Despite being spoilt for choices when it comes to brunch in Melbourne, Hibiki – an effortlessly cool brunch spot in Camberwell – has quickly become one of my top favourites. It serves up banging Japanese fusion brunch dishes with a twist, sick beats playing on the speakers. It’s Tokyo vibes AF with delicious and aesthetic dishes.
The minimalist interior is a nice break from the industrial warehouse vibe some brunch spots opt for. We were seated at the window, great for people watching. The servers were super friendly and service was quick despite the Sunday lunch rush. You can check out their entire menu here. They have two new specials, the sakura cherry blossom smoothie bowl and the ebi prawn burger 😍 I’m hungry just thinking about their dishes…
For drinks, we ordered the in house hojichai latter (with added honey), matcha latte and a small chocolate milkshake. The hojichai latte is black kuromitsu blended with hojicha, vanilla extract and secret spices. The matcha latte was pretty much ordered on every table.
I’m happy to report that the lattes were on point! It was my first time trying hojichai latte and I loved it! I definitely recommend asking for honey if you’re a fan of sweeter drinks. The milkshake was good as well and looked super cute with all the cocoa powdered bubbles.
The first dish is middle meets east. It’s a Turkish inspired dish described as ‘poached eggs w korokke on garlic shiso labne w soy sage burnt chilli butter, toasted seeds, crispy fried leek served on seeded sourdough’. It sounds like a simple dish but oh my god!! The first bite had me in heaven. The korokke is house made with potato, parmesan and chives. It wasn’t greasy and had a good crunch. I particularly liked the sage burnt chilli butter. Everything was simple but together was a hit.
We also ordered smashed in Japan. It’s Hibiki’s twist on the classic smashed avo. The smashed avocado is served on Japanese milk toast with yaki mushroom skewers, poached egg, shiso salt, danish feta and shichimi spices n crispy lotus root chips. Without a doubt, it’s the most aesthetic smashed avo I’ve ever seen.
It’s your average smashed avo but elevated. The mushrooms were a nice touch but my favourite was the crunchy element – the crispy lotus root chips. I’d order this next time as a side since it was so good.
The last dish we had was the yakiniku beef sustenance bowl – a special when we visited. It had bbq yakiniku marinated beef on forbidden grains, kale chips, onions, cucumber ribbons, puffed brown rice and oriental soy yuzu vinegrette. とてもおいしかった！That’s my high school Japanese coming in use haha. It’s fresh and delicious in its simplicity. The citrus flavoured rice was so yummy and made me think of my time in Karuizawa – of Japanese summer and green fields, like the nature sceneries in Studio Ghibli movies.
Hibiki is the coolest place for brunch & beats, with friendly staff and great coffee. I will definitely be back for more deliciousness. I’d like to try their sweet dishes next time like the shibuya honey toast. Oh and their sushi burritos of course!
Love,
B ♡
P.S. Hibiki has a super sick jazz funk playlist on Spotify. Check them out at hibiki.melbourne. 🎧
Chapter Two 