Perth Voice Interactive

IT had been an Oxford Street mystery: Where had 50ml gone?

Run by local character Debbie Saunders, 50ml had been a quirky little spot with funky mismatched furniture and cosy surrounds, but it’d been closed for yonks and the windows had long been dark.

A couple of weeks ago the new owners opened up D’Avenue, with a sleek, bright and cheery new design, but the good news is the food has soul to it. The place does breakfast till 3pm, a smart move given the sleep-in demographic around Leederville, and has some cooked mains too, like chicken burgers, squid and chips and a steak panini.

Closer to 1pm, I picked up the eggs Benedict ($17.50) and was served up two perfectly gooey poached eggs, thinly sliced leg ham, and very, very generous dollops of hollandaise. It’s a pretty simple dish but the chewy ciabatta, the grilled leg ham, and the tangy hollandaise are all fresh and nicely matched.

The French toast ($14) sees you served with a cinnamon-dusted brioche, scattered with fresh banana and strawberry pieces, and stuffed with either peanut butter or Nutella. Deprived of this nutty chocolate wonderfood as a kid, I obviously went for the Nutella.

I make French toast at home sometimes, but it usually ends up so soggy and heavy it could kill if it smacked you in the head. This was so beautifully light and fluffy I would’ve mistaken it for health food, if not for the delicious balance between eggy bread and rich Nutella.

Foolishly/bravely, I also opted for a massive supershake ($12): The Fat Wednesday caramel medley.

We’re not allowed to exaggerate in food reviews, so I have to be careful and stick to the actual truth, but this tower of milk and chocolate and caramel was at least as tall as a minibus stood on end. Two brownies are skewered on top, followed by cinnamon donuts drizzled in caramel and chocolate, then more caramel is drizzled around the sides of the cup and chunks of Tim Tams are stuck to it, skirting the mass of milk and cream.

It was insane. It was too much. I felt like the dwarves of Moria who delved too deeply and too greedily. But I’d probably do it again once the diabetes I’d just contracted settles down.

If I had to choose a least favourite thing about D’Avenue, it’s probably the weird apostrophe after the D: I bet Jenny D’Anger wishes she’d reviewed the place now.

I’ll miss 50ml’s quirky presence on the street. It was fun. It was weird. It had Vegemite and cheese on toast. But I can’t find much wrong with D’Avenue, and I’m happy to report Deb’s at least still around Leederville (we were busted when she wandered by our table, and felt like the bad guys must feel when caught out on Cheaters).

by DAVID BELL

D’Avenue
150 Oxford Street Leederville
Open Tuesday to Sunday,
8am to 4pm.