Avocado

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/

Trunk Diner

275 Exhibition St, Melbourne 9663 7994

Golden Gaytime Milkshake

I liked this creamy toffee/honeycomb/vanilla milkshake. But then again I find the Golden Gaytime Krushers available at KFC to be equally as likeable.

= Good

The Wagyu Burger
175 gram freshly ground Wagyu beef served medium-rare, grilled brioche, baby cos lettuce, purple onion, tomato and house-made pickles

A tiny ordinary tasting burger that needed self assembling? No thanks.

= Not bad

“Huevos Rancheros”

Two fried eggs, chorizo, Mexican mixed beans, goats fetta, salsa, avocado, jalapenos and toasted tortilla

= Not bad

Overall:

Average food, good variety of milkshakes (eg. Tim Tam, Lamington, Golden Gaytime), quick service, buzzing atmosphere.

Merchants Guild

680 Centre Rd, Bentleigh East 9579 0734

Soy latte

Pumpkin, feta and harissa polenta biscuit, free range poached eggs and za’atar

Shortcut bacon with an avocado and charred corn salsa on sourdough with poached eggs and jalapeño pesto

Doughnut french toast with vanilla mascarpone, peaches, berries and pistachios

Thoughts:

Soy latte – strong with a rich aroma = Good

Polenta biscuit – this polenta biscuit was fantastic as it was full of flavour, crisp on the outside, and soft and delicious on the inside. The eggs were nicely poached and the herbaceous za’atar added an interesting element to the dish = Excellent

Bacon, avocado, eggs – ordinary bacon, tasty avocado and corn salsa, terrific jalapeño pesto (it gave the sourdough a nice little kick) = Good

Doughnut french toast – delicious! My only grievance with this dish was the small portion size = Good

Overall:

A delightful gem of a place where the service, atmosphere and food is great. It’s comforting to know that there are terrific brunch places like this south side of Melbourne. I’m looking forward to my next visit.

Friends of Mine

Toasted piadini

(pork/chilli/fennel sausage, tomato chutney, smoked scamorza cheese and spinach)

Small portion size so wasn’t very filling.

★★☆☆☆

Smashed avocado

(avocado, thyme buttered mushrooms, poached egg, marinated feta and torn basil on toasted five grain bread)

This exact dish is bigger and better at Porgie and Mr Jones (same owners as this place)

★★☆☆☆

Eggs benedict

(smoked ham hock terrine, poached eggs, a rich and tangy apple cider hollandaise and baby herbs on an English muffin)

★★☆☆☆

‘Jack + Jill’

(toasted ciabatta, poached eggs, bacon, 12 hour roasted tomato, avocado and thyme buttered mushrooms)

★★☆☆☆

Citrus semifreddo

Sweet, rich and creamy, served with almond praline and raspberries

★★★☆☆

Overall:

A nice place to catch up with friends as the noise level is low and the dining area is quite spacious and comfortable. The staff (who wear these cute denim aprons that have the word ‘Friends’ on them) are lovely, the coffee is good, but the food is average at best. Note that this place is cash only.

Friends of Mine

506 Swan St, Richmond, VIC

(03) 9428 7516

http://www.friendsofmine.com.au/

Hobba

428 Malvern Road, Prahran 9510 8336

Bubble and Squeak

Smashed Avocado (with a side of smoked trout)

Thoughts:

Bubble and Squeak – comes with half a roasted tomato, a fried egg, a thick slab of bacon, sourdough toast and some enticing brown butter hollandaise sauce = Not bad

Smashed Avocado – a huge serving of creamy, lemony avocado with Yarra Valley fetta that comes with a free range 63˚C slow poached egg on some delightful pumpkin grain toast = Good

Overall:

I’m slowly working my way through the Herald Sun’s list of Melbourne’s 25 best breakfasts and came here to try out their Bubble and Squeak (which disappointingly turned out to be just okay). The service here was average, but what made this place stand out for me was the actual building and its decor. This cafe used to be an old warehouse and still has an industrial feel to it with its exposed brick walls, super high ceilings, wooden beams and concrete floors. This all just added to the charm of this place and made for a really funky dining atmosphere.

