Townhouse

466 Toorak Road, Toorak Vic 3142
Date visited: 17th May 2014


Yes!  A two day weekend this week - had only one day weekends in the last couple of weeks due to travelling, which was the biggest style-cramping buzzkill ever.  Anyhoo, MerlinFan and I had so much fun brunching out over Easter that we decided to do it all over again.

There are still heaps of awesome sounding cafes on our wishlist - our destination for the day was Townhouse in Toorak.  From the same people who opened Prospect Espresso, we liked what we saw there so we decided to head to its brother today.  

The fit out was minimalistic, simplistic and bright.  Beautiful.  It wasn't completely full when we got there, so we were seated straight away.  

Cappuccino

I had a Cappuccino.  Whilst it was nice and velvety, I found it on the milky side and not quite strong enough.  I should have gotten something stronger.

MerlinFan had a Vietnamese Iced Coffee, which she enjoyed, especially the sweetened condensed milk.

Vietnamese iced coffee

They have a small but interesting menu - I was tempted by the Big Breakfast, but then got lured into the tantalising sounding Breakfast Salad.  

Breakfast salad $16.50

Wow.  Buried underneath the leafy nest of bergamot dressed leaves was a punchy parmesan pannacotta.  Topped off with a sprinkling of walnuts, salty prosciutto and slivers of sweet pear, this dish had texture and bursts of flavour.  Throw in perfectly poached eggs, and this was a healthy yet indulgent brekkie.  Although in the end the richness of the pannacotta and the generous amounts of prosciutto defeated me, I loved the combination of elements on my plate and was impressed at how well thought out it was.

MerlinFan had the Flip Shelton's 5 Grain Porridge.

5 Grain porridge $14

The porridge was gooey, thick and just sweet enough.  With chunks of poached pears and rhubarb, crunchy hazelnuts and a quenelle of honey mascarpone, it was pretty heartwarming.  Even though it I couldn't finish my own dish, it didn't stop me from mopping up most of MerlinFan's leftovers (and rhubarb that she doesn't like).  Yummy.

Overall, service and food was prompt, however I thought our waitress appeared rather glum and unsmiling - not like she wasn't polite - it was only in comparison to super friendly waiters/waitresses we have encountered at most Melbourne cafes that it did stick out for me like a sore thumb.  Coffee could be stronger but lovely food at Townhouse, liked the overall ambience of the place too.



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