Melbourne is well-known for its cafe culture and I knew I couldn't miss out on it during my recent trip there. Most of these cafes open really early in the morning, so in order to avoid the crowd I headed out at about 8am everyday to check out some of the more talked about breakfast joints both within the CBD and slightly further out in the suburbs. Here are the 7 that I visited during my week in Melbourne. Each meal cost me about $20-$25 including a cup of coffee, which usually goes for $4, though simpler dishes like eggs on toast can go for as low as $10.
I wasn't disappointed with any of the breakfast / brunch places that I tried. Service was excellent across the board; the servers were helpful in providing recommendations, and were all friendly and attentive. Even though I don't usually drink coffee, I thought that all of them served delicious coffee.
CBD
Within the Melbourne CBD,
Grain Store is extremely conveniently located, minutes away from the busy Southern Cross station. I dropped by on the day I had to take an early train to Belgrave, and even at 7 in the morning, it was already quite crowded. I ordered the portobello mushroom and rosti.
Hardware Societe is another really popular cafe in the heart of the CBD, with many evidently here for their instagrammable food. I had the baked eggs with chorizo, but personally found the chorizo sausages to be a tad too salty for my liking. The toasted almonds were a welcome addition though.
The European has a quaint, old-school vibe. It is located near to the Parliament House. Here, I also had the baked eggs. The imam bayildi (stuffed eggplant) and other flavours worked perfectly well together. I loved the toasted bread as well. I don't know if those eggs were actually baked though? Nonetheless, it was a really tasty dish.
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| Portobello mushroom and Gruyere potato rosti with poached eggs, spinach leaves and hazelnut hollandaise ($18) |
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| Baked eggs with chorizo sausage, potato, piquillo peppers, queso mahon and toasted almonds ($19) |
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| Baked Turkish eggs with chickpea, imam bayildi and labneh ($18.50) |
Richmond
Top Paddock is no doubt one of the more well known cafes in Melbourne, with the team also resposible for Higher Ground in the city centre. One of their signature items is the ricotta hotcakes. The portion size was simply enormous; I think the dish is more suitable for 2-3 people. I could only finish about two-thirds of the dish. That said, it tasted superb - the seeds and berries went nicely with the hotcake, and the maple syrup was delicious.
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| Blueberry and ricotta hotcake with berries, maple syrup, seeds and cream ($21) |
North Melbourne
I visited
Auction Rooms on my last day in the city, and was starting to get a cold, so unforunately, my senses of smell and taste were probably a bit more muted when I had this dish of corn pancakes. It still tasted quite good nevertheless.
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| Arepa e’huevo: Colombian corn pancakes, fried egg, poblano peppers, baby squash and goat’s curd with piquillo and walnut salsa ($18.50) |
South Melbourne
The Kettle Black has great ambience (in fact, my favourite of the lot), with a bright and modern interior. It is walking distance from the beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens. The trout that I ordered was absolutely delicious. I wasn't as big a fan of the kale salad though.
I also visited The Petty Officer (PERMANENTLY CLOSED) and their take on avocado on toast was really good - the asparagus and pea puree added different textures and flavour profiles to the dish.
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| Tataki ocean trout with a raw kale and pickled vegetable salad, seaweed, almonds and poached eggs ($21) |
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| The Hulk - Avocado, grilled asparagus, green hollandaise, salsa verde, poached eggs, pea puree with toasted sourdough ($17.80) |
