Melbourne has the BEST brunches in the world... Here is my Top 10
- lorisolan
- Dec 3, 2017
- 6 min read
Ok so I haven't been everywhere in the world, therefore I don't have solid facts about Melbourne being the best ever for brunches, however I truly believe it cannot be beaten!
As mentioned many times in my blog, I lived with my partner in Melbourne for 6 years from 2011-2017. During this time, we probably spent the first 3 years living in the dark when it came to brunch. I always enjoyed eating out for breakfast every now and again however Denver always thought it was just something you could do just as well at home so never bothered. We are from Ireland and Northern Ireland so breakfast/brunch is usually an offering of a greasy full Irish breakfast with all the trimmings, eggs on toast or a bacon bap (note: this has also changed in the past few years, there are many good places back home now too!).
I believe it was for a friends birthday that we got a brunch invite and since then we have never looked back, brunch is life! Denver enjoyed it so much and couldn't believe that they offered things like salmon, beetroot puree and smashed avocado, my ultimate favourite. Since then, brunch became a regular thing for us and we made sure we went at least once a week. There is so much choice in Melbourne and in some of the particularly famous places you can look at queuing for an hour to get a seat, which Denver would have completely scoffed at way back when and now happily adds his name to the endless list!
After living away from a Melbourne for a year, we returned in November and I believe the brunch phenomenon has become even bigger and better if that was at all possible. New places have popped up all over our old neighbourhood and surrounding suburbs (Kew, Richmond, Hawthorn). See below for some of my absolute favourites.
Bawa (248 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn VIC 3122)
Bawa opened its doors in 2015 and from then on became one of our regular go tos for brunch. The menu gets updated regularly depending on seasonality and trends of the ingredients used. The interior is spacious and the use of greenery as decor and in the food and drink is wonderful. Their Californian super food salad has been a staple dish from the beginning and is a popular choice as the healthy option. Their blended drinks change from time to time but if you are fond of a good drink, they are always worth the $10AUD.
Patch Cafe (1/32 Bendigo St, Richmond)
Patch is all about clean eating and their menu is inspired by a paleo diet. There is something to be said about a cafe that can promote healthy eating whilst making it taste delicious too. My favourite dish of theirs would be the Chilli Eggs however if I am in the mood for a sweet dish which is rare, I go for the incredible 'Showstopper' which is pumpkin, banana, coconut flour and almond butter waffles served with ice cream, paleo Anzac crumble, seasonal berries and fruit, drizzled with paleo maple syrup. How unbelievable does that sound!
The Kettle Black (50 Albert Road, South Melbourne)
You will find this brunch place listed in the top selections on big food blog sites such as Broadsheet, Concrete Playground and Urban List, thus ultimately contributing to the big queues you can expect every Saturday and Sunday morning into afternoon. We arrived at around 11am, looked around at all of the hungry faces patiently waiting and were told it would be a half hour wait. No problem said us! Who would be mad enough to walk away from a queue of this magnitude, it has to be good right?! Despite the further half an hour we had to wait for our food, it was definitely worth it. The scrambled eggs were so deliciously fluffy and you could tell the mushrooms used were top notch quality.
Holla Food and Drink (284 Victoria Street, Richmond, 3121)
Holla is a new addition to the bustling brunch scene of Richmond. The decor is really great with lots of greenery giving it an inside, outside type feel. As an added bonus to the great food on offer, they also have a happy hour every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12.30-3.30 ($4 Pots & $8 Pints - $10 House Cocktails, $6 House Wine, $6 House Spirits) so you can start your weekend with a bang.
Mr Hendricks (469 Whitehorse Rd, Balwyn VIC 3103)
Mr Hendricks is the ever popular cafe in Balwyn just a 15 minute drive from Richmond. It seemed each time we went back the queue wait time had increases so much so that we were told it was a 45 minute to an hour wait. After living in Melbourne for so long, you do become accustomed to a long wait which we don't really adhere to however as we had been to Mr Hendricks several times already we knew the wait was worth it. Their corn fritters are so tasty, I would say these are the best fritters I have ever had. Their coffee is smooth and delicious and it comes with a little bonus biscuit on the side.
Black Gold est 2016 (285 Lennox St, Richmond VIC 3121)
Black Gold opened in 2016 and has become more and more popular over the past year. The name has been given as a way to show that the chef uses premium ingredients. The presentation of the food takes on a more easy going approach instead of making you feel like it is too perfectly put together that it shouldn't be touched! The haloumi is delicious and the poached eggs were that incredible level of runny that makes you say 'YES' when you realise how good they are. It is amazing how many places can mess up a poached egg.
Frankies Topshop (20 Cowderoy St, St Kilda West VIC 3182)
This was definitely one of my favourite brunches on our trip back to Oz. Newly opened this year, it has everything you could want from a Melbourne brunch place. The setting is lush, airy and bright. I love how they write their specials up on chopping boards which hang in front of the kitchen. The cafe is like a modern grocer store with shelves stacked full of relishes, coffee beans and some dried goods.
They have fresh bread available to purchase for $6.50AUD which is produced by the local Elwood Sourdough company (http://www.elwoodsourdough.com/) who supply many small businesses and farmers markets around the nearby areas. The brunch itself was mouth-watering. I had the Mexican sweetcorn fritters and they were one of the tastiest fritters I have ever had. Denver had the tomato medley special that was on offer that day and the sourdough bread was perfect. 10/10 for me.
Serotonin Eatery (52 Madden Grove, Burnley VIC 3121)
Serotonin was a 5 minute drive from my old workplace so we had lots of brunches/lunches here to mark various occasions such as birthdays, baby showers and leaving do's. We all worked in the retail industry therefore there were many girls in the office who were super conscious of their food intake and calories etc. so Serotonin was the perfect place for us. You can read more about Serotonin's efforts to promote healthy eating but a summary is their ethos is based around eating a plant-based diet to ensure the body, mind and earth all function at their best. Luckily for me their food tastes incredible as well so that is a win win in my book.
Cheerio (323 Lennox St, Richmond VIC 3121)
We first tried Cheerio back in 2016 and loved this simple, small cafe. We visited it again in November this year and it was so much better than we remembered which was a treat. We have a rule of never going back to the same place twice that we tend to stick to, however we make an exception every now and again when we have good memories of somewhere. I like the no frills, unpretentious approach to this cafe, showing their main focus is on the food. The avocado, tomato medley is incredible. I usually order anything avocado on the menu and this was definitely up there with the best. Their coffee is super smooth and a great accompaniment to a beautiful brunch.
Bluebird Espresso (134 Johnston St, Collingwood VIC 3066)
Bluebird Espresso was one of the first brunch places we discovered a number of years ago and we loved it. I don't know whether we have experienced so many other cafes or Bluebird lost it's touch slightly, but disappointingly it was not as good as I remembered. Don't get me wrong, it was still a good brunch but just didn't have the same special touch a lot of other places have. The potato rosti was tasty but quite mushy as opposed to nicely fried and there were far too many shallots on top of my chilli scrambled eggs. The courtyard setting out back is lovely on a sunny day and the coffee was great.
There you have it - just a small snippet of the many, many, many cafes in Melbourne offering astounding brunches that will get your weekend off to the best start.
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