The best breakfasts in Melbourne

This Japanese concept store in Collingwood is as charming as the food is delightful. Cibi is warm and welcoming, and consistently serves exceptional quality Japanese inspired breakfasts – such as the OG Japanese breakfast plate or miso baked eggs. The craftsmanship of the chefs is evident in each simple ingredient, such as the Cibi rice blend, which serves as the perfect base for many of their dishes. The quality of the produce is undeniable, with fresh grilled fish and crunchy seasonal vegetables taking each dish to the next level.

The owners of Cibi, which means ‘little one’, set out to remind us that there was a time when we were all cibi - young, naïve and adventurous. Stepping into Cibi is like a return to our innocent former selves; where curiosity is encouraged as you explore the delicate Japanese homewares, the lush plants in the nursery, and the curated selection of Japanese grocery ingredients, all housed within the same charismatic warehouse that makes you never want to leave.   

Best for: a place to leave your worries at the door and be comforted by nourishing food that is good for your body and soul

Eat this: the traditional Cibi Japanese breakfast plate which comes with grilled salmon, tamagoyaki egg omelette, seasonal vegetables, Cibi rice blend and miso soup

Perks: Meg’s Grandma’s Miso Soup tastes like a warm hug and feels like it could cure all ailments

The team behind this bright and airy corner café is responsible for the success of fellow brunch darlings Terror Twilight, Hi Fi and Tinker, with Convoy fast joining (perhaps even surpassing) those ranks. People love the eats and vibes here so much that it even won our People's Choice Award for Best Café in 2023, and we reckon a large part of that is to do with the inventive menu. 

Here, it's a little more left field than your average brekky spot, with featherlight cinnamon-scroll pancakes, king prawn rolls, and okonomiyaki-inspired waffles enticing regulars on the daily. There are plenty of familiar crowd-pleasers, too, like acai bowls, eggs benny, smashed avo and more. 

Best for: long laptop seshes solo, romantic brekky dates or big group get-togethers with your pals – this eatery is the perfect destination for it all

Eat this: the steak-frites roll with sliced rump and bone marrow gravy, otherwise known as the ultimate holy grail hangover cure

Perks: insanely good coffee

Brunch shouldn't just be an affair for the middle of the day, and thanks to the likes of Emil's Café, it doesn't have to be. Once their childhood home, brothers John and George El-Khoury have refurbished their family's corner milk bar into Emil's Café, a licensed all-day brunch spot with a nostalgic, homely feel. The menu skews Turkish, with highlights like hummus shakshuka with spinach pesto, benny eggs with slow-cooked beef ribs and tahini hollandaise, and knafeh spun pastry with pistachio crumb and rose syrup. 

Best for: a warm, family-friendly joint where you can bring the kids in tow and everyone will be entertained

Eat this: anything and everything – it's all delicious

Perks: lots of dietary-friendly menu items, kind and genuine service and, as it's a licensed venue, you can even have a glass of prosecco with your brekky if you so wish 

It’s the attention to detail, quality produce and considered menu of seasonal rotations that make this cosy Carlton North daytime eatery stand out from the pack. Behind an unassuming blue façade on Rathdowne St, Florian is humbly bringing breakfast back to its roots. 

What elevates the breakfast at Florian is the obvious care taken with each ingredient on the plate. The gravlax is an old faithful that rightly holds a permanent spot on the menu. What looks like a simple dish, proves to be a masterpiece of balance and refinement. Glossy, thickly sliced gravlax and toast that is, without sounding trite, perfectly toasted. It comes with a luxurious jammy egg and pillowy light ricotta, all rounded out with crunchy, peppery radishes and a few sprigs of tarragon. While the menu is not huge, it is still difficult to choose just one – but you really can’t go wrong.

Best for: a place to indulge in a wholesome, slow-paced morning – with guaranteed great food, attentive and friendly service and a side of interesting people watching

Eat this: whatever seasonal speciality catches your eye

Perks: the cinnamon and dark chocolate bun is an oversized scroll of golden goodness, studded with chocolate pieces and generously rolled in sugar and spice

You know you're a coffee snob if there's not a lot that gives you more pleasure in this world than a craft roaster kicked into full gear. This is the tantalising (and aromatic) setting for Code Black – the café arm of the Code Black Coffee roastery in Brunswick. Pay a visit to this hip warehouse conversion for well-balanced brews and hearty brunches that taste as exquisite as they look. If you're a sweet tooth, you'll be tempted by the orange and almond love cake with spiced syrup and burnt mascarone, or the fluffy ricotta hotcake with peanut butter mousse, berries and white chocolate cremeux. Savoury breakfasts are globally inspired – from French to Vietnamese – with a broad variety of dishes to entice every palate. 

Best for: toothsome brunch and lunch dishes prepared with a little extra creative flair, paired with top tier house-roasted coffee

Eat this: five spice confit duck, spring onion waffle, chilli maple, shredded herb salad and a fried egg

Perks: Code Black's signature coffee flights

This pint-sized neighbourhood espresso and wine bar cleverly manages to strike a fine balance between cosiness and elegance. Napier Quarter champions the artisan while providing a sanctuary of comfort, wonder and delight on a quiet corner tucked away behind Brunswick Street.  

