The Top Brunch Spots In The Northern Suburbs

Venture 45 minutes out of Melbourne and you’ll discover the Northern Suburbs, and the brunch spots that the locals keep secret. Tucked away in small farm towns, in quiet shopping strips, and down backroads, cafés and restaurants serving homemade brunches packed with fresh produce sit awaiting your arrival.

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Rivers of Yarrambat

Rivers of Yarrambat has operated as a nursery since 1981 and has since expanded to include a cafe, health and well-being center, function room, and gift shop. Sitting adjacent to the pond, Rivers Cafe has both indoor seating and an outdoor veranda where you can spot ducks and turtles from your table. Open for breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea, Rivers Cafe offers a wide range of savory and sweet dishes made with locally sourced produce. Try the cheese and fresh herb pot bread (served in a flower pot), buttery scones, or a gourmet burger. For chocolate lovers, there’s the decadent European hot chocolate.

Built in the 1890s, Turners is a charming boutique bakery in Mernda which serves a selection of pies, pastries, cakes, and other homemade dishes for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, and high tea. Original owners Charles and Stephenson Turner traveled far and wide to sell their homemade bread, and the Scotch oven they once used is still operational today and used to bake the signature sourdough bread.

Lady Bower

Located on a quiet street in Reservoir, Lady Bower serves all-day brunch, lunch, sandwiches, and sweets. Lady Bower is always packed, and owner Renee encourages locals to bring their home-grown produce so that the team can use the fruits and vegetables to make jam and preserves. Among the spreads for sale are tomato chutney and plum jam. Try the pulled pork and green mango sandwich, melon bircher, and the Lamington hand-shaken milkshake.

Two Beans and a Farm

Just off Plenty Road, Two Beans and Farm is a restored farmhouse dating back to 1861. The Carome Homestead is located in Mernda, about a 50 minute drive from the CBD, and offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a slightly Spanish feel. There are separate dining rooms, allowing for privacy and providing spaces for functions. Two Beans and a Farm has a ‘garden to plate’ approach, and its seasonal menu includes tapas, brioche buns, and organic and vegetarian options to enjoy in the company of some friendly kangaroos.

Tancks Corner

Tancks Corner is a weatherboard building situated on the site of the historic post office. Tancks Corner has a refined menu, including Moroccan spiced cauliflower salad, ‘shrooms and kale; and toasted banana and coconut loaf. The owners use local produce and sell Australian-made products in their boutique in support of local businesses.

Dexter

Dexter does buns, not burgers, and is a must-know, anything-goes eatery for Melbourne’s most carnivorous. Situated on High Street in Preston, Dexter’s wacky lunch menu includes Kentucky fried cauliflower, pig’s head croquette, bone marrow mash, hot meat donuts, and a liquid nitrogen and chocolate biscuit creation titled ‘milk and cookies.’ On-tap beers by Temple Brewing are also available.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

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