Ichi Ichi Ku

119 Park St, South Yarra Vic 3141
Date visited: 31st May 2014


I have been dying to visit Ichi Ichi Ku for quite some time now - ever since I discovered them on Instagram.  Yes, we know it's a Japanese restaurant, but did you know it also has a breakfast menu until noon?  MerlinFan and I do love our brekkies and brunches, so here we were this gloomy Saturday morning to sample some goodies from their winter menu.

Ichi Ichi Ku is located conveniently along Tram route 8 and opposite the Botanical Gardens.    The interior is decorated with wood and lanterns, very reminiscent of a rustic Japanese tavern.  Yes, it was pretty dark inside, so excuse my grainy photos.

It was a bit funny having typical brunch fare in this old Japanese inn-like surrounding, but we can't go without our caffeine now!  I had a Cappuccino and MerlinFan her Latte.  Both were nicely strong.

MerlinFan chose the Pulled Pork on Sourdough.  I had food envy even as I read the description but fear not, we did swapsies halfway ;)

Pulled pork $16

Yummy pulled pork!

The sourdough was loaded with a pile of salty, tender slow braised ham hock, doused with slightly tangy hollandaise sauce and a micro herb salad.  The panko fried poached eggs were delicious - nicely seasoned, crispy on the outside.  I only wished the yolks were runny, which they weren't.  Our neighbours both had the same dish and theirs looked the same as ours so at least they were consistent.

My choice was the Banana Bread which came out looking as pretty as a picture.

Banana Bread $13 

The bread was actually chocolate and banana bread - more chocolate than banana, dense, rich and moist, topped with mascarpone cheese, edible flowers and warm chocolate sauce that was not overly sweet.  The scattering of fresh berries provided that fresh tanginess to cut through the richness.

Reasonable prices, beautifully presented dishes and good coffee - a nice spot for breakfast if you're looking for somewhere a bit different to your usual warehouse, hipster Melbourne cafe.  Staff here were friendly and enthusiastic too.  I see they have other tempting sounding dishes for lunch and dinner, as well as desserts.  Sounded awesome but we were stuffed after brekkie - would love to return to try their Japanese fare and desserts.




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