Breakfast/Brunch

DakDak Cafe

Unit 2, 1-3 Bignell Rd, Moorabbin 9532 2749

Bartholomew’s Baked Eggs

Lamb, spinach and pine nut sausage, free range eggs, sautéed spinach, kalamata olives and feta cheese in a tomato and herb sauce, served with buttered sourdough toast

= ★★

Vegorama

Poached free range eggs, homemade hash brown, avocado, sautéed mushrooms, over roasted tomato and truffle hollandaise served with buttered multigrain toast

= ★★

Overall:

I loved the retro vibe that this garage-turned-cafe had going on! A small powder blue caravan served as a kitchen, industrial shelves and recycled furniture filled up the place, bright green artificial grass covered the floor, and there was Volkswagen memorabilia everywhere (which was expected as this place is named after the signature stuttering of the Volkswagen engines). Service was friendly although it took a while before our orders were taken, and then much longer for our food to arrive. This unexpected cafe (as is it located within Moorabbin’s industrial area) is a comfortable and quirky place to hang out, but they need to up their game a tad when it comes to service times.

The Kettle Black

50 Albert Rd, South Melbourne 9088 0721

House-made coconut yogurt with gluten-free grains, seeds and nuts, Toorak Station prickly pear, rhubarb, citrus powders, fruits and flowers

This beautifully presented dish was fresh, healthy and surprisingly filling

= ★★★

Hotcakes with house-made ricotta, blueberries, pure maple, double cream and seeds

I’ve previously had this dish at Top Paddock and was looking forward to ricotta hotcake heaven.

Regrettably I didn’t find the hotcake here to be as good as the ones I’ve had at Top Paddock. Don’t get me wrong, this hotcake was still sweet, fluffy and delicious. It’s just that comparatively the edges weren’t crispy, the centre was a little bit soggy and the strawberries still had their stems on (which I know you can eat, but I just prefer my strawberries to be stemless).

= ★★★

Overall:

Half located on the ground floor of a modern apartment building and half in a classic Victorian terrance, the decor here is a stylish combination of modern and homely. A noteworthy team of people own the place including Jesse McTavish (chef from Top Paddock), Nathan Coleman (Top Paddock owner), Ben Clark and Diamond Rozakeas (also from Top Paddock), Tim James (former manager of Two Birds One Stone) and Sam King (ex-Seven Seeds and Place Holder). The menu here is fresh and innovative and the staff are very welcoming. While I don’t think this place rivals Top Paddock, it is still worth stopping by if you happen to be in the area.

Richmond Hill Café and Larder

RHCL grilled cheesy toast with eggplant & chilli pickle

I simply cannot describe how amazing this was! The toast was perfect, the cheese was unbelievable, while the eggplant and chilli pickle added delicious zing and was a fantastic contrast to the heavy cheese.

★★★★★

The Lot

(two eggs any way with toast, bacon, baked beans, mushrooms & roasted
tomatoes)

★★☆☆☆

Potato & spring onion rosti with smoked salmon, two poached eggs, spinach pistou sauce, Cantalet cheese fondue & grain mustard

The crispy rosti was tasty but could have been finished within two bites. Okay maybe three bites.

★★★☆☆

Baked Eggs

(two baked eggs with RHCL sausage ragu, toasted pinenuts, feta & fresh coriander)

The feta was fantastic! If only there had been more!

★★☆☆☆

Baghdad Eggs

(two fried eggs with lemon & garlic, sprinkled with cumin & mint on homemade flat bread)

Super simple, super marvellous!

★★★★★

Overall:

Terrific food, warm atmosphere, prompt service (although we did feel a bit rushed when our bill was presented as soon as we had finished eating and before we had even asked for it). Richmond Hill Café and Larder even have their very own cheese room which offers an impressive selection of local and imported cheeses, many of which they mature in-house. I am so looking forward to my next visit. I already have my eye on the cheese platter…

Note that this place takes bookings.

Richmond Hill Café and Larder

48-50 Bridge Rd, Richmond, VIC

(03) 9421 2808

http://rhcl.com.au/

Twenty & Six

594 Queensberry St, North Melbourne 9329 0298

Bounty Bar Hot Chocolate with Mörk, coconut and almond milk (left)

The almond milk ruined this potentially terrific drink, making it extremely thin and watery

★★

Mörk Hot Chocolate (right)

Balanced and full of flavour, not exceedingly sweet

★★★

Brioche roll with beef brisket, kaiserfleisch, chilli, cabbage slaw, Swiss cheese and seeded mustard aioli, served with hand cut chips and rosemary salt

★★

Wild mushrooms with soft polenta, roasted shallots, endive, two poached eggs, parmesan and pomegranate molasses

★★

Overall:

The only thing impressive about this place was the outhouse they had at the back. Food was average and portions were small, while the service was so-so. The staff here were very strict about their menu and refused to serve us chips on their own as it wasn’t on the menu. To be honest I’d much rather head around the corner to Auction Rooms for a bite to eat.

Mocha Green Cafe

361 Hawthorn Rd, Caulfield 9532 9333

Funky water bottle

Chai latte

Thick foam layer, not particularly sweet

= Not bad

Vanilla milkshake

Made with two scoops of ice cream, great consistency

= Good

Eggs Benedict

Turkish toast topped with salmon, two poached eggs and hollandaise sauce

= Not bad

Corn Fritters

Corn fritters served with an avocado salsa, two poached eggs and hollandaise sauce

= Not bad

Overall:

I came here with a Groupon voucher and although the staff were friendly and the atmosphere cosy, the food was not so great. The portions were small, the hollandaise sauce tasted old and the poached eggs were tough and rubbery.

