MELBOURNE | Bowery To Williamsburg Hardware Street is, well you guessed it, the Hardware Street outpost of the popular New York City inspired Oliver Lane cafe. It’s run by the same team that operate the super popular, never without a line Hardware Societie across the laneway but unlike Hardware Societie, you don’t have to wait for a table.
The interior is modern, with a more homely atmosphere than the Oliver Lane original. Unlike Oliver Lane, which feels very New York City urban, this Bowery To Williamsburg is brighter, lighter and feels more like you’re in someone’s kitchen (albeit a trendy apartment kitchen in Brooklyn).
The friendly service and New York City Jewish inspired menu carries over from the Oliver Lane branch meaning there are no surprises here. Bagels with a range of traditional and not-so traditional fillings, great coffee, tasty brunches and a range of cakes and pastries all make an appearance.
Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate ($5.00)
The Padre coffee at Bowery To Williamsburg is excellent but one thing that’s always hard to pass up is the peanut butter hot chocolate. The proportion of ingredients is just right so that it’s not too sweet, and you can really taste the peanut butter coming through. Something like this has the potential to go wrong but the team at Bowery To Williamsburg get it just right.
“Lox & Latkes” ($18.00)
The Lox on Latkes is one of the highlights at Bowery To Williamsburg and thankfully it’s as good here as it is at the original. Latkes are shallow fried potato pancake, and lox is the yiddish word for salmon. This version consists of mezcal & cucumber cured salmon, zucchini & potato latkes, spiced beetroot horseradish, pickled fennel and poached eggs.
The latkes are crispy on the outside and dense on the inside and not too greasy. The flavours all combine really nicely with the perfectly poached eggs topping things off nicely.
Vanilla Berry Waffle ($18.00)
This is exactly what you want a waffle dish to be. Vanilla berry compote, fresh berries, pistachios, maple syrup and whipped cream atop a waffle. Just the right balance of ingredients and sweet but not overpoweringly so.
If you’ve been to the original Bowery To Williamsburg you’ll know exactly what to expect here. Given a choice between the 2, the fitout of the original gives it a bit more character but when it comes down to the food, it’s equally fantastic at both outposts. Hardware Societie is great, and it’s easy to see why there are lines outside but if more people made the decision to venture across the laneway to Bowery To Williamsburg, they’d be pleasantly surprised at what they’d find.
Bowery To Williamsburg (Hardware Street)
123 Hardware Street
Melbourne
Victoria 3000
Australia
Telephone: (03) 9077 0162
E-mail: n/a
Website: Facebook
Open
Mon – Fri: 7:30am to 3:00pm
Sat – Sun: 8:30am to 3:00pm