A cafe has sparked outrage over the incredible prices it charges for its smashed avocado on toast meals costing $27.90.
The Mitcham cafe, in Melbourne’s east, raised eyebrows over its menu taped to the window, with one customer sharing a photo to Reddit.
The ‘Smashed Avo’ comes with two poached eggs, crumbled feta, pumpkin hummus, melody tomatoes, roasted seed mix, lightly toasted sourdough bread and a slice of lemon.
The traditionally larger meals on the menu were cheaper, such as the fish and chips, which was $1 cheaper at $26.90.
The customer couldn’t get over the exorbitant price and wondered why broken avocado was more expensive.
‘Not here to shame a local business, but when did the humble smashed avocado on toast cost more than fish and chips? Is this the norm elsewhere?’ they wrote.
‘I almost fell off my chair paying $5.89 for a medium coffee in Mitcham.’
The smashed avocado meal wasn’t even the most expensive item on the menu: a calamari salad cost $32.90, while an open steak sandwich cost $35.90.
A cafe has sparked outrage over the incredible prices it charges for its smashed avocado on toast meals that cost $27.90
Other expensive items on the menu included Eggs Benedict which cost $22.90 and cost an extra $6 for salmon, $4 more for bacon and $2 extra for spinach.
A bacon and egg roll cost customers $18.90 and a brunch burger was on the menu for $25.90.
Social media users were quick to blast the sky-high prices of the food on the menu.
“Eating out has become insane,” one person wrote.
“I’m lucky enough to work in an industrial estate where a roast beef and salad sandwich costs $10 and you even get a hand full of chips if you eat there.”
“It’s like they’re taking advantage of UberEats’ dependency and Millennial/Gen Z lack of cooking skills. Fight the system and make things yourself,” one person said.
Another added, “The price of this basic brunch food is the reason I don’t go to brunch anymore. It has to be unique, otherwise I’ll just make my own avocado on toast for 1/5 of the price.’
Others defended the cafe’s prices.
The ‘Smashed Avo’ comes with two poached eggs, crumbled feta, pumpkin hummus, melody tomatoes, roasted seed mix, lightly toasted sourdough bread and a slice of lemon (stock image)
‘There are at least two eggs in there. Most places still charge $20 and make you pay extra for one poached egg,” one person wrote.
A second added: ‘As soon as I saw there were two poached eggs I thought to myself it’s “good”.
“A place near me charges $22 dollars. If you want eggs you have to pay $7 extra. Ultimately, it’s just pricey everywhere.’
A third Australian wrote: ‘Actually not that bad considering lots of places charge $25 without poached eggs.’
But other Aussies saw it as a sign that the cafe was likely ‘stuck’ and could be in financial trouble.
‘You largely (partly) do not pay for the food; You pay for their rent, electricity and gas bills and their employees,” one person wrote.
‘This is inflation, this is what it looks like. I don’t work in this industry but all their costs are up, rent, supplies, utilities etc,” one person said.
Another bar owner added: ‘You can buy a struggling bar business for twelve dollars and a bag of chips a minute, they’re going out of business left and right.’
“This poor bastard probably has panic attacks on a daily basis because he knows no one/far fewer people will buy his product at that price, but if the alternative goes under, what is he supposed to do?”