We were at Dempsey pretty early on Saturday morning (around 10.45), initially to try the breakfast/brunch menu at Culina, which apparently was only served until 11 am. We must have read a very old review/article, because when we got there, we saw that they only served lunch, and only from 11 am onwards. When asked, the servers looked a bit stunned, and said they hadn’t been serving breakfast for a long time. Because it was too early for a full-on meal, we bailed on Culina yet again, and found ourselves at next door Jones The Grocer, where extended breakfast hours on weekends are now 9.30 am to 3 pm.
This was only our second visit to Jones; the first time was back in October last year when they were still fairly new, and had some staffing and logistical problems. It was much better this time – they have more staff now, and they’re generally more clued in as well. Also, this time we were early enough for brunch, so I didn’t have to resort to having a sandwich like I did the last time.
A obviously doesn’t have any problem with sandwiches though – he ordered the bagel with smoked salmon, avocado and watercress. I like the creaminess of the avocado paired with the quite strong watercress, but as a result the smoked salmon, which was quite mildly flavoured, ended up taking a backseat. The toasted bagel was good though – I used to think bagels were overrated but this may have changed my mind.
I ordered the Jones English breakfast, consisting of eggs, sausages, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and sourdough toast. This is a more refined, less artery-clogging version of the Penny Black fry-up; it has less oomph, and the sausages at Penny Black are much better, but at least you can enjoy this more often without the guilt. There was a slight glitch when I ordered sunny side up eggs and they served me scrambled, but they took it back and replaced it without any questions asked.
Coffees are good here – my flat white was better than A’s latte. Also, what I like about coming here is browsing the aisles after eating. This time we checked out the cheese room, and ended up getting a couple of wedges of delightfully creamy brie. Note to self: the French brie is much more strongly flavoured, but the Australian brie, being milder, lends itself to eating in more copious amounts.
A says:
Being an expat joint, I’m not surprised by the price; I just expected the portions to be bigger. My bagel looked deceptively tall only because the thin layer of salmon covered a huge load of avocado.
Although the service here is now very good, I don’t really fancy this as a breakfast place. Choupinette is still tops in my book.
Jones the Grocer
Block 9, #01-12
Dempsey Road
Tel: 6476-1512
Opening hours: Tues-Sun: 9.30am to 11pm; Mon: 9.30am to 6pm
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