Tanabe Japanese Restaurant

479 Main St, Mordialloc 9588 2881

Kushikatsu

Tempura

Salmon and avocado hako sushi

Sushi moriawase

Thoughts:

Kushikatsu – crumbed pork and onion skewers that were sweet and tender = Good

Tempura – really light and crispy, some of the best tempura batter that I’ve had in a while = Good

Salmon and avocado hako sushi – you can’t go wrong combining fresh salmon with creamy avocado = Good

Sushi moriawase – included fresh tuna, salmon, white fish, prawn and egg. Each piece had a small amount of wasabi between the rice and the top layer, giving it a tasty kick = Good

Overall:

Enjoyable food, simple decor, Japanese chefs in the kitchen and friendly Japanese waiters who are extremely polite and attentive.

Dukes Coffee Roasters

169 Chapel St, Windsor 9521 4884

House cured ocean trout, heirloom beetroot, goats feta, poached egg, german rye

Avocado hummus toast, poached eggs, honey candied bacon and dukkah

Thoughts:

House cured ocean trout – ordinary trout, perfectly poached eggs, white/golden/red beetroot and slivers of apple added a nice sweetness, the german rye was extremely tough and chewy = Not bad

Avocado hummus toast – the avocado hummus spread and the honey candied bacon were delicious. However the toast itself was rock hard and impossible to cut! = Not bad

Overall:

I think my expectations for this place were just set too high. After hearing about how great this place was, I was left a little disappointed. The service was average, the food nothing extraordinary and the decor dark and offbeat.

Porgie and Mr Jones

291 Auburn Rd, Hawthorn 9882 2955

Smashed avocado with thyme buttered mushrooms, marinated feta, basil and poached egg on wholegrain toast

Shakshuka – two eggs slow baked with spiced tomato, silver beet and feta

Toasted banana bread with maple syrup mascarpone, fresh banana, berry compote and crushed pistachio

Thoughts:

Smashed avocado – absolutely delicious! Mushrooms were bursting with flavour, egg was perfectly poached, the toast was thick and fresh, and the marinated feta added a slight sharpness which balanced out the creamy avocado = Excellent

Shakshuka – the slow baked eggs mean eggs that look poached, but are actually cooked all the way through. This dish was full of spices and went well with the warm pita bread = Good

Banana bread – more like banana cake than banana bread (was moist and light). I liked how they incorporated slices of banana in between the two slices of banana bread which made the whole thing taste a lot more fresh = Not bad

Overall:

A great place to have breakfast/brunch as the food here is fresh and tasty. There are three main dining areas: the quirky hipster room (wooden benches, funky artwork), the formal dining rooms (known as the “good rooms”) and the bright garden terrace. Service was average and note that this is a cash only place.

Fonda Mexican

248 Swan Street, Richmond 9429 0085

Charred corn with chipotle aioli, ricotta salata and lime

Thick chips with chipotle aioli

Vegetarian Taco

Chopped beef Burrito

Chicken Burrito

Chicken Quesadilla

Thoughts:

Corn – charred and juicy with a distinct cheese flavour due to the ricotta salata (pressed, dried and salted ricotta). Would have liked to have had more chipotle aioli on it though = Not bad

Chips – thick crunchy chips that were very addictive, especially with the chipotle aioli! = Good

Vegetarian Taco – a light and fresh taco that encased a potato and mushroom croquette, pickled cabbage, avocado creme and coriander = Good

Beef Burrito – a thick tortilla that encased premium beef, black beans, salsa roja and chipotle aioli. A dense and filling burrito that left an enjoyable little spicy after taste = Good

Chicken Burrito – a tortilla that encased chicken, organic quinoa, mexican slaw, shaved apple, watercress and avocado crema. Every bite contained a lovely bit of crunch, a delightful mix of flavours = Good

Chicken Quesadilla – a toasted tortilla that encased roast chicken, queso fresco, wild rocket, avocado crema and celery root. While this quesadilla as a whole was very tasty, what I enjoyed the most about it was the chicken. Tender and bursting with flavour thanks to the free range Bannockburn chicken that they use = Excellent

Overall:

The place to go for cheap, simple Mexican food that actually tastes great! This is one of those places where you have to go and order at the counter, but the service here is fast and staff are very friendly. Keep in mind though that this is a no bookings place and that the kitchen does close early (eg. 9pm on a thursday night).