351 Lygon Street
Brunswick 3056 VIC

Housed in an old warehouse on the Brunswick end of Lygon Street, what you find when entering the red door of East Elevation is in complete contrast to the concrete jungle outside. This large warehouse space has a really earthy feel to it and almost resembles a greenhouse just with an industrial twist. There are literally plants everywhere you look, be it in planter boxes, little pots, vases or hanging from the ceiling, which create a very calming environment to enjoy a meal.

One of the drawcards to East Elevation is that it’s very child friendly, so much so I almost wanted to order off the kids menu. The options are limited, but it’s the first time I’ve seen creative, non run of the mill kids dishes which are sure to satisfy even the fussiest of kiddies. Clearly a hit with mums and small children, I easily counted five groups with babies during our midweek visit, each with adequate space around their tables to park their strollers, which is often rare in Melbourne cafes.

In terms of food, all of the usual suspects are on offer, so we opted for the corned beef hash (with parsley, kasundi, poached egg and a herb salad), the salted beef brisket toasted bagel (with mustard, house pickle and tomato salad), and the eggy bread (with maple syrup, banana and hazelnut crumb) for the little guy.

When I think of corned beef hash, my mind automatically goes the amazing version from the Auction Rooms in North Melbourne. The version from East Elevation is completely different to this, it consists of pan fried cubes of potato, mixed with cubes of corned beef, then smothered in kasundi and topped with stacks of parsley. I’d be lying if I said it was better than the other said version because it’s not, but that’s not to say it’s bad, just different. I found it to be a bit oily and there was too much kasundi for my liking, but overall it was tasty and worth a try.

To my surprise the bagel was served disassembled, with all elements on a serving board for you to put together. It was simple and flavoursome although a little on the dry side.

Another draw card is their hot chocolates, which came as a surprise to me. They offer both spiked and non spiked varieties, like the peanut hot chocolate or the Jaffa hot chocolate with triple sec, each looking better than the last. I tried the peanut hot chocolate and it was absolutely delicious. The super rich dark drinking chocolate mixed with peanut butter was thick and rich with the only downside being that there wasn’t more in my cup.

If you’re a mum looking for an easy lunch outing, give East Elevation a crack.