Over the Christmas period, my brother was really keen to try a new brunch spot called Archie's. The first time we tried it was closed. Hmm. We ended up at Addict. The second time we tried, he was convinced it would be open - "it says so on the website". It was closed. We ended up at Arcadia.
This third time (without my brother) I walked down Gertrude Street and coincidentally saw it open for business and ready to try. I was hoping the name was a tribute to Archie comics (Betty, Veronica, Reggie and Jughead etc.) but I fear not.
The menu looks to have a few different items to most cafes I see these days. This is always a good sign.
- Huevos sucios (dirty eggs) (with tater tots, jalapeno spiked Monterrey Jack, avocado and tomatillo salsa, black beans, fried eggs, chipotle mayo) $17.5 - for some reason I missed the words tater tots and ordered hash browns as well. The potato overload was delicious with crisp outsides and lots of flavour (both taste identical btw). The rest of the items were fine, although I couldn't really taste any jalapeno, spiciness or cheese. As a carb person, I would've liked it (and I thought it was going to) come with bread;
- Dark chocolate, raspberry smoothie $9 - a very nice rendition, not quite as fantastic as Cupping Room's cherry version, but still hit the spot.
There's a few more dishes I'd like to savour here - crispy poached eggs with kimchi & enoki or Godmother chilli scrambled eggs in particular. I'll be back.
05-2016
During a late afternoon stroll along Gertrude Street, I was peckish. There was a dinner coming up so at 4:30pm not only did I feel like something small, most places would be closed by then.
Luckily Archie's was serving and I suppose I recognise the All Day reference since I didn't know they also stay open through to dinner. My great first impression a few months back was reinforced along this visit.
The same dark chocolate and raspberry smoothie washed down an excellent croissant they filled with gruyere cheese and really flavoursome ham ($9.5). Salad of roasted cauliflower, salted zucchini, golden raisins, mint, quinoa and tahini ($16.5) was also a great combination of textures and flavours with tangy sumac spice to layer it.
I didn't get to try so many of the dishes I wanted from last visit so this was just a brief boost to keep my interest up.