Little Big Sugar Salt

Guilt Free Hot Mess

Soft fluffy gluten free almond and berry pancakes, dairy free coconut ice cream, sugar free date syrup and fresh fruit

★★★★☆

Glutenfreekakes

Millet+sweet potato+currant cakes with cashew cream, chilli jam, wilted kale and fried eggs

★★★☆☆

Rainbow Roots

Baked beetroot, quinoa, seeds, radish, herbs and a soft boiled egg (with a side of free range bacon)

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

Inconspicuously located among Vietnamese dominated Victoria Street, LBSS is an ideal place for those who are health-conscious and are after dishes that don’t taste like cardboard but actually taste good. The menu is small and simple, and is divided in such a way that all you need to do is decide 1.whether you want a little or big dish and 2. whether you want a sweet or savoury dish (hence the name of this place). The atmosphere was cosy and inviting (it felt as though we were in someone’s house), the staff friendly and attentive, and the service a little bit slow (most likely due to the tiny kitchen that they have here).

Little Big Sugar Salt

385 Victoria St, Abbotsford, VIC

(03) 9427 8818

Home

The Grounds of Alexandria

7A/2 Huntley St, Alexandria NSW

We came on a beautiful sunny morning and was told that the wait was approximately 1.5 hours, which gave us ample opportunity to explore the gardens and the various stalls.

Where to begin?

We tried the home-made rose lemonade because 1. the stall looked so fresh and colourful and 2. every second person we saw in the gardens was sipping on some lemonade (so it had to be good right?) The verdict? So-so lemonade that was mildly rose scented.

These ice cream sandwiches looked so good and were packed full of ice cream!

We decided to try the salted caramel and it was oh-so-good! The chocolate biscuits were sweet and chewy with crispy edges, while the salted caramel ice cream was creamy and had a great balance between saltiness and sweetness.

Fresh home-made donuts with the choice of strawberry jam or Nutella filling.

We opted for strawberry jam. These freshly fried donuts were fantastic, although they could have been bigger.

The Grounds Bakery offered quite a few samples to try…

and the cakes and tarts looked amazing but we had to save our stomachs for the cafe.

They also have a small petting zoo here…

with this guy being the star attraction…

who has his very own house.

Meanwhile this little silkie was dozing in the enclosure next door.

After about an hour, the electric buzzer that was given to us went off so we headed for the cafe.

Banana and honey smoothie

= Excellent

The ‘Ground’ burger (ground beef brisket, cheese, lettuce, dill cornichon mayo on a toasted brioche bun) served with beer battered fries.

This was essentially a fancy Big Mac with crispy, well seasoned chips.

= Good

Grilled asparagus with a wild medley of mushrooms, crumbed egg, parmesan and lemon

= Good

Overall:

Be prepared to wait. But also be prepared for good food, a relaxed atmosphere, and a great experience.

The Hardware Société

118-120 Hardware St, Melbourne 9078 5992

Fried brioche, French earl grey tea and rosewater panna cotta, raspberries, meringue

Rather pricey for the size of the dish. Ordinary brioche, sweet chewy meringue, tart raspberries (that balanced out the sweetness of everything else), delightfully smooth and subtly flavoured panna cotta.

= Not bad

Confit duck, spiced orange cous cous, chestnuts, pomegranate, crispy root vegetables

Flavourless reheated duck, sour pomegranate, average cous cous

= Not bad

Overall:

A bustling place that always has crowds of people waiting outside for a table (regardless of the weather). What impressed me the most was the staff organisation and teamwork. Everything ran very smoothly and service was quite fast considering how busy it was at the time. The décor was charming (butterfly wallpaper, quirky hanging lights) but the food was a let down. I’ve previously tried the baked eggs as well as the scrambled eggs, and found those dishes to be good but nothing I would ever crave. The Hardware Société isn’t on my favourite brunch places list, but kudos to them for remaining so popular for so long.

Liar Liar

Quinoa and potato rosti with smoked salmon, avocado, poached egg and hollandaise

Perfectly poached egg, decent serving of avocado and salmon, and deliciously crispy rosti with the quinoa providing great texture.

★★★★☆

Zucchini, herb and chilli fritters with smoked salmon, tomatoes, feta and yogurt dressing, and served with mixed leaves

The fritters were massive, and they were also quite moist and herby.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

A place worth visiting for breakfast/brunch/lunch if you happen to be in the Hawthorn area. The service is fast and everything on the menu looks delicious.

Liar Liar

90 Kinkora Rd, Hawthorn, VIC

(03) 9818 8864

http://www.liarliarcafe.com.au/

Prospect Espresso

2a Prospect Hill Rd, Camberwell 9882 7359

Truffled Brioche, sautéed mushrooms, asparagus, poached eggs and truffled hollandaise

Dry unpleasant brioche, not enough hollandaise sauce

= Not bad

Warm coconut rice with kiwifruit, lychee, lime air and puffed rice

I read the words ‘lime air’ and was very intrigued as to what it actually was. Turns out that it was like a lime flavoured meringue, and it tasted fantastic alongside the sweet kiwifruit, lychee and the creamy (but not too heavy) coconut rice. A very satisfying and filling dish that is perfect on a cold Melbourne day.

= Excellent

Overall:

A cosy little place where the menu is small, the staff are friendly and the warm coconut rice is delectable.