The Melbourne freakshake is real. After copying the idea from Patissez (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/patissez-canberra-07-2015), the creation of exceptionally photogenic (although I didn't do a great job) dessert creations piled high into a sugar mess has taken over the world.
Funnily enough I didn't know Common Galaxia did these and it certainly wasn't my inspiration to come here for food twice. Nonetheless after seeing it on the menu, I had to try it once. The chocolate brownie with vanilla bean ice-cream, chocolate freckle, Mork chocolate and fairy floss $12.5 is an expensive piece for the eye. Overall the base liquid is less intense and more drinkable than the plain uninspired version at Patissez, but other than the brownie, the rest of the ingredients (freckle and fairy floss) only really serve for visual appeal. Perhaps Persian floss or more dark chocolate would be to my taste, but I won't order this again. If you want sweetness, I'd suggest trying the French toast as that is likely as sweet, looked sensational and would probably be higher quality.
On the other hand, the food is better.
- Crispy skin barramundi (with buckwheat, fennel, broad bean, chilli, tomato & basil salad with olive relish) $19.5 - a nicely cooked fish, very well seasoned skin, salty relish and some colourful salad for balance;
- Portuguese baked eggs (with tomatoes, bell peppers, beans, basil, fior di latte & spiced pine nuts) $17.5 - a very tasty dish with a more rounded flavour than the Spanish versions around town and served with nice dense slices of rye.
On that day the were out of the ham hock eggs benedict with spiced hollandaise $17, so I went back two weeks later to try it. I don't know if ham hock or the fact it was unavailable made me do it, but it wasn't as good as I hoped. The bread was good, the ham was reasonably soft and quite strong, but the hollandaise isn't for me.
Next time I would order the baked eggs or pine mushrooms for breakfast and any of the cooked options for lunch.