Gypsey & Musquito…. disappointing
Gypsey & Musquito
382 Bridge Road
Richmond VIC 3121
Open: Mon – Fri 7am – 4pm; Sat – Sun 8am – 4pm
Website
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargggghhhhh…. don’t you hate it when you trek out to Richmond to one of your favourite cafés – only to find it closed because it’s Monday!!! Incredibly frustrating!!!
… So without a Plan B… but with a keen desire for a yummy breakfast – I started trawling the streets of Richmond to try to find spontaneous breakfast nirvana! After all – it’s my first day of holidays – I deserve a treat.
I came across Rowena Parade Grocer – but after looking at the menu decided that it wasn’t one of the more evolved breakfast lists I’ve seen – so back in the car. Left here, right there, wend my way through that back street, around this corner. I found myself on Bridge Road… surely there’s something down here… driving, driving, driving….. hang on… Gypsey & Musquito – that’s it – I have to try that! Breakfast spot of the year in 2012′s Cheap Eats - surely that’s going to hit the spot!
So, I parked and bounded into the little café – I have to say – it’s got a great fit out. Everything is really antiquey – and it’s been put together with a great sense of style. So, full points to ambience!! They even have little touches like bottling jars to serve as water jugs – very cool. There’s clearly been a lot of thought put into the stylings and furniture – and represents a lot of passion by someone who has spent considerable time searching through shops and auctions to find perfect pieces. It boded well!
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Coffee
I ordered my usual coffe – they use 5 senses here and it was good. Smooth, creamy and aromatic. I think my 3/4 flat white lasted about 3/4 of a minute! I had perused the menu – despite the seduction of the home made crumpets – I decided upon the corn cake. Something a bit more healthier than my usual pancakes / French toast option…
Corn cake, oven roasted tomato, bacon, sour cream, house-made tomato relish, maple syrup
What can I say people… I was incredibly disappointed. My first bite was OK – I had a bit of the corn cake with some bacon and sour cream, tomato relish and a little drizzle of maple syrup – which really complemented the mix. But that must have been all the maple syrup in one bite (and it was barely a drizzle) because I didn’t really come across it in any further mouthfuls. And, after one bite – it just seemed like a weird combination of flavours. But the big let down of the dish is that the corn cake was definitely more cake than corn….
It was just weird – and it didn’t work for me. The corn cake was light and fluffy – which was good – because the alternative, being heavy and stodgy, would have been worse. But I guess I was expecting something a bit more fritter like! This was actually more like a fat buttermilk pancake taking a bit of a savoury stroll with the inclusion of some barely there corn and parsley. I got through about half of the dish and actually stopped eating. I hadn’t been enjoying it for the last 6 mouthfuls… so I was well overdue just giving up.
So, alas – my foray into Gypsey & Musquito was not the best – a little out of step with other’s reviews. To my mind there was just too much going on in the dish. Which, to me speaks of a bit of a distraction theory – if you put lots of elements on the dish, shouldn’t they all be brilliant? Especially the star of the dish… but not this time, not for me anyway. Perhaps I should have looked at the Urbanspoon rating before going in…. 26% of people saying they are either unequivocal or don’t like it is a fair indicator. But then again… it wasn’t really a planned visit… so lesson for me – have a Plan B…. d’oh! Life’s too short for bad breakfasts…..
