Red Robyn

Breakfast is usually a meal where cafes quite easily cater for vegetarians, but Red Robyn in Camberwell takes it one step further and caters for gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance, FODMAP diets, fructose friendly diets, nut allergies and every other kind of dietary requirements can you can think of. However don’t let this fool you into thinking that taste is compromised. I am a firm believer that gluten makes everything taste better but the team at Red Robyn have managed to break my pattern of thinking.

I picked Red Robyn on a public holiday morning whilst browsing Zomato to find a breakfast haunt. On a side note, how cool is Zomato?! It took me a while to adjust from Urbanspoon, but I am loving it now! Anyway, Red Robyn ticked all the boxes for me, it had an interesting menu, it was reasonably close by, and it seemed to receive mostly positive reviews. It definitely looked like a good place to try.

We arrived for a late breakfast at about 10:30am, and the cafe was bustling. Clearly we aren’t the only ones who feel that public holidays are for breakfasting out. There were no individual tables free so we were seated on a communal table and handed some menus. What struck me as most thoughtful was how clearly the menu was labelled. Every dish was clearly marked with which dietary requirements it was suitable for, or could be adapted for. The entire menu was gluten free, meaning that coeliacs could eat there without any concerns, and even things like sesame allergies were marked. Whilst I don’t have any medical dietary requirements, I certainly appreciated the effort that had been made to make sure everyone was catered for.

Our coffees arrived fairly promptly. As usual I ordered a latte. The coffee was pleasant, but nothing special. I think I am spoilt for coffee these days, being the proud new owner of a coffee grinder and a machinetta, so not many cafes will be able to impress me anymore. Nevertheless, it was certainly not offensive, and I drank it happily whilst waiting for the meal and trying to complete the substandard cryptic crossword in the Herald Sun.

Our meals arrived fairly soon after, although I think the cafe staff thought we had to wait too long because they offered us multiple apologies. To be honest, we were in no rush, so really weren’t phased but it was nice that the staff cared.

I had ordered my traditional choice, the corn fritters, but to my surprise, these fritters looked like nothing I had ordered before. There were three large ball shaped fritters that were slightly larger than golf balls, and they looks crisp and crunchy from the outset. They were set on a bed of avocado puree, tomato salsa, a quinoa and capsicum salad and dressed with chilli jam and lots of snow pea tendrils. Yes, this dish was already a winner and I hadn’t even tasted it.

I cut into one of the fritters and the first thing that hit me visually was how many whole corn kernels there were! The fritters were full of real corn! I tasted a piece and was blown away! The fritters were made with smoked corn, so there was a wonderfully smoky flavour which dominated over the sweetness of the corn and together they made a deep and rich flavour explosion in my mouth! The avocado was beautifully smooth and creamy, and the tomato salsa was well seasoned and packed a punch. What surprised me was the quinoa and capsicum salad. I wasn’t sure how quinoa would work with deep fried fritters, or whether I should mix it with the tomato salsa so that it didn’t become too heavy, but surprisingly it worked perfectly. The chilli jam also had a good tang (but I still think the jam at Spilt Milk is better!).

The other half had the sweet potato rosti with pork belly. He said the crackling of the pork belly was a bit burnt, and the centre was deliciously fatty. I don’t think he was as excited by his dish as I was by mine, but he said he still enjoyed it. I was kind enough to let him taste some of my fritters and he was sure that I had definitely won dish of the day.

 

 

The menu at Red Robyn changes with the seasons, focusing on seasonal produce, so I would love to come back and see what else they offer. The staff are friendly, the atmosphere is warm, and they make everybody feel welcome, even if you are a gluten and lactose intolerant vegetarian.