Nine Yards South Melbourne — Restaurant in Melbourne

Nine Yards in South Melbourne sure takes Melbourne brunch classics to another level.

We stopped by for lunch after our morning stroll at the market near by, grazing on some baked goods and macadamia nuts, as you do. We have been meaning to check out Nine Yards for quite some time now, and we go the opportunity to do so today, and we are sure glad we did.

We started off with a couple piccolo lattes to spike the blood stream. Believe it or not, many cafes don’t get the piccolo latte right, it’s either too strong or not strong enough. it’s a delicate balance of espresso and micro foamed and stretched milk, just enough to give you the espresso hit and flavour without it being overpowering, and not watered down too much and too milky. These guys sure make a damn fine coffee.

For lunch we ordered a couple dishes. We were hungry. We got the brioche prawn toast and chilli scramble with added smoked salmon, as well as the Willow Bowl with added chicken. Service was quick although they were nearly a full house. Our food came rather quickly. Impressive.

The prawn toast chilli scramble was insanely good. Enough spice to give you a some heat, thick cut brioche that was toasted perfectly crunchy with a soft centre, coupled with a decent layer of prawns and toasted sesame seeds, just right. The scrambled eggs with chilli were delish and creamy. The smoked salmon was a decent serving too. Overall the dish was tasty, balanced, filling and was presented well. If we were to compare how good it was it would be up there with one of our favourites in Hobart at Born in Brunswick whereby their octopus chilli scramble was to die for. Yup, this one is up there amongst our top picks.

The Willow Bowl was a delicate and balanced cocktail of brown rice, miso dressing, nori, avocado, spring onion, wakame, pickled ginger, edamame, cabbage, tagarashi, and wasabi kewpie, and probably love too. Add some grilled chicken (and by some we mean a hefty amount, generous) and you have a meal fit for a gym junkie. Taste was tremendous, umamiliscious, and very filling. Can’t go wrong!

Overall this eatery ticked our boxes for a couple of gym rats looking for a cheat meal, and the added service that was brillaint left us impressed.

Thanks for having...

Nine Yards is one of a new brunch place in South Melbourne, Dorcas St. It occupies a large space for group diners. Clean with neutral colour palette makes it a great atmosphere to chill and unwind on the weekend. I find they are healthier than the general brunch cafes that I’ve been to. So perfect for health-conscious individuals! We’ve visited three times now, and can fully review the experience. Food portion is reasonable, not super generous, but also enough for us.

Please be aware that unlike other brunch places, there’s 15% surcharge on public holidays. 10% surcharge on Sundays. So pick your days!

I really enjoyed this Bacon Slab Benny, mainly because it’s not the standard shortcut bacon, and it’s got the added honey glaze. The grated apple makes it fresh and with texture at every bite. I actually couldn’t finish the sourdough and had to pass it to J.

The Zucchini and Pea fritters were a delight, nothing was overpowering. Again I felt this was another healthy dish. Lots of veggies for the belly! I think all the above are dairy free and gluten free, except for the honey glazed bacon slab where hollandaise contains dairy. A couple of vegan options too, which makes it diet-friendly.

Drinks: Chai Latte and Berry Smoothie I enjoyed their coffee, but didn’t enjoy their Chai latte, I didn’t like the aftertaste of the chai – perhaps we’re too used to Prana Chai… Berry Smoothie was good – not too sweet. I like how they are using paper straws 🙂

Overall, service to me has always been consistent. Staff will come to take your order at the right time, food is served without much wait. We actually finished our brunch in less than 1 hour! I’d recommend this place because of the atmosphere and diet-friendly options. It is a little pricey esp on Sundays and public holidays, but it’s the price you pay not needing to wait...

Last week I stopped by Nine Yards South Melbourne. Not far from the town hall and around the corner from great shopping district of Clarendon Street. They have been here since late October 2019.

Staff are great: shout out to Cathy and Soomi [best barista in the area I was told!] - friendly and accommodating - pictures taken with permission.

What I ordered: Double espresso: the coffee is strong, amost bitter yet fruity and also had a distinct earthiness. $4.80

Toastie: Sourdough white bread, bacon, egg, cheese and tomato relish. In one word - yum! A great pick me up after a night out or tasty start to the day. $10

They pride themselves in the use of Australian native ingredients and their superb coffees are the Victorian brands NICCOLO or ONA Coffee . The chicken salad and bacon, egg and cheese toastie are the most popular items on the current menu. The majority of the front of house pastries and sweet goodies are cooked on site daily. Value for money is achieved due to the generous servings you get.

At the moment they are working from a snap shot menu taken from the summer menu and will be transitioning to the winter / autumn menu soon. They have extensive indoor seating and footpath outdoor seating [not currently available].

Drop in and grab a bite [take away until restrictions lift] or a coffee.

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