Spacious. Bouncy. Fun. At Cafe Melba.

(Daddy blogs)

You know you are onto a sure-fire winner when the monkies started gesticulating excitedly even before we reached the restaurant proper.

Thanks to a tip-off from a relative about some vibrantly coloured objects on its premises, we made our way down to Cafe Melba one Saturday morning for a lazy brunch.

Located in the grounds of the Goodman Arts Centre (near Mountbatten MRT), Cafe Melba exudes a laid-back charm, with a rather spacious interior and exterior to match.

We arrived at the ungodly hour of 8.30am (on a Saturday!), which of course gave us the liberty to pick and choose our lazy spot.

Right in front of these huge cheery objects, as requested by the monkies.

Come every weekend, or public holidays, these 2 bouncy castles will be inflated and no doubt bring joy to every single kid.

My kids, especially.

Nothing like a good workout before plonking down for breakfast, eh?

Speaking about breakfast, Cafe Melba serves up food inspired from Melbourne and Asia (MELB + A = MELBA). Geddit???

And as all brunches go, a brunch isn't a brunch without getting the full works of scrambled eggs, pork sausages, home-cured bacon, roasted cherry vine tomatoes, baked beans, mushrooms, hash brown and home made toast, otherwise known as the Full Melba Cooked Breakfast (S$25).

Something which never fails to entice Ash, who was taking a well-deserved break from all his mid-year exams mugging.

The breakfast platter was hearty enough, just nothing too out of this world. As for the other 2 monkies, they decided to have something sweet and settled for the Pancakes (S$15).

The pancakes came with berry compote, whipped cream and maple syrup, and it was marvelous!

The pancakes were fluffy, rather cake-like and non-greasy. Definitely unlike the hotcakes that a certain clown with red boots dishes out. Well, at $15 for 4 pieces, they had better taste good and luckily, they didn't disappoint.

The wifey chose the Free Range Eggs Benedict (S$20), which had poached eggs and bacon atop toasted english muffins and topped with lemon hollandaise sauce.

Looks great, no? Sadly, the taste test did not fare too well. Eggs were rather puny, and the hollandaise sauce was devoid of taste.

Fortunately, the field of green in front of the cafe makes it up somewhat.

Footballs and rugby balls are freely available for the children to play with and knowing my monkies, they definitely needed no further invitation to do so.

Personally, the food is nothing to shout about and is slightly overpriced. But the huge draw for me (and the monkies) was the vast amount of space that we could indulge in, perfect for some outdoor play time together.

So if I were to overlook the food bit, I would say Cafe Melba pretty much doubles up as a cool hangout with other friends with children too, and being family-friendly at the same time. Parents will no doubt revel in affording a little time to chat among themselves, while still being able to keep an eye on their mini-people as they bound around on the bouncy castle or race across the spacious lawn.

Useful Information

Cafe Melba
90 Goodman Road, Block N #01-56
Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore 439053
Tel: 6440 6068
Opening Hours: Weekdays 10am - 10pm | Weekends & PHs 8:30am - 10pm
Website: www.cafemelba.com.sg