Porgie + Mr. Jones – The Overview…
2021 Update: Porgie & Mr. Jones
We were lucky enough to head back to Porgie & Mr. Jones recently to try their updated menu.
We were delighted to see this great cafe continuing to thrive. This time we were seated in the back section, which made for a more chilled out experience (and one day we’ll go when it’s warm enough to sit in the courtyard). The staff confidently managed the busy cafe, and we were really impressed by the friendly, consistent service.
Baked Eggs
These were probably one of my favourite baked eggs I’ve ever tried. I adored the rich tomato based sauce. It wasn’t too heavily spiced, allowing for more depth of flavour. It’s also one of the few I’ve tried where I didn’t feel it needed meat adding to it to make a well-rounded dish. It was such a yummy choice, with just a touch of sweetness hitting your palette when you first taste it.
Benedict
The benedict has been scaled back to a more traditional variety for 2021. The great thing about that it is allowed the amazing cheesy hash brown to really shine, and honestly, it deserves to. While the rest of the dish did exactly what it needed to – eggs were perfectly poached, bacon was a little crispy as we requested, the hash brown just gave it that little bit of a wow!
French Toast
This long standing menu item has now been reinvented as a black forest french toast. I’m glad to see Porgie & Mr. Jones pushing the envelope a little with this dish and making it more creative. The beautiful, light french toast remains the central focus, but the black forest flavours make it an interesting dish. Combining the berries and the chocolate mousse together with the toast give you the exact black forest flavour you hope for (and this dish was so great, it made my previous french toast dish unforgettable – like literally, I had to message my friend to ask what flavour it was as all I could remember was this).
Keep reading for details from our visit back in 2019.
2019 The details…
Porgie Mr Jones has the luxury of space that’s unrivalled by many Hawthorn cafes. With this they’ve managed to create a range of distinct areas, from the front casual eating/co-working space, to a more upmarket, secluded dining experience in the back rooms and a bright, covered outdoor courtyard for al fresco eating.
We visited on a busy Sunday, and while initially the staff seemed to be struggling under the weight of two large tables of brunchers, this soon improved once we were warmly greeted and seated. The menu is a slight twist on typical Melbourne brunch and while you’ll see favourites like smashed avo and benedict in the menu, be sure to read the details carefully as they’re not quite like you’ve seen them before. We decided to try the truffle mushrooms, the benedict and the French toast.
The benedict came with a delicious looking cheesy hash brown and a huge pile of slow cooked pulled pork. It was a tasty and rich dish with a nice variety of flavours from the tangy pork, the crisp cabbage and the cheese hash brown. We felt it was a little more hearty than many other benedicts, with the hash brown helping to make for a very filling dish.
The truffle mushrooms were tasty, albeit the truffle taste didn’t really rise out of the dish as much as I had hoped. Having said that, the herbed polenta was absolutely delicious – one of the best I’ve had – and it was the flavours from this that both dominated and made the dish. There was a good range of well-cooked mushrooms and the balance of kale was perfect, adding the crispy texture and slight bitterness without taking over the dish. It was a hit for us!
Finally we had the French toast (which actually came first but I always prefer to discuss sweets last). The vanilla anglaise gave a beautiful slightly sour richness to every bite and it really did feel like a dessert. The toast itself was so light and the fresh strawberries, sour freeze dried raspberries and caramelised white chocolate provided a great balance of flavours on top. It doesn’t do anything amazingly original, but what it does do it does very well and it’s a very enjoyable sweet brunch.
Everything else…
Website: http://porgiemrjones.com.au/
Address: 291 Auburn Road, Hawthorn
Opening Times:
Mon 7am to 3:30pm
Tue 7am to 3:30pm
Wed 7am to 3:30pm
Thu 7am to 3:30pm
Fri 7am to 3:30pm
Sat 8am to 3:30pm
Sun 8am to 3:30pm
Parking: It’s a little tight to park nearby, as is to be expected in Hawthorn. Auburn Road however, lacks the craziness of nearby Glenferrie Road, and once you’re aware of the permit zones, it’s actually quite easy to find a spot on a side street.
Getting here on PT: Jump on a 70 or 75 tram and alight at Auburn Road. The 624 bus also runs down Auburn Road.
Disclaimer: We dined as guests of Porgie + Mr. Jones, Hawthorn. Reviews are honest and based on our own personal experiences. We cannot guarantee things at a cafe won’t change including, but not limited to, menu items and opening hours, so please confirm any details with the venue before visiting.