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Hobba Coffee & Kitchen
Add: 428 Malvern Road, Prahran
Tel: (03) 9510 8336
Hours: [Mon-Sat] 7am~5pm [Sun] 8am~5pm
Webiste: hobba.com.au/Hobba
Price: 15~25 AUD/meal
Visited on: 2012-04
Through a string of serendipitous events, we arrived at the doorsteps of Hobba Coffee & Kitchen on a sunny late morning. We took a quick glance at this cafe, housed in a huge converted garage with an open-air design, lofty ceilings, bare bricks, and exposed wooden beams, and decided that this is a place to stay. As we eased ourselves into one of the wooden booths, I took note of its laid-back atmosphere, brought alive by friendly waitstaff and Melbourne’s early Autumn breeze. What’s on the brunch menu? Simple, comforting dishes made with fresh, local produce from “the most accomplished people in the industry”. Perfect, just what we were in the mood for.
First, flat white (3.80 AUD), latte (3.80 AUD), espresso (3.50 AUD), so smooth and aromatic, I was starting to think that it’s impossible to get a bad cup of coffee in Melbourne.
Here’s a friend’s fried egg, bubble & squeak, farmhouse slab bacon, roast tomato, brown butter hollandaise (16.50 AUD). What is “bubble & squeak”, you may ask? This traditional English dish, named after the sound made whilst cooking, is a mix of mashed potatoes and chopped cabbages (though carrots, peas, brussels sprouts or other vegetables can also be added), shallow-fried in a pan until browned at the sides. It’s that yellow thing is the second picture below, and it’s delicious. I was also very in love with the brown butter hollandaise, its creamy texture and nutty aroma made it a heavenly match with the crusty bread.
Here’s another friend’s smashed avo and yarra valley feta, toasted grain sourdough, slow poached egg 12.90, which reminded me of my glorious, glorious breakfast at Friends of Mine. Instead of sprinkling the feta cheese on top, Hobba mixes it in with the smashed avocado to form a creamy goop, then serves it on a toasted grain sourdough with slow poached egg. A lovely combination.
Here’s my 62.5c egg, poached salmon, zucchini, goats curd, pickled celery, apple (18 AUD), a refreshing showcase of Hobba’s use of quality produce. Pickled celery, fresh apple slices, sheets of zucchini, tender poached salmon, and 62.5c egg…everything was left in their natural flavors with only minimal seasoning, and really, this can only be done with the ingredients are this fresh. It was the goats curd – something I’ve really grown to love on this trip to Australia – that pulled the whole dish together with its creamy texture and distinct flavor that mixed well with everything else on the plate.
Hobba also has a selection of good-looking pastries that we didn’t have room for.
Hobba Coffee & Kitchen, it’s a happy place with happy people. Don’t you love it when you stumble upon such lovely spots? We left the cafe feeling bright and sunny, ready to take on another day of vintage shopping and coffee sipping (Oh, life).
