Wednesday 12 February 2020

OTTO, Richmond



OTTO Café, 3/189 Bridge Rd, Richmond / The coffee utopia with a new-world menu.

If you’ve fallen asleep on one of the Pope’s balconies at The Bridge again, a morning-after feed at OTTO café may be your only hope for redemption, with sin-cleansing caffeine and celestial plates.

Plotted on Bridge Road, Richmond, OTTO makes its mark among a cornucopia of coffee-slinging cafes, restaurants and places to sink cold ones. For those especially dusty Sunday or calamitous Mondays, this place will be your incubator of soul-hugging things. 

You can bet there are all the hallmarks of a trendy Melbourne cafe here - marble, blonde timber, sleek menus and lashings of light. With a mad-scientist-esque approach to food, the point of difference lies in its eccentric take on conventional dishes.

The menu takes some wild approaches to traditional breakfasting. I’m a Plain Jane eggs ‘n bakey kinda gal nowadays (snooze), but more daring types will take delight at the whimsical lineup of freeze-dried truffles, funori (purple seaweed), tangerine pearls, whipped maple syrup and slow-cooked duck egg yolk - all rarely seen peculiarities on Melbourne’s brunch serve.

We tried to polish off every last clod of OTTO’s lavishly topped hotcakes (apple, blueberry gel, hob nob, butterscotch sauce, caramelised grains and mascarpone) but struggled despite our colossal appetites. This is one of those beauties to share and split the bill straight down the middle with. How bueno.

Most mornings, my Nespresso pod machine concoction nearly hits the spot. Compared to the real deal latte retrieval - complete with barista banter and people watching and paper-reading - it’s close but no cigar. One glance over the counter and you’ll see Padre Coffee’s Daddy’s Girl (ha) blend perched in pride of place like veritable trophies OTTO’s wall shelves. 

The coffee here is bloooooody good. I mean it. 

From pedestal to keep cup, the grind undergoes a masterful trajectory. OTTO’s Slayer Espresso Steam LP is the first of its kind to be used in Melbourne. Swanky as heck, I know. Apparently, this elaborate instrument combines an artisanal approach to crafting espresso with high volume commercial needs. For dummies (aka me), this basically ensures coff consistency (which we love). 

If you’re getting jazzed up for a day-to-idek marathon in Richmond’s food and bev nucleus, a pitstop at OTTO is worthwhile. IMO, the modus operandi here is fantastic coffee and explorative breakfast foods. Sounds like the sorta stuff in your wheelhouse? Get behind a table.
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