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MELBOURNE | Girl Next Door is a new café located in front of a boutique hotel, within walking distance to St Kilda beach. The owners are no strangers to the restaurant industry, having expanded their successful business, Sauced Pasta Bar, across a few different locations in Melbourne. Girl Next Door was originally meant to be another Sauced Pasta Bar, but plans changed to open a daytime café when it became apparent that the required changes would not be able to be made to the heritage-listed building.
Both eat-in and take-away options are available from the menu, which includes all-day breakfast and lunch choices ranging from egg-based breakfast-style dishes to jaffles, paninis and sandwiches filled with an array of exciting and hearty filling options. Items from the Sauced Pasta Bar menu are also available if you are seeking more traditional Italian food for later in the day. In the drinks department, Girl Next Door keeps it simple with only coffee, hot chocolate and Emma & Tom’s bottled pressed juices available.
For a healthy option, the Chia Breakfast Bowl presents beautifully in a black ceramic bowl served on a wooden paddle. A smear of coconut cream and vanilla infused ricotta lines the base of the bowl, topped with a pistachio and chia crumble, fresh kiwi fruit, banana, bee pollen and a sprinkling of coconut. The fresh fruits and light-tasting ricotta compliment each other perfectly, whilst the crunchy chia crumble adds a welcome, slightly naughty, addition to this health-conscious bowl.
The Crushed Avo arrives as un-smashed wedges of avocado sitting atop grilled sourdough bread, to which we added bacon for a touch more meatiness. The drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice on the avocado adds a simple yet explosive burst of flavour with each mouthful, making you want to go back for more just to taste the zingy flavours again and again. The cubes of butter served to the side were a thoughtful addition, but potentially not necessary with the generous amount of avocado supplied on the sourdough.
This unassuming café nails the brief when it comes to thoughtful and tasty brunch fare served in a laid-back atmosphere. On their social media pages, Girl Next Door commonly refers to the beach-side lifestyle of Venice Beach, which they just pull off with their eclectic and rustic interior design highlighted by art-covered walls and hanging pot plants from above, mixed in with the fresh sea-breeze air. We’d recommend sitting on the outside tables to take advantage of this nearby beach-side vibe, whose ambience could only be improved with a closer proximity to, and view of, the actual beach.
Girl Next Door
42 Fitzroy Street
St Kilda
Victoria 3182
Australia
Telephone: 0403 171 613
E-mail: n/a
Website: Facebook
Open
Tue – Sun: 7:00am to 1:00pm