Grace Cafe, Rose Street

Grace
76 Rose Street
Fitzroy, VIC 3065
Website


Grace is a cute and quirky little cafe just off Brunswick street. I'd read about it on Michael and Cindy's blog, and seeing that they serve quark-filled crepes (be still, my beating heart!), added it to my list of cafes to visit. We popped in one Saturday with a couple of friends who'd just been to the Rose Street Artists Market and were about to hit up the Lego exhibition.

Cakes at Grace

I love the display of cakes on the counter - it all feels appealingly homemade and rustic. Totally instagrammable!

Cutlery station

Salt and sugar

Old-school cappuccino!

Cappuccino - $3.50

TOAST - Enough toast for a breakfast, buttered. With jam. - $4.50

What can I really say about toast with jam? At only $4.50 you can't really complain, and the bread was toasted well - not hard or unpleasant as can sometimes happen. Good toast!

TOASTED MUESLI - Honeyed oats, almonds & seeds, w/a side of milk, yoghurt & seasonal fruits - $9

My friend Tim went for the "healthy" option: toasted muesli. I liked the retro plate in which it was served, and thought it was cool that it came with interesting fresh fruits: apricots, cherries and kiwi fruit.

Unsurprisingly, Sandra and I both ordered the quark-filled crepes: hers topped with berry compote...

QUARK-FILLED CREPES - Crepes filled w/vanilla-sweetened, organic quark. Served w/cream & berry coulis and cream - $13

... and mine served with lemon curd.

QUARK-FILLED CREPES - Crepes filled w/vanilla-sweetened, organic quark. Served w/ lemon curd and cream - $13

Don't be fooled by the small size; these were actually quite rich and we both struggled to finish. I wonder if we'd have been better off sharing one serving (perhaps paying extra for lemon curd and berry compote), and then potentially having room for some of those cakes on the counter.

Either way, they were good pancakes - I loved the slightly grainy, wholesome texture of the quark, which was served warm. The cold, fattily rich double cream and the sharp lemon curd were fantastic accompaniments. (Although looking at Cindy and Michael's post, the crepes looked a lot darker and crisper on their visit). This also reminds me that I've been meaning to make Nigella's blueberry blintzes for aaages. Must really get onto that!

After eating, we hung around for a little while, chatting and generally catching up. I liked Grace - it has a pleasant atmosphere, the food is well-priced, and the service had a good balance between efficiency and chillaxed friendliness. Orders were taken and food came out quite promptly, but we weren't rushed out afterwards, which was nice. Worth a visit!