Great way to start a crazy day. While I wait for my high-end Italian espresso machine to get fired up again -- it sprang a steam leak during the re-migration down from Canada -- I'm trying as many coffee shops as possible for my morning brain-stim. I've been hitting the northern suburbs hard, because I work a lot of shifts on the psycho ward at The Northern. Sometimes I'll get off the Epping line train before dawn in some suburb such as Thomastown so I can grab a coffee and then ride up to the hospital. That's why I popped into MK's the other day.

This was SO much better than most of the places that open at 6 a.m. My flat white was good, to start with. Punchy strong flavour, nicely microfoamed. The selection of Middle Eastern baked goods was great. I had a pistachio baklava which was still light and crunchy, instead of being syrup-soggy like a lot of places. And this was one that was obviously sitting around since the day before, because it was too early for a fresh delivery. (I saw the same pastries at CK's across the street, so MK's doesn't make their own.) I'm tempted to come back for the big borek triangles ($7.50) that I saw in the display case, because I'm a sucker for savoury pastry like that. Just not at breakfast, though.