You can pretty much go anywhere and order traditional bacon and eggs for brunch on Father’s Day. Or you can stay at home and do it yourself. But why not treat dad to something that’s a little more outlandish? And where he can still feel manly. Here are the Hamper Store’s recommendations for five cafes with brunch menus to make Father’s Day extra special.

 

St Ali

The World Famous St Ali Steak Sanga

St Ali is a buzzy, original Melbourne warehouse café with a couple of big communal tables around which you can crowd an extended family, or you can get tables for 4 or 5 persons. The Smoking Pig — smoked pork belly, served with cauliflower that’s been roasted and puréed, and fried duck egg with balsamic jus — is a hard dish to beat for Father’s Day. Also highly appealing is The World Famous St Ali Steak Sanga with wagyu beef, Gruyère cheese, smoked onion, horseradish mayonnaise, baby beetroot, and sourdough. Can’t miss! Then of course there is the aptly named The Daddy, a burger assembled with pork, chili and fennel sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, and St Ali’s in-house sauce. Any of those are perfect dishes for dad.

12-18 Yarra Place, South Melbourne, 03 9686, 2990, www.stali.com.au

Open Father’s Day 7:00am — 6:00pm

 

Green Park

Green Park's Breakfast Platter

Located on the Park Street bike path, Green Park is an informal and certainly lively spot, both inside and out, especially on weekends, so we recommend you get in early on Sunday. Best time to go is before 10am. The place is spacious and very family friendly. With a playground, toy library, and 25 high chairs for toddlers, they obviously love kids. And even if you turn up with a grandma and grandpa you’ll likely be accommodated within minutes. As for brunch, if dad likes to build things then the Green Park Breakfast Platter is the way to go. The platter is made up of several foods — charcuteries, cheeses, potato salad, ham, egg, avocado, pickle and rye bread. You can mix and match from what’s on offer and build your own breakfast. And if dad is into bricklaying, he’ll love the beef bagel. Why wouldn’t he? It’s a five-n-dime bagel layered with braised salt beef, hot English mustard, and mustard pickle. What is also great is that Green Park makes all of its small goods in-house.

815 Nicholson Street, Carlton North, 03 9380 5499 www.greenparkdining.com.au

Open Father’s Day 7:00am — 11:00pm

 

Small Axe

Grilled brioche with pistachio granita, espresso mascarpone, nougat and blood orange jelly

Recently opened, along with a recent favourable review in The Age’s online Good Food guide, Small Axe brings some very surprising twists on traditional Sicilian fare. The Breakfast Pasta, for example, is a creatively inspired pasta dish that includes guanciale, salted ricotta, peas, and a 63-degree egg on top, sprinkled with pecorino. When you break the egg, the pecorino turns the dish into a carbonara-style pasta. Or for those with a sweeter palate we really recommend the grilled brioche with pistachio granita, espresso mascarpone, nougat and blood orange jelly topped with an almond praline. Delicious! The rest of the menu looks outstanding too. Your pocket won’t suffer and neither will your palate.

281 Victoria Street, Brunswick, 03 9939 6061, www.smallaxekitchen.com

Open Father’s Day 7:00am — 4:00pm

 

Rudimentary

Rudimentary's breakfast burger

Rudimentary in Footscray deserves some kind of award for ingenuity. The original site was a corner vacant lot, four shipping containers were brought in and converted into a café, and then a garden was built around it. The garden includes herb plots, whose yield makes its way into in their food. There’s a big communal table inside, but Father’s Day brunch is better suited outdoors, where the kids can run around — the garden is also fenced off so they can’t run on to the street. Rudimentary has simpler brunch-style dishes, not as full-on manly as other places, but dad can still be treated to some really enjoyable dishes. We recommend the pork and fennel sausage sandwich with hot English mustard and beer-braised onions, or the breakfast burger which includes eggs and bacon with white pudding, apple ketchup and BBQ sauce. Or you build your own burger. You too will be converted.

16/20 Leeds Street, Footscray, 0497 058 173, www.rudimentary.com.au

Open Father’s Day 8:00am — 3:30pm

 

Left Field

Beef short ribs braised in pomegranate with fried egg on black beans, beetroot hummus, coriander, fetta, lime sauce

Left Field is a new eatery in Carnegie. It opened in May and has been really busy ever since, mostly because there just isn’t any other place around Carnegie that offers what it offers. So, be warned: expect a wait time of 15 to 20 minutes if you luck out on getting a table. Left Field serves up middle-eastern inspired food, and one of the best things on the menu for Father’s Day is the Beef Short Ribs braised in pomegranate with fried egg on black beans, beetroot hummus, and garnished with fresh coriander, crumbles of fetta and lime sauce. It’s sensational! But if dad is after something very ‘left-of-field’, then we recommend the Cookies and Cream Donut Sliders. It’s a pretty funny dish — made with smashed Oreos! — and great for a dad with an especially sweet tooth, and who may have to jostle with the kids to get a bite in. It’s not for dads conscious of their waistlines, but still difficult not to choose.

358 Koornang Road, Carnegie, 03 9578 2043, www.leftfieldeatery.com

Open Father’s Day 7:30am — 4:40pm