It’s not often one heads to a designer homewares and furniture store for the sole purpose of breakfast consumption. Hermon & Hermon occupies a lovely warehouse, a bright and spacious environment with high ceilings and beautiful products in every corner. The Hermon & Hermon Cafe offers up a host of fresh, light options on their menu which are well worth a trip to the Swan Street store.
The café boasts many a Richmond regular looking for a light breakfast/lunch and caffeine fix – and café manager/barista Liza makes a damn fine coffee using DC’s Reale blend.
Simple, good food is key on this menu. Along with a breakfast cooked to order, Hermon & Hermon offers croque monsieurs, savoury tarts, breakfast piadinas and delicious baked goods such as the toffee-caramel-goodness of freshly baked kingston biscuits, chocolate fudge brownies and other sweet treats. After snaffling one of these amazing kingstons piled high on stylish crockery, I chose the poached egg and mushroom tart and the pikelets with roasted pear, honey syrup and spiced ricotta.
The tart was a delight with shaved button mushrooms, chives and a perfectly poached egg atop a flaky puff pastry crust. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – if the yolk in your poached egg is runny and the white is firm, then your dish is 90 per cent there. Breaking that creamy yolk, in combination with the smoky mushrooms, the sharpness of the chives and the crisp crunch of the pastry… well, I could have had five more.
The pikelets with roasted pears was a winning combo too. Although the pears could have been a bit softer and the syrup a bit wetter, the fluffiness of the pikelets and the ricotta laced with vanilla bean and cinnamon secured the deliciousness of this dish. The ricotta wasn’t too sweet, which offset the sweetness of the honey syrup nicely.
If you’re looking for a refuge from hipster brunch joints, nonchalant waiters and 20 minute table waits, Hermon & Hermon cafe is a delicious, and aesthetically pleasing, alternative.
To read more blog posts and reviews by Lauren Bruce, head to the blog: laurendarcybruce.wordpress.com
HERMON AND HERMON
CUISINE: Cafe Fare, Coffee
ADDRESS: 556 Swan Street, Richmond
PH: 9427 0599
HOURS: Mon – Fri 8am – 5pm / Sat 10am – 5pm / Sun 12pm – 5pm
WEBSITE: www.hermonhermon.com.au
FACEBOOK: HermonandHermon
COFFEE: Ducale Coffee