It's an all-day affair at Napier Quarter; early morning pastries, midday brunches, evening snacks and late-night wines. However, the breakfast really holds its own here. We love this menu because unlike most other cafés where one must painstakingly choose just one dish, here, the menu (which changes often) is built mostly of small snacks that are designed to be ordered together. Toast or fresh baguette with butter and preserves. Two boiled eggs with chives. Pickled vegetables. Cured meats or cheeses. The simple seasoning and astute additions to each small plate demonstrate a great deal of refinement, and the utmost respect for impeccable produce. 

Best for: lovely, long, leisurely, late breakfasts that may or may not turn into an early afternoon glass of wine or two

Eat this: the anchovy toast 

Perks: the adjoining guesthouse is the perfect home away from home for an indulgent staycation or a place to recommend to out of towners to experience Melbourne living at its absolute best

Nerissa Jayasingha and Hiran Kroon opened Lankan Tucker in a quiet pocket of Brunswick West in 2016, and their cosy Sri Lankan café has all the trappings of a typical Melbourne haunt – St Ali coffee, laidback vibes, lots of greenery, service-with-a-smile.

Aussie brunch favourites come with an accent – smashed avo is jazzed up with turmeric hummus and snow pea tendrils, and house-cured salmon is glazed with arrack, a spirit made from the fermented sap of coconut flowers, popular in the Indian subcontinent. 

Best for: a spiced-up morning

Eat this: the egg hopper

Perks: house-made drinks like a Ceylon bubble tea, a passionfruit icy pole dunked in amber-hued passionfruit tea from the family’s estate in Sri Lanka, energised with popping pearls and sparkling water

Not only does Footscray’s favourite café serve reliably good breakfast, it also makes you want to live in a shipping container. This café, fashioned from three of them, looks as good as any: think leather mid-century chairs in taupe, mustard yellow and olive, pale timbers, green tiling and fresh flowers aplenty. Outdoor seating is shaded by umbrellas and surrounded by planter boxes verdant with herbs, the latter of which feature on the menu.

From the ocean there's wild caught sardines with greens, ricotta, olive tapenade, poached egg, chilli and lemon. From the land, a veal katsu sanga with apple pepper chutney, cabbage slaw and pickled carrot. Not bad for what was previously a derelict car park.

Best for: taking some of its cabinet sweets for the trip home 

Eat this: wild-caught sardines with greens

Perks: discovering the other wonders of Footscray, like the bustling food market and Vietnamese eats

We like eating carbs and feeling righteous – hence our love for Loafer Bread. They exclusively use local, organic and biodynamic ingredients – from the Gippsland beef that fills the pies, to the certified organic stone milled flours, raisins and grains in every last loaf and cookie. The Fitzroy North bakery supplies their ethical wares to eco-conscious cafés Slow Poke, and Cheshire, and is a stirling café itself. We’re all about getting a mixed box of their buttery shortbread biscuits, or snaffling a curbside table, fair trade coffee and climbing between the layers of a flaky butter croissant and the most densely nut-populated walnut and cinnamon scroll in town. Pastries are hot property; so don’t dilly-dally getting there in the AM.

Best for: a brekky that's all about the baked goods

Eat this: the fresh egg salad baguette is elite

Perks: friendly staff, very good pastries and Eddy Gardens nearby if you'd rather eat under a leafy tree than inside (note: bring your own coffee cup if you're taking it away as they're eco-friendly around here)

While waiting for a table at a restaurant is probably something that annoys your dad, and can admittedly make for a frustrating start to a Sunday morning, it is undeniable that a long queue, like the inevitable one outside Top Paddock on any given weekend, reaffirms your choice of café. Plus, the adrenaline rush when your name is called makes securing a table just that little bit sweeter (yes, okay, maybe we need to get new hobbies). 

Top Paddock is an indisputable breakfast institution. With a great vibe, considered and classic breaky dishes and a commitment to sustainable and organic ingredients from local producers, it’s hard to go wrong. Multiple coffee machines around the café speak to the serious manner in which they approach their coffee at Top Paddock. Heck, you can even order a filter flight or a barista’s breakfast (espresso, flat white, and a batch brew – we’ve got the caffeine shakes just thinking about it).

Best for: a lively yet comforting space, with lush greenery, sweet tunes, a cool crowd and some of Melbourne’s best breakfast dishes (keep reading to discover the stand out dish) 

Eat this: while we usually try our best to stay away from ‘Instagram breakfasts’, in this case, the infamous blueberry and ricotta hotcake tastes just as good as it looks. Crispy golden edges, a fluffy light centre, crunchy toasted seeds and grains, topped with a cloud of double cream. You must order this dish, which makes for the perfect for a shared sweet treat for the table

Perks: the enticing all-day cocktail menu is as good an excuse as any to swap out your latte for an espresso martini

Brought to you by the team behind Collingwood’s popular Bluebird Espresso Café, Archie’s has been busily serving breakfast, lunch and dinner since opening in April 2015. Bluebird’s famous smashed avocado has carried over to the new menu, which also features huevos sucios (better known as ‘dirty eggs’) served with tater tots, salsa, black beans, fried eggs, chipotle mayo and jalapeño-spiked cheese, along with grilled French toast with sweet potato custard and smoked maple cream. With lunch served from 10am, you can opt for some serious burgers and sarnies for breakfast, too.

