“I remember everything I ate at Cafe Lafayette.”

These words adorn the sign post right outside the restaurant, and truer words could not be uttered about the brunch spread at the CBD laneway cafe. All the dishes are not only plated beautifully to create memorable visual masterpieces but the Japanese-inspired palette of flavours captured in each dish also ups their brunch game significantly. Yes, you will remember everything you ate at Cafe Lafayette, and for all the right reasons. It’s brunch, but several notches above the standard fare. Smashed avo gets a refreshing makeover in the form of their Japanese avocado, teamed with a mound of tuna piled onto onigiri rice and topped with crunchy renkon chips. But the absolute highlight of our meal was the Japanese pasta, a soba meets creamy pasta sauce dish with a generous amount of seafood bites and a mind-blowing, taste bud blowing explosion of flavours thanks to the nutty umami of the sesame sauce and rich, creamy chilli mayo. A MUST order. Brunch ended with one of their signature raindrop cakes - a jiggly jelly flavoured by the accompanying syrup and powder blend.

Turmeric latte.

Fermented rice latte.

Japanese pasta - with scallops, baby octopus, fish roe, chilli mayo and sesame sauce, garnished with egg yolk, radish and seaweed.

Japanese avocado - cooked tuna, onigiri, nori, lime wedge, renkon chips and fish roe.

Tokyo express raindrop cake

Cafe Lafayette

30 Niagara Ln,

Melbourne, Victoria, 3000.

+61 3 9670 1888

https://cafelafayette.com.au/

Disclosure: I was invited to dine as a guest of Cafe Lafayette. All opinions expressed in this post are based entirely on my experience and observations made during the time of my visit.