[content_slider]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[/content_slider]
MELBOURNE | We know Victoria Street for its unbeatable pho and banh mi, further glorified by cheap prices and BYO standards. However, the busy street is nothing to look at. We come for the food, not for the aesthetic. Or so we thought. Nestled between the fruit markets and seafood shops, Holla Food & Drinkk is hard to miss—manicured front patio, forest green walls, and the words coffee roasters labeled in mod typography, are dead giveaways of the operation here. This is a destination for brunch and booze, with an emphasis on great coffee and artful dishes. No pho here. While it’s not a new name in the area, Holla Food & Drink recently updated their summer menu and invited us to come along and try.
Although unrelated to its neighboring Vietnamese shops, take a step inside Holla and you may find yourself feeling like you’ve entered the tropical jungles of Southeast Asia – or at least a greenhouse. Potted plants hang from the ceiling, line the windows, and extend down the walls. High ceilings with exposed wooden beams allow the space to fill with light and fresh air. Seating options are a plenty – would you prefer your eggs to be served at a bench table near the open kitchen? Or perhaps inside of your very own caged green house? Or there’s always the communal table tucked away in the back, where you can watch the roasting process go down.
This isn’t a café where you order your go-to coffee and quickly flip the menu over to peruse the food options. Holla Food & Drink specializes in serving up the booziest of brunches. While you can find your standard Bloody Mary and Espresso Martini, might as well try the Blood Orange Negroni, Lychee Mojito, or Matcha Mai Tai, among other unique house cocktails. And if you’re still unamused, how about a boozy shake? Pick from Nutella and Frangelico, Salted Caramel and Bacardi, Oreo and Kahlua, or Vanilla Bean and Baileys. Dessert and good times blended into one. We’re keen. However, if you happened to drink your calorie limit the night before, Holla also serves up three wholesome smoothies to help you drink your greens, served in proper Tiki glasses with complimentary garnish.
Now it’s time to decide on the proper brekky fuel to compliment your drink. Holla’s new menu includes a selection of light and fresh summer options with an Asian flair. The Superfood Salad is spiced up with edamame and purple sweet potato, the Brekki Bun is garnished with kasundi relish, and the Scrambled Eggs are jazzed up with spiced pork and Asian herbs. Or to the less discerning eye, the Tokyo Rose (soba noodles, salmon, and greens), Seoul Food (Korean BBQ tacos) and Holla Bahn Mi are the clear brainchildren of Asian influence.
Standard brunch fare is also available, and certainly not as an afterthought. The D.I.Y Avocado comes as a whole avocado in a cup, alongside toast, poached eggs and an avocado masher, so brunch farers can mix up the dish themselves. It may sound too simple, but paired with house seeds and spices, chili, coriander and burnt lime, this is unlike any smashed avo you’d be making yourself at home. The Pureed Peas, served with seasonal greens, shanklish cheese, poached eggs and smoked almond dukkah, is equally spiced and flavor packed. And the Breakfast Pana cotta, a coconut and chia based vegan dessert with just a meager degree of sweetness, ensures the paired caramelized bananas, activated nut butter, berries, dehydrated coconut yogurt and buckwheat crumble don’t overwhelm the palate with sugar.
If you’re looking to drink before nightfall, Holla Food & Drink tops the list of venues. With a creative spin on brunch cocktails and a menu that packs zest and spice, this coffee roaster is reinventing the Vietnamese stereotype of Victoria Street. On second thought, who are we kidding, might as well start the day with a boozy brunch and end it with a heaping bowl of pho.
Holla Food & Drink
284 Victoria Street
Richmond
Victoria 3121
Australia
Telephone: (03) 8394 3487
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Mon – Thu: 7:00am to 3:30pm
Fri: 7:00am to 10:00pm
Sat – Sun: 8:00am to 4:00pm