Greetings café lovers!
Welcome back to Cards and Cafés! Hope you are ready to come on another food adventure with me, so sit back and come along to The Counter in Hawthorn.
I recently caught up with two of my University friends, Maddy and Flick, and we thought we’d stick to our favourite brunch area, Hawthorn. I’d heard about The Counter from a family friend and thought that it was time for me to try it out.
The Counter is very easy to find, as it sits on Auburn Road in Hawthorn , basically opposite Hello Sailor and Auburn Train Station. There is plenty of parking along Auburn Road and along the side streets around the café.
FOOD & DRINKS
The Counter has a pretty interesting menu, with a number of delicious sounding dishes to choose from.
The following menu photos were taken in February 2017 and might have changed since.
I ordered a latte, and thought it was great! It was pretty strong, and it had a rich and creamy flavour. It was just slightly cold when it arrived at the table.
Coffee rating: 4/5 
Maddy ordered two cappuccinos, and it’s safe to say that she thought they were fantastic! She said that they had a rich and creamy consistency and a strong flavour.
Coffee rating: 5/5 
Both Maddy and Flick ordered The Counter house-made banana and raspberry bread with salted butter.
They loved it, and said that the bread was fluffy yet very filling. They both enjoyed the addition of the raspberries, and thought it added bursts of sweetness with every mouth-full.
I ordered the Melbourne Pantry bacon steak, potato & mustard hash, poached eggs and watercress with a side of toast. I liked the sound of this dish when I first saw it on the menu (as I love hash browns), and I wasn’t disappointed. The hash browns were great! They had a fantastic crunchy texture on the outside, but were light and fluffy on the inside. I loved the addition of the mustard, as it added another element of flavour and made it slightly more interesting.
The eggs were cooked quite well, and the bacon steak was also quite tasty. The bacon was a bit oily, and left some residue on my plate.
I just think this dish is quite expensive, considering it doesn’t actually include toast. Without the toast I would have still been quite hungry.
ENVIRONMENT & SERVICE
The service at The Counter was fantastic! The employees were all very friendly, and were quite happy to give endless amounts of ice (5 bowls) for Flick. The waiter we had was very knowledgeable about the menu. They were also very sweet and made us laugh.
The café had a very relaxed atmosphere, as we didn’t feel rushed to order our food or eat. We felt quite comfortable to sit out in the courtyard and drink our coffees and chat.
Sitting out in the courtyard was great! As it’s undercover its quite warm, and it was nice to see so many people out there with their dogs. I would recommend sitting out here, as inside can get quite noisy and cramped when it is busy. They also have a few tables out the front, which is a good option on a warm day, or if you have your dog with you.
OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE COUNTER
Address: 96 Auburn Rd, Hawthorn, Melbourne, (Vic)
Map: here
Phone: (03) 9815 2787
Website: here
Operating Hours:
Monday –Friday –6:30 am- 3:00 pm
Saturday – 7:30 am – 3:00 pm
Sunday – 8:00 am – 3:00 pm
CAFÉ RATING = 8/10
Have you visited The Counter before? Tell me what you thought of it. Do you have any suggestions of cafe’s to visit?
Comment down below, I’m always looking for somewhere new to try.
Until next time,
Happy eating
-Kim
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