Melbourne’s 5 best suburbs for brunch addicts

If you love your morning coffee with a side of smashed avo and poached eggs and want to live within strolling distance of Melbourne’s greatest brunch spots, read on!

By analysing Zomato’s shortlist of Melbourne’s top 100 cafes for breakfast, we’ve been able to determine which five suburbs have the best brunch options on offer.

If you’re looking to rent or buy a home and want to live within close proximity to some of Melbourne’s top brunch spots, add the following five fantastic suburbs to your property alerts asap.

Hawthorn

Hawthorn is blessed with several bustling shopping strips that are chock-a-block with trendy cafes and restaurants. It’s no surprise in that case that it came out on top as the best Melbourne suburb for brunch-aholics to live, with nine of its eateries making it into Zomato’s top 100.

With a rating of 4.6/5, Shanklin Café is Hawthorn’s top-rated brunch destination. Set in an adorable refurbished Victorian cottage on Tooronga Road, its polished concrete floors and exposed brick make for a cool industrial atmosphere inside. They serve all-day breakfast and their Nutella stuffed pancakes are a decadent must-try.

Other highlights-

Mr & Mrs Anderson

Light Years

Le Clec

Image: One Plate

Richmond

This inner-city gem attracts students, professionals and families alike with its great pubs, shops, live music, parks, Melbourne’s sports precinct, restaurants and cafes galore (of course!). Richmond is home to eight of Zomato’s top 100 Melbourne cafes, most of which are located along the main drags Church Street and Bridge Road.

Top Paddock is the highest rated eatery with 4.2/5 and over 4,700 reviews. They specialise in beautifully presented colourful dishes and serve breakfast until 3pm. Their famous blueberry and ricotta hotcakes almost look too good to eat. You can book tables for breakfast, which is great to avoid long waits on busy weekend mornings.

Other highlights-

Cheerio

A Thousand Blessings

Holla Coffee Roasters

Fitzroy & Collingwood

We combined our personal favourite hip brunch destinations Fitzroy and Collingwood into one section seeing as they’re such small neighbouring inner-city suburbs. Often likened to the Brooklyn of Melbourne, Fitzroy and Collingwood have no shortage of great coffee joints, dive bars, restaurants, vintage stores and art galleries. Together they make up eight of the top cafes in Zomato’s list. Head to Brunswick Street, Smith Street and the laneways off them and you’ll be absolutely spoilt for choice for delicious breakfast options.

The top café in the area is Addict Food & Coffee with a 4.4/5 rating. A crisp contemporary interior awaits with lots of white, wood, concrete, plant life and local artists’ works adorning walls. The all-day breakfast menu features lots or vibrant and healthy creations. Get the duck benedict or coconut chia pudding for something different. Yummo!

Other highlights-

Proud Mary

South of Johnston

Breakfast Thieves

Sir Charles

Industry Beans

Image: Sharking for Chips & Drinks

Brunswick

About 20 minutes north of Melbourne’s CBD, is Brunswick and six stellar cafes that made it into Zomato’s best brunch spots list. Brunswick Road and Sydney Road and their side streets are the go-to hot spots for a top-notch breaky in the area.

Green Refectory is one of Brunswick’s top cafes with a rating of 4.2/5. It has a cool homely feel with warm mismatched timber furniture, a cute courtyard and stellar homemade cake and pie display cabinet. They have all-day breakfast serving up all the classics. Try the breakfast burrito and takeaway sweet pastry treats in case you feel peckish later.

Other highlights-

Miss Marmalade

Lolo & Wren

Lux Foundry

We hope these five suburbs help enlighten your search for a new home, to ensure you live close to some of Melbourne’s best brunch spots. For more suburb specific information check out our suburb reviews, Melbourne’s most walkable suburbs and the best suburbs for coffee lovers in Melbourne.