Now, I've mentioned this before: Brunch is my favourite meal of the day. Top Paddock has reaffirmed that statement in so many ways. While I think I'm rather generous when it comes to rating restaurants and cafes, it'll take something extraordinary for me to rate it a 10/10 holistically - for the meal, ambiance and service - but Top Paddock is a triple threat and I'm just going to say it now... it deserves a 100/100 rating, and that is the rating that I will award to it.
The concept and interior of Top Paddock kind of reminds me of a cross between Vicinity Bar and The Grounds, Alexandria, Sydney. It's very modern and up-cycled but very homy at the same time. As soon as I walked into the cafe, I was in awe. I'm a sucker for this kind of interior design genre.
I mean... may we please take a moment and a minute of silence to truly appreciate and laud the beauty of these up-cycled stools (below). How creative! Such a piece of art! Incredibly genius!
Moving on before I die from love... Top Paddock is quite massive for a cafe. It's not as big or spread out as Alexandria's The Ground, but definitely bigger than your ordinary cafe. While Top Paddock is Melbourne's version of The Ground in that it is the 'hyped up' cafe of the moment, unlike The Ground, Top Paddock isn't overrated and definitely meets and exceeds my expectation.
The people that comes through the Top Paddock doors are the kind of people who dress the way that I usually gravitate towards. They're professional/hipsters or indie professionals. Not to be confused with 'professional hipsters'. Why have I labeled them with this title? Well... they're the kind of young professionals who are a little alternative in the way they dress (think... Cara Delevigne meets Blair Waldorf or Francisco Lachowski meets Harvey Specter), but probably holds a 9-5 investment banking, architecture or junior lawyer positions in a top firm. Either that, or they're really cool families.
The cafe has an outdoor courtyard seating area, an outdoor veranda sitting area and an expansive floor and stage seating area. They have a takeaway bar and a main coffee bar to serve the high amount of traffic that passes through their door.
Now, you all know that I'm not a big fan of coffee so I certainly don't have a soft spot for coffee machines, but I must admit that my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw the bad boys that they had at Top Paddock. I would really love to have one for my future terrace/apartment... and never use it.
Now, enough gushing about the ambiance and the interior and onto the service and the food.
Upon entering Top Paddock, we were seated almost instantaneously. I'm not sure whether it's because yesterday was a slightly slow day for them (even though 'slow' is still pretty busy), but I'm sure that when it's super busy, you'd have to wait for a fair amount of time. It's not that they don't have the space but its that the space is usually packed!
Just reading the Top Paddock menu makes your mouth salivate with excitement. Everything sounds so fresh, clean and delicious. I was recommended to go to Top Paddock by my foodie aunt, uncle and cousins and was told to try their Ricotta Hotcakes or Grilled Brocolini and their Chai Latte.
The best thing about Top Paddock is that their produce are sourced from only the top and finest paddocks in Victoria before being cooked and placed onto your plate. Maybe it's just placebo, but knowing this actually made my breakfast taste even better.
I followed my family's suggestions and opted for the Chai Latte while my parents ordered a Soy Cappuccino.
Chai Latte
The Chai Latte was absolutely divine. It was creamy and the myriad of spices shone thorough which is finely balanced with as little or as many doses of honey as you see fit. I love the taste of chai but often, chai lattes can be overbearingly heavy and makes you a little nauseas after a few sips but Top Paddock's chai latte was just perfect for me.
Soy Cappuccino
Mum and dad compared the soy cap to Don Campos' Soy Cap so that's quite a high praise. While I can't describe the taste, I can tell you that the froth looked extra creamy which is always a good sign of a good cup of coffee.
For mains, I decided to once again, listen to my family's advice. While I don't mind hotcakes, I much prefer a savoury plate for brunch so I opted for the grilled broccolini & sugar snaps with avocado, toasted almonds, poached eggs & heidi raclette on toast.
Grilled Broccolini
If food could ever reaffirm that there is still peace, love and everything nice in this world, then this certainly did it for me. I'm about to make a sweeping statement but I don't regret it. This was the best breakfast I've ever had in my entire life. EVER.
I'm not sure what spices they used but from what I could see on the plate, I believe it was simply black sea salt and olive oil. I have an inkling however, that there were a few cheeky flakes of truffle salt because the flavours were out of this world.
All the vegetables were so fresh and crunchy. The brocolini was juicy, crunchy and salty while the sugar snaps were crunchy and sugar-full. The avocado was a little/tiny/minutely bitter but I actually really enjoyed the contrast in flavours.
The toasted almonds added a beautiful texture to the dish and were roasted to perfection. The two poached eggs that were nestled on the side of the plate were still gooey and absolutely delicious. As soon as you poked your fork onto the yolk, a burst of orange goodness flooded the plate.
The heidi cheese was 50 shades of deliciousness; rich and very strong (extremely salty) in flavour but balanced well with the hearty bread on the plate.
The bread was a little bit over-toasted but aside from the slight faux-pa, it was just as divine as the rest of the plate. I literally ate everything on the plate and left absolutely nothing but a few splotches of olive oil. I fell in love there and then.
Avocado and Bread
Mum ordered the Avocado and bread. The presentation was exceptional and the high quality of the produce shone through in what is an otherwise simple dish. The black sea salt gave the avocado a dimension that it otherwise would not have and the bread was toasted to perfection.
While it was such a blessing to find a beautiful cafe like Top Paddock, it's also a curse because I don't think I'll ever find another breakfast bar that is a satisfying and hellishly good as Top Paddock... ever again.
I'm going to leave this post with a rating of 100/100 for Top Paddock and a very very very loud encouragement for you to visit the place if you're ever in Melbourne, and if you are a Melbournian.... screw you, I want a Top Paddock in Sydney!
All my love,
Nisa
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