South Melbourne cafe Nine Yards plays with new and old Aussie flavours like Milo and wattleseed
Milo, Anzac bikkies and native bush ingredients come together in a celebration of Aussie flavours at this new South Melbourne cafe — here’s where you can try this creative take on French toast.
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South Melbourne’s new (mostly) health-conscious Nine Yards cafe isn’t afraid to sneak beloved Aussie snacks like Milo and Anzac biscuits into its brunches.
Native flavours like wattleseed, Kakadu plum and lemon myrtle also share the plate with those pantry staples in a fusion of Aussie tucker.
Cafe veteran Steve Rowley and a group of owners opened Nine Yards, their ninth venue, in October to join their stable of popular Melbourne cafes (all with idiom-inspired names) including Carnegie’s Left Field, Sandringham’s Port of Call and Plain Sailing in Elwood.
Lydia Hean jumped ship from the latter to lead the kitchen at Nine Yards and looked to top Victorian restaurants including Igni and Matilda that champion native ingredients for inspiration.
At the Dorcas St venue you’ll find pea and zucchini fritters dolloped with lemon myrtle spiked labneh, and 48-hour cured Tasmanian salmon spiced with pepperberry, lemon myrtle and wattleseed with pops of zingy finger lime pearls.
The cafe’s bestseller — the Aussie (French) Toast ($19.50) — sees two cinnamon-spiced brioche toast triangles rolled in a nutty, sweet wattleseed sugar and decorated with a host of treats from Hean’s childhood, like Milo and those Anzac biscuits.
The Milo is blitzed with creamy mascarpone cheese as an ode to the after-school drink while the French toast is decorated with two flame-torched puffy marshmallows representing holidays spent around the campfire, and a golden Anzac biscuit soil.
While those marshmallows may be chewy and the toast a touch dry, the Milo mascarpone is a genius creation.
Milk-based coffees use a Niccolo house blend and there’s also a rotating single origin, which on this visit was from ONA Coffee.
Mork hot chocolates, organic teas, turmeric and chai lattes, housemade smoothies, bottled juices and kombucha round out the drinks.
While Nine Yards has its hits, there are also some misses.
The crispy-skin barramundi ($23.50) — caught in the Northern Territory town of Humpty Doo — is overcooked and its side salad of pickled cabbage and fennel too acidic.
The sweet potato chips on the side, however, are great and the dish is served in a natty newspaper-lined, white takeaway box.
The fit-out at Nine Yards is smart, stylish and functional, with the 19th-century building offering a takeaway window for streetside coffee orders.
Inside, the 140-seater has plenty of room to perch at a bluestone counter near the coffee machine, or maybe slip into a U-shaped booth or snare a table in the dining room.
Design studio Golden pimped out the interior with tables topped with terracotta tiles, a sleek timber ceiling with built-in LED strip lights and booths fitted with powder-pink leather cushions and upholstered with a fetching mustard and moss green gumtree print.
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Service is charming and friendly, while a fast-working kitchen sees food land at our table in 10 minutes.
Nine Yards boldly merges Aussie snacks with native bush tucker — and the gamble pays off with a host of mostly healthy brunch hits that’ll impress punters.
While some dishes need work, there’s no doubt this on-trend cafe will go the whole nine yards to improve and impress.
NINE YARDS
228-230 Dorcas St, South Melbourne
Ph: 8676 7820
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-4.30pm, Sat-Sun 7.30am-4.30pm
Go to dish: French (Aussie) toast