Project 281 Coffee Roasters — Restaurant in Melbourne

3.5 ⭐️

My Instagram page has been filled with Project 281’s taiyaki (a pancake that is shaped like a fish) dessert, and I have been dying to go there. Since Sip and her kiddie is free last weekend, I convinced them to go with me with a promise of yummy dessert.

Got there at 10:30am and waited about 15 mins for a table, which is no mean feat with 3 kids under 5! I found the service is generally slightly slow and that impacts their turnover. More on that later.

We efficiently browsed the menu and we knew what we wanted when we sat down. Definitely the taiyaki for dessert, and we found out there is a savory taiyaki for kiddies as well which is like a ham and cheese cake with tomato sauce. I wanted the soft shell crab ononmiyaki (savory pancake e cabbage) and Sip ordered a bulogi burger. Of course I desperately wanted to try that famous hot chocolate as well.

There hot chocolate came and it was deconstructed with a piece of chocolate leaf inside the cup. You pour a jar of hot chocolate into the cup and the piece of chocolate basically melts. It’s nothing as dramatic as the fairy floss chocolate at Hash, but it tasted good, though nothing special.

We waited a bit longer than expected for our mains, and when it came we found the beef in the bulogi burger a bit dry. Maybe it’s cos normally beef bulogi uses quite fatty beef and to suit the tastebuds of health conscious hipster, they used quite a lean cut of meat. Still nice, but just not nice enough to wow.

The soft shell crab pancake was also good but not amazing. The soft shell crab was a bit soft rather than crunchy when it arrived, and the pancake is too stodgy. They should use more cabbage in the batter, but I really like the fresh shredded veggies on top , the sauce was well balanced and the poached egg perfectly cooked.

Kiddies taiyaki was delish and we wished we ordered more as the three kids were fighting over one piece of taiyaki!

After our savory, we waited and waited for our dessert. No one came to clear the plates, no one came to give us our dessert. Hmmmm. Eventually we flagged down our waitress, and we had to prompt her that we are ready for dessert, and that’s when she said something like I will ask the chef to make it. In a lot of busy cafes, the waiters/waitress will keep an eye on when their patrons are almost at the end of their meal, and promptly put in the dessert order. Now I understand why we had to wait so long for our table!

But the dessert was epic. The taiyaki w pear, chocolate soil, berries was amazingggggg and for that dish I would give this place more than a 5 out of 5!

So I would recommend this place, just for their...

Our current favorite brunch spot. Here is a breakdown of everything we've tried:

🥚Truffle & Hash Scramble 🌟3.5/5 As delicate as it is decadent, this scramble is lightly flavoured with parmesan and white truffle, topped with the earthy tones of fresh mushrooms and the sourness of pickled veg. It's complex and as a result we felt it distracted from the truffle flavor. A crispier hashbrown would also benefit the dish to stand up to, and contrast the scramble resting upon it. Among its other dishes on the menu, this poses as a weaker dish for us, but nonetheless, the dish was a delight.

🥚Eggs Benny 🌟4.3/5 "If it ain't broke don't fix it, perfect it." is the ethos with this dish. A refined take on a classic dish, this dish is everything you want from an eggs benedict - with ham and spinach on crumpets that soak up every last drop of flavour from the seriously tasty hollandaise sauce 🤤

🌯Brekky Burrito 🌟4/5 Everything you want in a breakfast burrito from hash browns to caramelized onions all topped with tonkatsu sauce, this dish is wholesome, filling, and proof that every menu item should be wrapped in a tortilla, forever.

🐙Octopus Hash 🌟4.2/5 The spiciness of the red pepper sauce with the tender Korean spicy octopus and crispy block hash brown w/ pickles cabbage make this dish an absolute head turner - one that sets this cafe apart from every other in Melbourne and makes this spot a unique classic!

🥭Mango Passionfruit Muffin: 🌟4.4/5 Soft, moist, and balanced, this muffin is a perfect accompaniment to coffee, tea, or simply as dessert for a brunch well-eaten!🍵

☕️Iced Coffee Sphere 🌟4.1/5 It's named for exactly what it is: a ball of espresso served with the milk of your choice. And as the ball melts or you add more milk, the flavour of the drink changes so that even though no two sips are the same, it's always delicious👌🏻. Only points taken away is its price point, but worth a try regardless!

🍶Plum Wine & Sake Sour 🌟3.4/5 A refreshing cocktail with sweet plum wine and dry sake boosted by a hint of yuzu, this drink perfect for all your late...

Last year, while being stuck in Europe as the border to Australia was closed, I attended an online seminar about roasting. Anne Cooper was one of the guest speakers, and she shared interesting insights about how to roast coffee from Colombia.

This was the reason I went to PROJECT 281 CAFÉ to enjoy some tasty coffee, to have lunch and maybe to run into Anne to have a chat about anything coffee. The café was easy to find, a gigantic and colorful mural painting showed me the way. I love these mural paintings on brick walls, they give a special creative touch to Melbourne, and you can see them all over the city.

The café is located inside a big, old warehouse or factory building. There is a separated space with two roasters in the left back. The team wasn’t roasting today, but everything was there, a sample and a production roaster, to create magical coffee flavors.

I was delighted to see that a Kenyan single origin espresso in the hopper besides their house blend. But I came just a few minutes too late, and they swapped the beans to another tasty coffee from Brazil.

I noticed another difference between Australia and where I usually have my coffee. Even at lunch time, the baristas will ask you what coffee you want to order before they bring you the food menu. That is a big difference, and I noticed it just now. It happened to me every time I enter a café for lunch.

So, I went for a double espresso from Brazil and the poke bowl, made of sesame rice, greens, pickled ginger, avocado-pea smash, cherry tomatoes, wasabi pea crump, wakame and with salmon sashimi. Just have a look at the picture, no additional words needed: YUMMIE!!! For my desert I ordered a magic, as I know by now that the baristas in Melbourne will create super sweet, smooth espresso-based milk beverages. Their house blend cut beautifully through the milk, and I walked back to the office –...