Brunswick Foodstore
Brunswick Foodstore
29 Weston Street
Brunswick VIC 3056
03 9388 8738
Open: Tue – Fri 7.30-4.30pm | Weekends 8am-4.30pm
No website
One gorgeous day before Christmas, I decided to don my bicycle helment and hit the road to continue my search for Melbourne’s greatest pancakes. I’m not sure how I came across the reference to Brunswick Foodstore – but they were on my research hit list. So off I toddled – straight up Elizabeth Street, through the roundabout to Royal Parade, up past the university and Princes Park, hang a left just after Brunswick Road on Weston Street – and Bob’s your uncle! Now I know that a 4km toddle is not really enough to go crazy about – but hey – it is the festive season, and one shouldn’t strain oneself. I was very pleased to see outside seating and bike parking! Life doesn’t come much more convenient than that!
The coffee served at Brunswick Foodstore is unashamedly Toby’s Estate – in fact, my sources tell me that the café used to be called Toby’s Estate… which would account for the fact that “Toby’s Estate” is emblazoned across the building and their delivery van. Anyway – the coffee is good!
Buttermilk pancakes with pistachio, raspberries,
vanilla ice cream & rose water syrup
In a short time my breakfast arrived…. Wow!! These pancakes look the real deal. Talk about generosity of serve – it was phenomenal! These pancakes were classic, fluffy, buttermilk pancakes – very light, aerated, and tender.
Alas – I am not a fan of buttermilk pancakes, preferring the moistness of a ricotta or semolina pancake (which are notoriously difficult to find). For the traditional pancake lover, though, these would really hit the mark.
The real winner for me was the accompaniment. The raspberries were absolutely, deliciously packed full of berry flavour, and there were so many of them – no worries about rationing here! The pistachios were toasted and provided a great crunchy counterpoint to the softness of the pancakes – and the rose water syrup was stunningly aromatic, sweet, and ethereal. The vanilla ice cream was alright – but I would have preferred to see a strained yoghurt or crème fraiche in keeping with middle eastern theme, and to make it a little more “adult”.
Overall – a really delicious set of pancakes, incredibly generous serve, and fantastic concept. I wonder if they’d do a version with semolina pancakes…. one can dream…
