Toh Soon Café: Roti Bakar

An old twisted wire egg basket swung from an awning above; chatter, clutter, clatter and blurs of colour dominated the scene. Then an explosion of flavor and texture had me transfixed. Every movement in my vicinity seemed to slow to snail’s pace and then as though underwater, I was suddenly locked into my own void of silent discovery.

We were sitting upon low plastic stools at a folding tin topped table, its surface scarred by regular usage. We were in Malaysia. The venue was a narrow laneway, off Campbell Street in Georgetown, Penang. A tarpaulin was stretched overhead, spanning the lane and at the back a makeshift kitchen leant against one wall. The fast paced operation was manned by five people, each allocated their own tasks, two of them servicing two rows of tables.

This is Toh Soon Café. Open from early morning until late afternoon this quaint cobbled together venue is significant in that it’s the last remaining charcoal toasted Roti Bakar venue in Penang.

Roti Bakar is simple: two lightly toasted pieces of extra thick, sweet white bread, sandwiching lashings of butter and Kaya – coconut and egg jam. It comes with two barely boiled eggs which are broken into a cup. A little soy sauce is swirled into the runny eggs and the sweet toasted sandwich is then dipped into the slurry before being raised to your mouth.

In the face of modernisation and electric toasters, this particular stall still toasts the bread over hot coals through a window in a converted ten gallon drum. On our visit a young Indian man hunkered low beside the rustic contraption, toasting two sandwiches at a time, while above the coals the drum contained a chamber for heating the water, blanching the eggs and above that a providing a hotplate for the coffee pot. Simply ingenious - if a little uncomfortable for the staff member on toast duty.

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and in this case, it’s also the reason why locals flock here in large numbers when many others also serve Roti Bakar. Because, let’s face it, the turnover is high, the ingredients fresh and tasty, and of course there is the added advantage of eating smoky wood charred toast from a quirky contraption. And given the choice why wouldn’t you?

This, my first experience of Roti Bakar went off like a bomb in my mouth. I was struck dumb as I mentally probed the contents that provided this sensory overload: Crisp then spongy; sweet, salty, slippery; rich, really fresh egg yolk, silky egg white, soy sauce; palm sugar, coconut and more egg enriched unctuousness in the jam.

Crushing the smoky toasted exterior with my teeth, the soft centre of the sliced bread disintegrated on my tongue and the gooey egg, butter, coconut paste combination spread across the palate, soy sauce tipping the balance back from the sweet, rich Kaya.

I don’t think I heard another word spoken until it was finished, and then another round of toast appeared to mop up the rest of the egg.

I could not help myself. In spite of this being my second breakfast - following a nearby Hakka style Yum Cha - I dived into the intensely flavoured mixture of textures, washed down with a rich velvet stream of strong coffee mixed with condensed milk and a hit of chocolate, that left a caramel after taste creeping across my palate. I was temporarily rendered deaf, mute and blind to all around me. I had surely landed in breakfast heaven.

You can also read about Toh Soon Café
at My Wise Wife and Penang Food Galore

Wake up to sunshine

"'When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,' said Piglet at last,
'what's the first thing you say to yourself?'

'What's for breakfast?' said Pooh. 'What do you say, Piglet?'

'I say, I wonder what's going to happen that's exciting today?' said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. 'It's the same thing,' he said."

A. A. Milne, 'The House at Pooh Corner'

Why Mr Stickyfingers never suggests we go out for breakfast:

Home made Breakfast made with locally and ethically grown produce, featuring some rare breed or heritage ingredients

Hope Farm Volkorn sourdough toast,
Poached Marsh's Traditional Free Range hen eggs,
Kartanji Park honey mint lamb sausages,
Swiss Brown Mushrooms,
Gypsy Pig bacon,
Home grown Stupice tomato and herbs,
Home made, bright yellow duck egg Hollandaise Sauce.



Yesterday we went out for breakfast and by average standards it was fine. Today I made breakfast at home and the quality of the ingredients made it unquestionably better. Once again Slow Food and SOLE Food wins out over the produce many local cafes source. I only wish you could have tasted it.

Now, how can we convince more dining venues to do the same?

Braeside Cafe, Mount Macedon

Bucolic, although often used as an adjective, is a noun originally describing a type of pastoral poetry that praises rural life over that of the city. The manner of a bucolic is usually somewhat fantastic, and the poetry tends to contrast the pleasant and pure life of the country with the corrupt and corrosive world of society. The term derives from Virgil, and "Bucolics" is a reference to a collection of poems. One set of bucolics was written by Virgil, while Theocritus and others also wrote collections of rusticated poems. In contemporary poetry, W. H. Auden wrote a sequence known as "Bucolics."

It is a sunny Saturday morning in Mount Macedon, 45minutes out of Melbourne, and the six Custard Crusaders have gathered for breakfast. We are sitting in the wood lined home of Julie and Jim Staddon, which from Thursday to Sunday becomes their Braeside Café and a lounge for B&B guests, relegating them to the confines of the kitchen and bedroom.

Amongst the paraphernalia and photographs of family life we sit at their dining table over looking a magnificent English Garden. To the right is a splendid Chicken Coop and at opposite ends of the garden are two cabins available for rent. A Cockatoo and a Rosella swoop in to eat some birdseed and a hen wanders around her territory, picking at grubs and weed.

