Top Paddock, Richmond

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For our short Christmas trip home to Melbourne we managed to fit in two separate Christmas family celebrations, a friend’s wedding, five days of pre and post wedding celebrations and a spot of shopping. I also successfully squeezed in a quick brunch date with Mum before she flew back to Adelaide and we returned to Perth. We met up out the front of a café called Top Paddock in Richmond on Boxing Day. There was already a reasonable queue heading out the door and round the street so I put our name down and we stood and waited outside in the sunshine. Despite a long queue, the restaurant achieved a quick table turnover and before long we were seated.

Still in a post-Christmas day food daze I could barely focus on the menu in front of me. There were a lot of gluten free options and much of the produce used was obtained direct from the producers locally in Victoria.

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Eggs Benedict poached eggs with ham hock and béarnaise on toast ($17)

Mum has always been an eggs benny fan and consequently ordered hers without a moment of hesitation. It was served with pulled ham hock rather than the usual sliced ham. The pork was soft and flavoursome but sadly her poached eggs lacked any egg porn ooze.

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Eggs Benedict poached eggs with ham hock and béarnaise on toast ($17)

I opted for the gin and limed cured Huon ocean trout fillet served with pickled baby beets, a couple of cubes of potato gallete, goats curd and poached eggs. Each component was awkwardly placed about my plate, without any real relation to each other.

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Gin and limed cured Huon ocean trout fillet with pickled baby beetroot, potato gallette, poached eggs, leaves, goats curd and toast ($20, GF option)

I was in better luck with my eggs and was spoilt with a delightfully sunny cascade of goo after nervously poking a hole into it with my knife.

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Gin and limed cured Huon ocean trout fillet with pickled baby beetroot, potato gallette, poached eggs, leaves, goats curd and toast ($20, GF option)

Is it normal to put such a high level of expectation on something as simple as a perfectly poached egg? Maybe, but then that comes with the territory of being a food connoisseur maybe.

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The Boy was very pleased with his choice of a fresh Queensland soft-shelled crab roll. Served in a Brioche bun with a fennel and dill salad, the bun had a satisfying crunchy exterior and light puffy inside with a subtly sweet flavour. In my tired and overindulged state I could have nearly shed a tear hearing how good it was as there wasn’t any remotely gluten free about this dish for me to try.

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Fresh Qld soft-shelled crab roll with a fennel and dill salad & lime mayonnaise in a Brioche bun ($21)

The service at Top Paddock was much quicker than we had anticipated leaving us with a small amount of time to share a bite of something sweet. I love two course breakfasts. There were a couple of gluten free options in addition to some raw and vegan treats too.

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Raw Peppermint slice (V, GF)

I chose the raw peppermint slice as I wanted to critique it compared to my own version. When it came to the presentation this slice definitely won over mine, it was pretty. I always like to think that my food has a rustic charm however some may prefer to describe it as border lining on amateur. Despite its neat and cute appearance, I cannot deny my raw peppermint slice has a better flavour and always leaves me wanting more. With this slice I was satisfied with just a shared mouthful between three. Maybe that is a good thing.

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Lemon and berry cheesecake (GF)

When I was ordering dessert for us, I wasn’t sure if my mum would be into the whole raw, vegan thing and ordered a safe option of a gluten free lemon and berry cheesecake. There was nothing sugar-free about this one and it came complete with a hit of central berrylicious goo in the middle.

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Disclaimer: Chompchomp doesn’t get to spend even half the time she wants with her mum. Consequently she will always try to pay, thinking that the gift of food somewhat makes up for their time apart. What makes this tricky is her mother feels the same and this time round insisted it was her turn to pay. Thanks Mum xx

Top Paddock

658 Church Street, Richmond, VIC 3121 | (03) 9429 4332 | toppaddockcafe.com

Top Paddock on Urbanspoon

11 Thoughts on “Top Paddock, Richmond

    • LOL! We are so on the same page here! Lucky for Mum she wasn’t too bothered….I think I was more disappointed than she was!

  1. I’m heading to Melbourne for my mum’s birthday in a couple of weeks and this is top of my list of places to try. The food looks amazing! Though… I must say that I prefer the look of your raw peppermint slice, with the generosity of the layers. I can’t wait to try it (I still haven’t ventured much into the world of raw desserts!) xxx

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