Best for: hanging with Fitzroyalty 

Eat this: Korean fried chicken burger

Perks: a courtyard, vinyl and brekkie until 3pm

As sandwiches have been having a moment in Melbourne for a while now, technically Stan’s Deli’s 15 minutes of fame should have come and gone. But the fact that it hasn’t, is not only testament to the timelessness of the sandwich, but also to the bloody good way they get it done at Stan’s. 

While North-siders seem to be spoiled for choice with a sandwich joint popping up on every corner, Stan’s Deli brings the goods to the South with their New-York inspired, green-hued shop in Malvern. Sandwich specials change often but whatever you choose, make sure you get one of their signature salt ‘n’ vin hash browns on the side. We are thankful we live in a world where a fat sandwich is considered acceptable breakfast fare. 

Best for: unpretentious food, friendly service, a hangover cure or a quick catch up with mates

Eat this: take your pick of sandwiches from the blackboard at the window, with a side of fries of course

Perks: the giant cookies and other baked goods

Take a quick trip to the Mediterranean without having to venture past the back streets of Richmond to Rowena Corner Store, for a distinctly different, and decidedly delightful breakfast experience. At Rowena Corner Store, they have been serving the local community for over 60 years. First established as a general store, Rowena Corner Store has continued to evolve over the decades, being owned by a number of families who added their own touch throughout the years, all while holding the Richmond community close to their heart. 

In a more than welcome break from smashed avo, the menu at Rowena Corner Store features tastes of Turkey with green cilbir eggs, Greek specialities like spanakopita, and a selection of BLTs (try the HELTA – haloumi, egg, lettuce, tomato and avo), sure to satisfy your wildest breakfast sandwich dreams.  

Best for: a trip down memory lane

Eat this: the Mediterranean breakfast plate with housemade falafel, haloumi, tzaziki, Cypriot grain salad, eggs, olives and warm pita bread

Perks: getting to browse the beautiful selection of Mediterranean groceries while you wait for a table

Marked by the glowing "Illy" sign out the front, the Green Refectory always seems to be full regardless of the time or day of the week. If you can brave the crowds and find a table, prepare yourself for what just might be the best coffee on Sydney Road. The food is inexpensive and sumptuous and staff friendly despite the crowds.

Best for: those seeking good, humble breakfast dishes without all the unnecessary frills

Eat this: the breakfast stack

Perks: exceptionally tasty old-fashioned desserts, including the popular vanilla slice

There’s a new brunch destination making a buzz at the Rialto, the first flagship cafe from Cremorne’s lauded Square One Coffee Roasters. It’s the latest venue from The Mulberry Group (TMG), the trailblazers behind some of Melbourne’s most happening cafes and bars in recent years, including Top Paddock, Higher Ground, The Kettle Black, Lilac Wine Bar and Liminal.

But those aren’t the only big names in hospitality joining this project. The all-day menu is designed to rotate, with 10 different famous chefs contributing a menu item to highlight ingredients from TMG’s Common Ground Project – a regenerative community farm in Freshwater Creek that provides education and career pathways for the disadvantaged. 10 per cent of all proceeds at the cafe will be donated to the farm’s initiatives.

Best for: workers in the CBD hunting for a nutritious brekky or brunch meetings with clients

Eat this: bacon tart with gruyere custard, leek, salad and pickles

Perks: an exciting cheffy menu with all dishes made from fresh produce (no soggy leaves in sight) 

Because sometimes you just need a reliable and convenient cafe to satisfy your basic brunch needs and fill your hungry tum. Pillar of Salt has been a longstanding member of the Melbourne breakfast scene for many years now, and for good reason. The coffee is good, the food is good, and the service is good. 

While it may not be the newest kid on the block anymore, the chefs keep coming up with new ways to make avo on toast interesting, while serving old faithful Melbourne brunch staples like the Californian Superfood Salad and chilli scrambled eggs. It’s as good a place to “work from home” over several bottomless batch brews, as it is to bring the kids on the weekend with a cute kids menu including pancakes and ‘chippies’.  

Best for: when the weather is nice, the courtyard is the perfect place to bring your pooch along for dog-friendly breakfast. 

Eat this: as the menu seems to change often, go for whatever inventive riff on benedict or bircher that’s on offer. 

Perks: if you have already had one too many lattes for the morning, Pillar of Salt offers an inventive selection of drinks to try, such as the golden turmeric or matcha lattes, a yuzu lemonade slushie, the Elvis Smoothie or a Bloody Mary (because why not).