Birdie Num Nums (Melbourne)

Birdie Num Nums occupies an interesting space in Melbourne’s cafe lexicon in that it caters specifically for young families, whereas many cafes do not. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of arty-types and groovy young things here as well, especially in the front section of the cafe, which is warm and welcoming with recycled timber and interesting nic nacs softening the space.  Conversely the back section, with its shade cloths and central sand pit, is ‘kid central.’

Food here is modern bistro with Greek influences, reminiscent of Pireaus Blues, the enduring Greek restaurant on Brunswick Street, which was founded by the same family.  The food is rustic and pleasantly plated – my crispy squid on Vietnamese-style shredded salad with crushed peanuts and sweet roasted chilli dressing ($16.5) hit all the right notes. Coffee is pretty good too, which comes as a bit of a revelation considering the generic brand (Grinders ‘Giancarlo’ Blend); a word of caution though, on the day I visited both the coffee and service out the back – in the ‘family friendly’ area – were not quite up to scratch, whereas out the front it was a different story altogether, where the service seemed to hum, and the coffee was of a noticeably higher standard.

Still, good food and a great kid-friendly atmosphere provides welcome relief for busy mums, and who knows, maybe you will even hear the occasional ‘howdy partner’ within these hallowed walls?

Reviewed Nov’08 [PS]

Birdie Num Nums
745 Nicholson Street
Carlton North

Tags: barista, cafes, cafes australia, coffee, espresso, espresso coffee, Melbourne cafes, Melbourne restaurants

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 16th, 2008 at 8:52 pm and is filed under Cafe Reviews, Melbourne cafes & restaurants, Online Magazine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.