I went there for the breakfast, but ended up trying the lunch.
Late last year,
Mighty Boy Eatery (59-61 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy) was all the rage, having taken opened on a prime corner location on the ever-popular Gertrude Street. Usually keen on brunch, I was initially dubious at the idea of South-East Asian inspired breakfast food. But then my sister visited from interstate, and I like to take visitors to new and interesting places. So we checked out Mighty Boy for a late brunch one weekday.
Unfortunately, after a sleep-in, we were *too* late! Breakfast was no longer being served by 12.30pm, so lunch was our only option. I had been eyeing off the haloumi sandwich, and there were no other cheesy options on the menu for lunch to satisfy my craving.
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| Pulled lamb shoulder roti wrap |
The lunch options available were all Vietnamese/Thai style (noodles, salads, roti wraps and rice paper rolls) and, appealingly, very affordable - a stark contrast to next-door neighbours,
Cutler & Co. (blog post on them coming soon!). I would have liked a bit more variety in the lunch offerings overall. It is odd that breakfast should have some 'regular' options plus a few Asian inspired (house baked eggs with an Asian spin) or unusual offerings (snickers toast), but lunch is just one straight cuisine. Why not apply the same approach as breakfast to the lunch dishes?
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| Tofu rice paper rolls |
We ended up trying a variety of roti wraps and rice paper rolls, all extremely fresh and brightly presented. Although I like them, they are generally messy to eat, and this time was no exception. Even though they would not have been my first choice for breakfast, they were tasty and I would recommend them for lunch.
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| Tofu roti roll |
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| Wrapping up |
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| Pork & prawn rice paper rolls |
The coffee (by Melbourne coffee house
Niccolo) was decent, if a bit light in flavour, but again, beautifully presented. Other drinks included exotic looking juices and ice crushes with equally exotic ingredients - tropical fruit flavours, coconut and the like.
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Ice tea? (which. for the record, should technically
be called "Iced" tea... harrumph!) |
Decor is appealing: light and bright, but sparse. Floors are a simple grey, walls are white-painted brick. Fixtures are various types of wood, and brown-orange chairs and sun-yellow lighting (courtesy of
Mark Douglass Design) add splashes of warmth.
Due to all the hard surfaces, there can be a lot of white noise inside - fortunately, there are also large sidewalk tables to choose from, if you are lucky enough to nab one. Service was unsmiling but relatively efficient - perhaps an element that needs a bit of work.
Mighty Boy is run by Mark Peou - owner of what must be Melbourne's tiniest cafe, appropriately called "
Tiny", in Collingwood - and family, bringing the flavours of their Cambodian background into the food. The kitchen is headed up by Peou's former colleague at Prahran's
Borsch, Vodka & Tears, Christian Simoni, who chalked up time at
Chin Chin, and all rice paper rolls are personally hand-rolled by Peou's mother out the back.
Mighty Boy is open daily for breakfast and lunch, with dinner in the pipeline (pending the granting of their liquor licence).
