179 Albion Street
Brunswick Vic
roguedistrict.com.au

Driving down Albion Street a few weeks back I couldn’t help but notice a charming old bluestone cottage in the middle of the concrete jungle. Housed within this cottage is a cafe, the name of which seemed really familiar to me despite never having visited before. So naturally, when I got home I did a quick search and realised I’ve been following ‘Rogue District’ on insta for some time and regularly lusted over their delicious looking pancakes. Fast forward to a stifling hot Melbourne day where there was no way I was doing any cooking and we found ourselves brunching at this popular Brunswick spot.

Being an old cottage the space is warm (not just because of the insane temperatures we were experiencing) and full of vintage character with a hint of modern style. Being a warm morning, we parked ourselves at one of the bench tables in the front courtyard and were immediately greeted by one of the lovely staff. Given I had both of my kids in tow, no amount of heat was keeping me from a morning coffee and damn was it good! I more or less inhaled it and would have easily ordered a second had it not already been 35 degrees at 10am.

The menu is very much geared towards the sugar lovers – two types of hotcakes, waffles, french toast and a panna cotta. If you’ve read any of my other blog posts you know this is my kinda awesome. I opted for their picture perfect Tim Tam hotcakes, mum had the raspberry and white chocolate waffle (clearly the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree) and my sister (the responsible one) opted for the smashed avo because apparently it was too hot to eat anything else.

These Tim Tam hotcakes aren’t to be confused with the almost iconic version available at Long Story Short Cafe (read about them here). They’re just as rich and delicious but still very different. This version consists of three fluffy hotcakes stacked on top of each other and accompanied by a delicious Tim Tam crumble, maple strawberries, chocolate sauce and a good scoop of Nutella mascarpone. It’s just as decadent as it sounds with nothing to really cut through the sweetness, but you know what? It was amazing! However I will say, you need to be in the mood for this. Most days of the week this level of richness would have been too much for me but today it hit the spot.

By all other reports and judging by the fact that mum had finished her waffle before I was done taking pics, I’d say the waffle was a hit. It makes sense given it consisted of white chocolate mousse, raspberry sauce, fresh berries, mango gel, honeycomb and salted caramel ice cream – hello! Get in ma belly (next time, thanks for offering mum!). The sister said the avo was good too, but really how can you ever go wrong?

For the parents out there Rogue Trader is very family friendly. Plenty of highchairs, plastic cups for the little ones, a decent kids food and drink menu, and plenty of space to navigate strollers which is always a welcome feature. Oh and did I mention that it’s next to a park? Boom! Parents, what are you going next weekend? Apologies to all the child-free hipsters.