The first meal of the year was going to be on Gertrude Street. Actually the intention was Archie's as my brother was convinced it would be open - according to his internet searching. However for the second time within 2 weeks, he was sadly disappointed by their closed doors. No matter, the beauty of Gertrude Street is the multitude of cafes and brunches to pick from.
I've always thought Arcadia to be not as good as the nearby De Clieu or slightly further Proud Mary and Three Bags Full. I'm not sure why this was - maybe I preferred the food and drink at the other two, maybe those places were always more difficult to get seats in, maybe I just like the food options better there as being more creative. I think it's better than my last visit to Birdman Eating (around 2010).
- Corn fritter stack with fennel, caper & cherry tomato salad, smashed avocado, poached eggs, habanero chilli lime mayo & smoked salmon $20.9
- Panfried rosemary & garlic mash potato cake with spinach, bacon, poached eggs & sweet bell pepper pesto $20.9
Like always the meals were fine but I wasn't overwhelmed. Keep in mind that thinking other places are better is far from saying Arcadia is bad - on the contrary it is good and the dishes will always be fine but I still prefer the others.