It’s hard to review a place that is a only a few days old, but is also hard to resist when the operators are already successful and the cafe much anticipated.
This is the case with Common Galaxia, which was opened at the end of June by the owners of South Melbourne’s Dead Man Espresso, Luke Mutton and Kylie Mackinlay, joined here by Luke’s brother, Julian.
Common Galaxia is named after the tiny fish, resembling whitebait, that is native to the Maribyrnong. Luke is dedicated to being true to where he sets up his businesses and he studied the history of Seddon, discovering the name of the fish and finding that the name was relevant on many levels.
Common relates to a common meeting space and the word galaxia implies the future and vision — it’s clever. The room, designed by Luke, is minimalist but cleverly made warm with wooden finishes and soft colours. Beautiful handmade swivel stools by local designers at Illogical Study dot the room, while the lights, table bases, chairs and trolleys are designed by Justin Lamont of LifeSpaceJourney.
Coffee has a strong focus at both Mutton’s venues. Here the house blend is from Carlton’s Seven Seeds, although there’s always a guest blend. On our visit it was from Market Lane in Prahran and the filter coffee, a Kenyan ngandu, from Collingwood’s Proud Mary.
Breakfasts include oven-baked zucchini fritters with house-cured salmon, green tea smoked egg and creme fraiche ($18.50) and simple fruit toast ($8) or porridge with poached quince ($11.50). There’s a section titled ‘baked eggs’ (all $16.50) with various ingredients. The eggs with Warialda beef chorizo, roasted peppers, passata, chilli and yoghurt is a textural feast of soft eggs, thinly sliced chorizo, just the right amount of chilli and yoghurt.
Another part of the menu is dedicated to smorrebrod (Danish open sandwiches, $8.50 or $15 for two pieces). It’s impossible not to order the crispy common galaxia with shaved fennel, caperberries, lemon mayo and red onion. The tiny fish (whitebait in this case) are from Port Phillip Bay, crisp and crunchy and the rest of the ingredients, served on rye bread, are a well-balanced mix, creating a satisfying lunch dish.
Common Galaxia is a very welcome addition to Seddon and the west.
COMMON GALAXIA
Address: Shop 3, 130 Victoria Street, Seddon
Contact: 9689 0309, commongalaxia.com.au
Hours: Tuesday-Friday 7am–4pm; Saturday-Sunday 8am–4pm
Unlicensed
