Mart 130

107a Canterbury Rd, Middle Park, Tel +61 3 9690 8831.

Technically, this would have been our second visit to Mart 130, that is, if we could have found it the first time. Being from Fitzroy and having never been to Mart before, the first time we attempted to find it, we didn't even have the address. We just drove up and down Canterbury Rd, to no avail. Little did we know that the cafe in question was actually on the Albert Park side of the tram tracks.
This time, with a little added help of a in car GPS system (we definitely weren't going to leave without finding it this time, especially after driving across town for breakfast!) we managed to find the place.
In case you haven't heard already Mart 130 (TRAM spelt backwards. 130 apparently is the stop number) is a light rail tram stop, which has been converted into a cafe. The cafe itself is relatively small inside, with not much room to move. There's also a back deck, which looks out towards Albert Park and over some tennis courts. They squeeze them in here at Mart, everywhere you look there is a table of some sort and either chairs or little kiddy stools for sitting. Speaking of little kiddies, Mart appears to be very kiddy friendly, which lots of the little tykes running around, screaming and banging stuff. Joy.

We were lucky enough to get the last remaining stools left at the bar on the deck. The breakfast menu isn't huge, but with this many people in such a small space, I imagine the kitchen would be wanting to streamline everything they possibly can.
I decided to go with the Corn Cakes, with Bacon, Chilli Jam and Sour Cream. They were delivered to our table in a reasonable amount of time, considering their busyness. The Corn Cakes were placed in a nice little stack on my plate, alternating with Bacon. The Corn Cakes were very tasty, with some Coriander mixed in there, I wouldn't be surprised at all if this was Bills recipe for Corn cakes. The Cakes were a tad dry and a little cold, which led me to believe they were all premade - like I mentioned earlier, streamlined. The Chilli Jam was nice, but did lack any kick, more like sweet chilli sauce. The Bacon was perfectly cooked, however there was heaps of fat on the rashers. I really am being a little picky though. The meal was delicious and very well done.


Rach has the Pancakes with Berries and Vanilla Marscapone. These looked fantastic on the plate and tasted great too. I especially like the idea of Vanilla Marscapone for breakfast, rather than ice cream or plain cream. The pancakes themselves really were a little doughy. Not sure if they were undercooked or it was just their recipe, but these guys would do well to rectify that. But then again, these guys are doing well, the place was packed and people were waiting for tables... and this is breakfast!


Mart 130 appears to be a huge success and good on them. They have done a fantastic job at converting a Tram stop into one of Melbourne's coolest eating spots. Who comes up with ideas like that?
Mart's food is fantastic and I'll definitely be returning, hopefully next time I'll try that Bircher Muesli that looked so good sitting on the counter. My only suggestion to them would be a little more attention to detail in their food and it would be outstanding! Fitzroy could do well to have a place like Mart 130. Only problem is, our tram stops might be a little bit chilly in Winter!