Zest Bistro

I ordered the zest benedict with mushrooms and a side of avocado, accompanied with a modified iced coffee for breakfast.
The coffee was just perfect and the meal really hit the spot. The portion size was just right, the poached eggs in that perfect balance of cooked white and runny yolk, and the mushrooms and spinach were lovely. The hollandaise was fantastic, not too vinegary or to buttery and the meal wasn’t drowned in it. Overall, the best benedict I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy for quite a while.
The staff are attentive, friendly and efficient. I will most definitely stop by again for another meal.

Saturday breakfast: the seating area is across the foot path in a semi enclosed area which is comfortable and had a nice atmosphere. Light, airy and cool without being too bright for a Saturday morning. Staff are friendly and seem to know there stuff. Orders were take in a timely manner and the drinks arrived promptly. The coffee was good, nice and strong the way I prefer it. The orange juice I tasted was nice but I’m not an Oj guy so hard to compare. The breakfast it’s self did take, what was boarding on painfully long time. I had eggs Benedict with a hash brown and mushrooms in the side. The eggs were poached nicely. The sauce was standard fair. Mushrooms where a little lacking in flavor and quantity, probably not worth the $ 4 extra. The hash brown was a decent size but had that taste you get from deep frying in old oil.
Over all I would say the coffee is good but the food is a below what I’d expect on race course road.

Zest rates for ambience, friendly service and good coffee. We only had crumpets and toast, but the latte was creamy and smooth and the flat white was good too. This is a brand new place that popped up virtually out of the footpath since we were last in Racecourse Road. The lunch menu looks fresh, with salads and the usual choice of fish, beef and chicken, often with a spicy twist. There are also lovely looking sandwiches and Thai chicken sausage rolls.

I was initially drawn to Zest from the sleek black boxes holding a variety of different herbs (sage, thyme and basil) which act as a wall to the entrance of the restaurant. Walking towards the entrance, we were approached by a smiling waitress who asked if we were after lunch or just coffees. Having opted for a well-​needed sleep in, we were (embarrassingly) after breakfast. She instantly apologised and informed us that breakfast had stopped ten minutes’ earlier (it was 12:10pm) and explained that the chefs had to begin the menu change-​over for lunch. Not actually expecting them to be serving breakfast, we were very impressed with her customer service and opted for coffees to take away instead.
The coffees were strong, smooth and were made instantly (we were the only people ordering coffee at this stage though). Having a quick squiz at the breakfast menu, we decided it was definitely a place we’d be coming back to (at a more reasonable hour, of course). Also, having found out that the owners also run the James Street Bistro in the Valley, it is sure to be delicious!