What do we really want when we go out for breakfast? Home cooking or dishes we would never try at home? A bit of both, I suspect. Which makes Shanklin an attractive prospect.

This smartly attired cafe in Hawthorn East works both sides of the street, waking up sleepyheads with quirky top-of-the-morning treats as well as standard issue brekky fare.

Shanklin’s “all-day breakfast and lunch’’ menu is also an invitation to bend the rules. So, if you feel like a Peri Peri chicken salad with your first coffee of the day, or a Bircher muesli with your last one, here’s where you can do it.

Funny name, Shanklin. It’s a take on shanklish, a cheese popular in Lebanon made from sheep or cow’s milk. Here it’s folded wonderfully into the house special: a humungous scramble of canary yellow egg with cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs on thick, toasty slices of Oasis bread ($20). Shanklish reminds me of feta but it’s drier and way more savoury.

Chef Jimmy Wong keeps things Middle Eastern with baked eggs shakshuka ($20). Two poached eggs — well done — are lodged deep in a heavy black skillet, all but submerged in a bubbling brew of red pepper, tomato and chorizo. Our hot-to-touch serve was scattered with snow white goat’s cheese and freshly torn herbs. A triumph.

But it’s not all eggs. Shanklin’s handsome sweet corn fritters are kissed with guacamole salsa and a lick of yoghurt ($18), while the breakfast burrito ($18), dense with chilli beans, corn and mozzarella cheese, will have you tipping your sombrero.

Then, there are the big dishes you can have anytime. Who says you can’t start the day with a porterhouse steak sandwich ($19.50) or a wellness-inducing quinoa salad ($19)?

Bizarre-sounding Nutella stuffed pancakes ($19) — bulging with strawberries, grilled banana and Oreo crumble — keep things sweet.

I’ll be back for Shanklin’s impeccable green eggs ($19). What a sturdy stack — rose pink slices of Christmas ham crowned with chunky avocado, then drizzled with house-made pesto. The googies? Soft as ordered.

A spanking new Synesso espresso machine has pride of place and the baristas draw full bean flavour from their single origin blends. It can be a taste of Panama one morning, Kenya the next. Non-coffee drinkers are well served by juices, milkshakes and herbal teas.

Genuinely warm and welcoming, the floor staff at Shanklin put us at ease straight away. Bottles of water on our table in a flash.

It’s housed in a 19th century building, with Victorian-era lace, but Shanklin is as mod as they come. Indoor-outdoor spaces are united by exposed brick and polished concrete, while metallic tiles and pale timber rub up against each other at the rear.

Generous servings. Nothing over $22.

Locals have fallen for Shanklin — the place was packed on a Friday morning — so if you’re going to join the throng, arrive early.

This review originally appeared on heraldsun.com.au.