Review: Merchants Guild

Been wanting to try this place for a while, and it's not too far from home. So here I am at Merchants Guild on a "date". The food was good and atmosphere lovely. My first time actually stopping in Bentleigh and it seems like the kind of suburb I would like, close to the beach, but not overpopulated, with quiet streets and a nice shopping strip.

Mixed fruit juice of the day - $6
Apple, beetroot and lime.
Ironically, it tasted a lot like pomegranate and the colour is pink too!
It was actually a really nice juice blend, the apple added sweetness,
the beetroot that distinct flavour and the lime hinted freshness but wasn't
too strong and sour. Plus the colour just looks so bright and cheery.

Short cut bacon w/ avocado, corn salsa, poached eggs and jalapeno pesto on soudough - $18
Lol that was a mouthful, what ever happened to naming the dishes.
Onto the dish, with the main selling point being the bacon, I definitely expected
more than what's shown. Also I don't understand the use of big plants for smaller servings,
just makes it look stingy and lacklustre. In terms of flavour though, LOVED the avo
and corn smash. Had a lovely lime hit to it, but not too sour and the corn had that
nice charred flavour. The bacon itself was tasty, thick and trim, just would've liked more.
The eggs were a bit too runny for me, I like to actually be eating, not drinking them.
The pesto was good, but not great. To me it wasn't spicy at all, though I could hint
the jalapeno. Honestly, I tasted more herbs in the pesto than chilli, but it did add flavour to the dish.

New Super Salad - $19 (special menu)
w/ poacked chicken, adzuki beans, spinach, quinoa, broccoli, beetroot, sweet potato,
nuts & seeds, topped with hemp seed yoghurt.
I am always a bit weary of the whole super food craze. Like I am sure if people managed to be healthy
10 years ago without this stuff being in mainstream diets, then we can manage too.
That being said, there is nothing wrong with being a bit healthier, except for the fact
that we seriously are feeding corporations more money than we are getting food in our bellies,
but this is a food blog, so let's not delve into world issues here.
In terms of flavour, loves the yoghurt, good amount of seasoning. Sadly, the chicken was a bit
dry, but I loved the variety of vegetables and the quinoa didn't have that bitter taste.