THE MILL BAKEHOUSE, Fremantle

by MATT EELES:

The Mill Bakehouse at the Marine Terrace end of Fremantle’s Norfolk Street has never tried to be something it’s not.

It’s a pleasure to eat at a Fremantle café that isn’t full of hipsters in off-coloured skinny leg jeans.

There’s no antique bikes hanging crookedly on walls, no industrial chic, old suitcases nor Mason jars with cheap lighting.

And there are no brown bottles with half-dead flowers decorating sticky tables.

It’s just a run-of-the-mill café.

Kylie and I didn’t visit the Bakehouse with a giant breakfast in mind and after a look at the prices we didn’t expect one.

It all seemed so cheap, but maybe I’m just used to sky-high prices when eating in the port city.

Sweet

Kylie was quick to announce she wanted the french toast ($12.90).

She’s usually health-conscious but a sucker for anything sweet; breakfast, lunch or dinner. Her food arrived promptly, still warm and fresh.

The two slices of toast were generously thick, with moist egg coatings fried to golden perfection. It was piled high with glossy bacon and huge caramelised bananas with a ramekin of maple syrup on the side.

The large portion size wasn’t expected but she accepted her mission to finish it.

“The sweet and salty flavours work together on so many levels,” she muttered between mouthfuls.

Sitting in front of me was a gargantuan breakfast stack ($15.50).

Between toasted turkish bread halves was a slather of red onion jam and layers of gooey camembert, fresh green spinach leaves and a mound of tender bacon.

Hospitality

It was topped with an egg that was a little runny for my liking, but it was my fault for not ordering it double-fried, and I’m sure most prefer their yolks as served.

The massive feat seemed an easy one at first but after devouring half I quickly remembered the old adage, “your eyes are bigger than your belly”.

I always feel guilty about leaving food on my plate but in this rare case I couldn’t possibly take another bite.

After years of driving past The Mill I’m glad we finally gave it a go. Its hospitality is worth the visit alone.

The Mill Bakehouse on Norfolk
1/1 Norfolk St, Fremantle
9430 7727