Lawson Grove Shop
| Where | 1 Lawson Grove, South Yarra, 3141—View map |
Contact | 03 9866 3640 |
Website | — |
Open | Breakfast Monday Friday 7.30am til 3.00pm |
Payment | — |
Diet | Check with venue |
Seating | Inside and outside |
Kids | Welcome |
Pets | Welcome |
South Yarra's best kept secret
Francesca Fogarty
Lawson Grove may be South Yarra's best kept secret. I'm glad I don't live there because telling the world about this beauty would not be forgiven. I can just imagine the bony cold shoulders and botoxed glares that would be directed towards the shame faced blabber who spread the secret. That's the beauty in being an outsider, I'm unrepentant.
Hidden away in a tiny cul Del sac off a winding side street, you'd be forgiven for missing Lawson Grove completely. Walking into the basement like room feels like stumbling into someone's lounge room uninvited and being welcomed with open arms. Eclectic lighting, communal tables and stocked shelves filled with delectable goodies make this place feel more like friends house than a foodie's Mecca. The décor is cool. Art Deco crossed with warehouse conversion, wooden, rustic, it all works.
Lawson Grove has a reputation for its take home goodies, but judging by the packed tables I'd say the breakfast reputation surpasses the infamous chicken curry.
Stylish baby boomers sip their flat whites whilst rubbing their designer leather jacket clad shoulders with an arty looking late twenties and early thirties crowd. No children adorn the place, but a fair few baby bumps were dotted here and there.
A passionate menu filled with flavorsome notes means the standard eggs and toast are a cut above the rest. A lot of care goes into the food here, the meats are from Jonathon's and Gary's, the eggs are free range and the bread is Phillipa's. Gravity coffee is used, six degree's darker to be exact and despite the fact I'd already had two coffees that morning I decided what harm could another two do?
The specials were wild mushrooms (from the Mornington Peninsula) with poached eggs and creamy polenta and toasted muesli with blood orange, nashi pear and ruby red grapefruit, however Man Candy and I opted for food off the menu, Cassoulet eggs and Verde eggs.
The Cassoulet was a classic French Cassoulet, chorizo, duck, ham hock and beans topped with perfectly poached eggs and crisp bread crumbs. It was Moorish and perfectly for a hungry belly and a grey winters morning.
The salsa verde in the verde eggs was piquant and fresh, it cut perfectly through the smokiness of the bacon and richness of the bright orange egg yolk (don't you just love free range? They're sooo superior).
In the name of research, it was crucial to have an orange cup cake to seal the deal.