We have come for the Big Breakfast as cited by Jamie Wodetzki, The Breakfast Blogger, as earning a near perfect score of nineteen points out of a possible twenty. This meal, consisting of two freshly laid eggs, sautéed mushrooms, roasted tomato, an Istrian sausage, bacon, toast and hollandaise was tackled by the men and the women chose the corn fritters with a single egg, spinach, salmon and eggplant chutney.

Guests are greeted at the door and are asked what they would like to drink as they enter the premises. Aside form the dining table there are several other smaller tables and as this is a mild and sunny day, tables are also set outside. The menu is long, showcasing a list of light to heavy breakfasts, and I want to eat so many of the listed items, but it’s morning and I’m muddle-headed.

The service here is relaxed to the point of being comatose, but we don’t mind, as later that day, we are about to begin our journey reviewing vanilla slices. I notice Julie ducking out to the garden to pick herbs, and swiftly making her way back into the kitchen. The meals arrive staggered, much as you would expect from a home kitchen, and the first thing that hits you is the lurid colour of the Hollandaise Sauce. No pasty, pale and wan looking city style sauce, this golden wonder speaks of fresh eggs laid by hens free to peck around in the garden. The poached eggs are perfectly congealed, a further indication of their freshness.

The bacon and mushrooms are spot on but it is the spicy Istrian sausage that steals the show. A freshly made moist, meaty banger flecked with spices and cooked to absolute perfection. The corn fritters were a little burnt around the edges, but I dare say they’d be the same if I was cooking for twelve people simultaneously at home. The fritters were so thick with corn that the batter struggled to hold them together and the spinach formed a perfect mound atop one of them while a poached egg perched upon another. A generous serve of salmon was offset by a delicious helping of Fruits of The Forest eggplant relish and although was smaller than the Big Brekkie, it was more than enough for me.

To my mind the corn fritters are often better at Mart 130, but the bucolic locale and the hospitality of the home offset any culinary glitches. The quality of the produce was superlative, which was brought home the following day when our B&B provided us with supermarket eggs that were possibly 2months old, Bakers Delight bread and croissant and the largest rashers of commercial grade bacon I’ve ever seen to cook for breakfast. For me as you may know by previous rantings, it’s all about the freshness and integrity of the ingredients, cooked simply.

Julie bolted out of the kitchen for a quick chat and nod of approval. Our waitress also stopped by for a chin-wag about blogging and her own history of living in Woodend. We lingered, discussing the plan of attack on the vanilla slice journey and I took a turn around the garden with the camera. It was a slow start to the day and as I fell into repose sated, I had the desire to do absolutely nothing.

Braeside Café. 47 Taylors Road, Mt Macedon, Victoria.
Ph. 03 5426 1762. Big breakfast $15 Corn Fritters $12

Buried Treasure

Brunchtime, heading north of the city. It’s spring and the pretty boulevard is flush with the delicious pale hues of new leaves. We pull up near a weary beige vinyl couch slumped on the verandah of an ornate, Hawthorn brick Victorian era terrace house. A few doors away is North Carlton’s Rathdowne Street Food Store. Outside, the smokers cheerfully brave the wind and as we enter a waitress carefully places a fresh sheet of butcher’s paper on a recently vacated table.

The café is full to the rafters with women, no children and just a couple of men. A waiter races from table to counter and back again, multi tasking as he goes. My heart goes out to him. The poor dear is stretched to the limit, a weary smile stretched over his face. But with brisk professionalism he hands us breakfast, lunch and brunch menus. Seated on a bentwood chair with my back to the wall, I watch the world pass by, joined by Mr Stickyfingers who watches it all in reverse courtesy of the mirror behind me.

The coffee is perfect, the OJ freshly squeezed and the hot chocolate looks velvety. But what takes my breath away is my omelette. Buttery, richly flavoured, melt in the mouth eggs dissolve on my tongue. The next mouthful is offset by sweet braised leeks. Then the first of the prizes is revealed: hidden within are a half dozen barely cooked oysters. As I cut my way in, the first oyster releases its briny juices into the tarragon and champagne butter sauce, adding a flavour that flashes to mind the salty peat taste of the wind on a rocky beach in Scotland.

I am in brunch heaven. So much so that I close my eyes to concentrate on the simple but masterful combination of flavours. The soft textures are a culinary cashmere on my tongue. After this ecstatic surprise, Mr Stickyfinger’s dish of scrambled eggs with avocado, lime, basil and smoked salmon on toasted brioche, pales into insignificance.

The Rathdowne Street Food Store is the kind of place people say they’d love to have as their local. For the last ten years the team here have been plating up well executed, simple comfort food from 8:00am until well into the evening. They’re also known for their take home meal options and catering. Decorated in pared back French bistro style it is a popular weekend venue, in a shopping strip featuring a number of other quality dining options such as La Luna and Zum Zum. Best seats – with a view to the shopfront or by the fire, or perhaps a table on the street to enjoy a warm summer’s night. Our generously sized meals were priced at $19.50 & $18.50 respectively.

Rathdowne Street Food Store,
617 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North, Victoria. Phone. 9347 4064