Tosha Cafe — Restaurant in Melbourne

Living near South Yarra and the thriving Chapel St & Toorak Rd brunch scene is both a gift and a curse. There's always some new trendy cafe to try, some delicious meal to scoff, and then there's also the fact that my complete lack of willpower around a good poached egg means I'll never be a size 8. But with gems like Tom Dick & Harry on offer, I'm completely fine with that.

The old ball-and-chain (tehe) and I went out this morning to check out a top rated cafe on Zomato within walking distance from my place and had to choose between Einstein's Relative, Two Birds One Stone, Drugstore Espresso, and Tom Dick & Harry. We chose that latter because it had 'dick' in the name, but we're totally not juveniles.

We decided to sit outside because the weather was quite nice, so took a seat on the bench on the sidewalk. As the cafe is very small and narrow, the only outdoor seating is 8 bench seats facing the road on the footpath, but it's totally fine because the footpath is wide enough to accommodate this. We let the staff know we were taking a seat there, and they came over soon after with menus and to take our coffee orders. Lattes all round of course.

The coffees came out quickly, and they were lovely. Liam is a barista so tends to get all judgy when he's given a crap coffee, but these passed his scrutiny. We also forgot to ask what their beans were, as they were great.

Now look; I'm not saying I'm easy, but when it comes to truffle-anything, I'd probably give up my first born to try it, so the obvious choice for me was the Creamy Truffle Mushrooms. Liam decided on 2 poached eggs on sourdough with smashed avo & hollandaise sauce. Our orders were taken by a nice chick who let me know the mushies rocked.

The food came out really quickly, and I was impressed by the presentation of both as well as the serving plates, which were the very in-vogue lightly enameled ceramics. Liam's poached eggs were perfect, the sourdough fresh and perfectly toasted, and the smashed avo plentiful. The only downer was what seemed to be a complete lack of hollandaise, which for those of you out there who love it as much as Liam does, that's just unacceptable. It looked like there could have been a hint of it on the plate but it had been soaked up by on a portion of the bread, so he went inside to let a waiter know. They gave him a little ramekin of the sauce, and he was a happy man again.

You know when you order something and once it's been set in front of you, you instantly get that smug "I ordered the best thing" feeling? Yup, I got that. Everything about this dish was perfect. The bread was fantastic, the cherry tomatoes were roasted to the point of being summer-sweet, the egg was spot-on and the mushrooms... Oh, the mushrooms! Not only were there more varieties than any single Woolies store has ever stocked, but there was A LOT of them. And the sauce! So many exclamation marks in one review! The sauce was utter perfection. Also, the photo doesn't do this meal justice, so I recommend that you just go and order it first thing tomorrow. DO IT.

When we were done we went to the counter to pay and were served straight away. The guy behind the counter was a little distracted, and after I had put the pin in the machine to pay by EFTPOS, he just turned about and started doing something else. It said approved, so I just stood there for a sec wondering if we were done or not. He kept doing whatever else it was that had his attention, so I just said thanks and left.

All in all, Tom Dick & Harry ticked all the boxes for me, and Einstein's Relative, Two Birds One Stone & Drugstore Espresso really have their work cut out for them to top this little gem. The only reason I haven't given it 5 stars is the hollandaise issue and the odd customer service thing at the end, but I look forward to returning to try the eggs begs with smoked ham and smacked minty...

Worst brunch food I have ever eaten. Already an uninspired and basic menu yet the execution on 3 different dishes is poorly done. Usually I can at least say the food is basic but tasty, but this tastes like horse food.

Note, this cafe was originally Tom Dick and Harry’s but was changed and Tosha has kept the good reviews.

I am not sure what the chef was thinking putting plain peanuts and pomegranate seeds as a garnish on an eggs benedict. Furthermore, there was some kind of rice cake that tastes like packing peanuts and the alfalfa just gave a dirty finish to the benedict. The apples were awful and tasted like Pepsi mixed with vinegar which overwhelmed the dish. The rosti was closer to a slimy, greasy falafel. It felt like there was an attempt to make a benedict seem healthy but taste as bad as possible.

Also, please fix your shakshuka, it was extremely sour and I am not sure how considering it’s a staple at most cafes. You should probably think about why your cafe doesn’t have a queue on Toorak Rd when any decent cafe in South Yarra does on the weekend.

The one saving grace is their renovation is definitely an upgrade from the previous business and they’ve created appropriate...

Walking past this place it really does not look like much, but it is definitely worth stopping in for a bite to eat.

Straight-off the staff are friendly and welcoming. If you keep walking to the back, you will find plenty of seats at tables and the bench, in a cosy space fitted in typical Melbourne style.

The menu has lots of tasty options.

The fritter stack which is amazing - fresh, light but full of flavour. The fritters wonderfully cooked and seasoned, even better when you mixed it with all the avo and perfectly poached egg.

The smashed quinoa avo is out-of-this world good. A great spin on a classic with heaps of flavour and a good mix of ingredients - especially the super creamy feta cheese.

I have been back multiple times and am never disappointed. Everything is always delicious.

The portions are massive and well-priced, so you definitely get your moneys worth and then some.

The tea is loose leaf - great to see, and nicely brewed.

Coffee is spot on.

And there is a cabinet at the front full of...