not going to say anything else other than this was presented perfectly and tasted as good as it looks. Spot on.

Benny roll

I dared my guest to eat the Benny roll ($12.90) with her hands and to squash the bun down as she did so. To my surprise, she accepted the challenge and I got to witness the gorgeous yolk erupt from between the brioche. A well constructed and filling roll comprised of two poached eggs, very crispy bacon, a house made tomato relish and rocket. This is topped with hollandaise which makes the relish even creamier and binds the ingredients together. Each element was prepared exceedingly well and I observed two thumbs up for this one from my guest. She added haloumi for $4 (and to make the choice even harder, buffalo mozarella ($5) is also available)!

Alaskan crab omelette

If there’ something on the menu with crab, I’ll be ordering it. I’m a sucker like that. So the Alaskan crab omelette ($20.90) was a no-brainer for me. I was surprised at the price too because there was a decent amount of crab in there. If I had the choice I’d pay a bit more and ask the chef to go overboard with it!

The crab is accompanied with spring onions, corn and black rice vinegar. The flavours are all very subtle but work very well and the omelette was cooked to a delightful golden colour with a touch of crispiness on the outside.

Kitchen

Other dishes available include brioche French toast with vanilla marscapone, fresh berries, salted caramel ice cream and maple bacon ($18.90), blueberry pancakes with ricotta, fresh berries, maple syrup, honeycomb pieces and fairy floss ($18.90) and Mediterranean baked eggs with slow roasted lamb and mushroom ragout, goats cheese and toast ($18.90).

Expect a few alterations to the menu as the season changes but I have no doubt that they’ll be as mouth watering and ingenious as the dishes I’ve already tried. As you can tell, they know their flavours well at 5th Earl and there are plenty of other dishes to tempt you. A lot of components are made from scratch on site like the falafel and labneh.

The baked goods come from various suppliers including Luxe, Yael’s and Ms Magoo and include incredible looking delicacies such as the fig nut and grain bar, the best caramel slice ever and Snickers slice.

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