Le Chien

It happens now & again, that the elements just aren’t right, or just don’t come together, even when in all likelihood they should.
Le Chien is one of those places that reminds me of an episode of The Twilight Zone, where by appearances you’re where you want to be, but in reality you just want to get away.
Picture a man & his charming companion out for Saturday morning breakfast. A seemingly simple affair, but with one exception: the café is in The Twilight Zone.
On sitting down, menus are read, & two coffees are ordered. Moments later, one coffee arrives. At least 10 more minutes pass, and neither another coffee nor an explanation is forthcoming. A few more pass, & then a question is asked, will the other coffee be coming soon? A question greeted with an albeit sweet, but genuinely stunned surprise.
More minutes pass, & I must confess my gut impulse is saying to drop a fiver on the table & walk out the door. One doesn’t recover from that kind of feeling too quickly, but we’ve decided to see it through, even though we’re both fairly livid by now.
My partner isn’t having a bar of it though, & when the other coffee finally arrives she promptly tells the waitress we expect it to be taken off the bill. Again, the sweet, but genuinely stunned look of surprise.
We’re soon greeted by the proprietor, who is gracious enough but a bit on the defensive side. But that’s ok, my girlfriend will trade body blows with any café owner, if the ugly specter of bad service is raised.
As an aside, there was no sugar on our table, so we asked the table next to us if they wouldn’t mind. They were finished, it didn’t seem like it would be an issue. But somehow it was. I wasn’t aware that the couple sitting next to us had brought their own sugar to the café, & resented sparing three teaspoons — terribly…
A moment or two passes, & the scene is repeated, where two breakfasts were ordered, but one does arrive. I now know why my gut was telling me to bolt, & I wished I’d listened.
Now the proprietor is personally waiting on us, & he comes to say my eggs Benedict was coming, but one of the eggs broke on the way to our table, so it will be a few more minutes. I honestly now am wondering if we’re on hidden camera, because the more rational explanation is altogether more terrifying.
Meals eaten, cups emptied, we’re now thankfully free to go. But the proprietor isn’t done with us yet. He mentions he just wanted the chance to make things right. I can hear The Twilight Zone theme music in the back of my mind…
I paid, I walked, I will never, ever return here again.

Occasionally, I like to venture to the wild wild West of Melbourne to show how intrepid and adventurous I am. I admit, it’s a 20 minute drive and it’s not like crashing through a colony with a machete trying to reach civilisation, but its further than Windsor for a Southsider like me.
So one Sunday, I frolicked to the Wild Wild West to meet a couple of mates for brunch. One of the lasses was French, and I suspect there is a link between her cultural heritage and choosing this place.
Good soy chai latte. Good soy latte. Good pots of peppermint tea (you can tell we were here for a while, yes?) I had the smashed avo with two poached eggs, bacon and sourdough toast. It was good — the smashed avo has some crumbled fetta in it. Topped with the poached eggs, it was brunch utopia for me. And combined with good witty conversation I may have awkwardly hugged my mates from gratitude. Awkward.

Have been here a few times now and has always impressed. The coffee is really good, service is friendly and the food is great. Had a smashed pea, feta and poached egg dish. It is brilliant and I’m a good chance of eating agin before the week is out.

Best: porridge w/​granola crumble and berry
(Ask if you can up the granola for a few dollars, increase that sugar crunch ratio)
This place is out to be a shinning example of gentrification of the western suburbs, but they are doing it with bacon and smoothies so I’m not that mad about it. It’s quiet has a high cute puppy frequency although as often this coupled with high index of babies and loud generic white people catching up and engaging in stereotype offs. Solid spot!

One of my favourite locals. Le Chien is so great– it’s been around for awhile and is completely free of any attitude or pretentiousness, whilst still offering really great quality food & coffee.
LOVE the Thai Chicken Burger and of course just your usual bacon & eggs, but ultimately they have a pretty great diverse menu of breakkie/​lunch foods, and there’s always a couple of interesting specials up on the board too.
There’s a couple of nice tables out the front that you can usually nab during the week, but be warned, getting a table at all on a Saturday or Sunday morning is a bit of a nightmare. Definitely a favourite hangout for young families, so it can get a bit overwhelming with kiddies on occasion.
They do a lovely chai latte, and there’s also always a pretty good selection of cakes/​tarts etc if you’re just after a snack!
Open for dinner some nights of the week– ends up being quite a nice relaxed/​quiet little spot to have a glass of wine and a nice meal.
Definitely one of Seddon’s most reliable go-​to café options.

Three stars with some reservations:
Food is pretty average and as a much better meal can be had at other local cafes, I no longer eat here. There is also an extemely high quotient of children, which is not the fault of the café, but it is a deciding factor for me when I’m deciding where to get my local cuppa. Pram bottlenecks and screeching babies do not make for a relaxing coffee break.
That all being said, Le Chien makes a very good good flat white and the wooden tables out front are a great place to catch the late afternoon sun. I like to come here around 4pm when the service is prompt and the café is nearly empty (i.e, babyless).

Another one of my have Westie hangouts.
I love this place — breakfast, lunch or dinner (well, I haven’t been recently for dinner).
AND, my favourite dish is the Promite Special. Over the passed 5 years I have ordered the Promite Special and it never, ever fails.
Service is great here too… coffee also amazing.
In Summer, I love sitting at one of those outdoor tables, enjoying my breakie with my dog and the paper.

On Steve’s recommendation we came here for lunch and I’m glad we did. I had a pasta special and it was fantastic. This would be a great place to hang out at while you read the paper and down a latte in the morning, but today it was a quick lunch before racing back to the city. Maybe next time :)

Sing it with me now — ‘it’s delish-​us, it’s delight-​ful, it’s de-​lovely’. I’m going to make a not-​so-​secret confession here: I’m a complete breakfast tart. Not the cute little pastries (gluten! argh!)… but the Will Travel All Over Town For Breakfast kind of tart. Honestly.
My husband and I have driven for an hour, waited in queues longer than I wish to remember and even dined at more than one breakfast establishment on a single day. Yes, really. We’re starting the coffee crawl.
Anyway, given all this it’s a pretty terrific thing to discover that a venue within a 15 minute radius of your house makes a seriously good morning feast.
Le Chien doesn’t get noticed much. It’s on the wrong side of town. It’s not on all the hit lists and it doesn’t have the edgy cool furniture and the boys with super skinny jeans. But it has all the important things — great coffee, great food, and they don’t mind if you bring your own bread ’cause you can’t eat theirs.
Oh, and they have cool takeaway cups.
Yummo.