This croissant burger is the latest novelty dish to be unleashed on Melbourne’s food scene

THIS cafe owner says Melbourne’s food scene is so flooded you need “a hook” just to get people in the door. Fortunately he found one – the croissant burger.

Francesco Delogu sizes up the croissant burger from CBD cafe White Mojo. Picture: David Caird

OPENING a cafe in 2016? Better start dreaming up a wacky dish to lure diners to your digs.

Novelty mash-ups are giving new nosheries the edge, and it’s consumers leading the charge for the weird and wonderful.

“The dining scene is definitely evolving,” Restaurant & Catering Industry Association boss John Hart said.

“Consumers are more willing to experiment and try new things and this gives restaurateurs license to push the envelope.

“There’s definitely bragging rights in eating something never seen or tried before.”

When Ben Luo opened his CBD cafe White Mojo last month, he debuted the croissant burger, which he believes is a Victorian, if not Australian, first.

“There are so many cafes, you need an excuse, a hook, to bring people in. It’s very important,” he said.

“How big your imagination is how high you can fly. Melbourne diners are up for it and love new, crazy and adventurous things. I struggled to find a good bun supplier and I love croissants — I have one every day — so I thought let’s do this. Nothing can taste better.”

In case you missed it: here it is again. Picture: David Caird

A lobster doughnut burger put Armadale cafe Mammoth on the map when it opened in November. Picture: Norm Oorloff

Diners agree, with the $22 burger — a croissant filled with soft-shelled crab, pickled cucumber, chipotle mayo, smoked eel flake and a fried egg — quickly becoming the cafe’s top seller.

“People say it’s creative and they’ve never seen it so they come and try it,” Luo says.

“We had someone come from Sydney to try it. They’d seen it on Instagram and was in town for a meeting and had a small window of time so called us to make sure we could have it on the table for them at 11.30 one morning.”

Luo opened Hash Speciality Coffee & Roasters last year with a signature hot chocolate customers poured over fairy floss for a molten treat.

A lobster doughnut burger put Armadale cafe Mammoth on the map when it opened in November.

“Australia has one of the most diverse cuisine landscapes,” Hart said.

“It’s a blend and mix of cultures so it’s a natural progression to see a fusion of Australia’s favourite meals and cuisine types.”