Duchess of Spotswood, Spotswood

Living on the Eastern side of town means venturing to the West is quite a rare occasion. Every time I suggest it, Yuye gives me a look of disapproval followed by a grunt and then the comment ‘but there’s so many restaurants that are closer’.

My dilemma is of course all the brunch spots that have been on the wishlist for the longest time like Duchess of Spotswood. It wasn’t until Racheese also agreed to go that Yuye finally caved in.

The cafe isn’t the biggest you’ll find so with its popularity, sitting outside was an option that we gladly took instead of waiting in line for a table inside.

We got to meet fellow bruncher pup that sat right next to me throughout the meal and enjoyed the rare occasion of fresh air – with an indoors job like mine, breathing fresh air was a nice change.

We ordered our daily dose of coffee to start. Coffees here are from St Ali which is always smooth and balanced.

Those of you who have read my blog for a while would know that I absolutely love pork. From pork belly, pork knuckles to pork ribs…anything pork related and I’d be sold. So when I saw the dish called ‘Duchess of Pork’ ($21.50) there was just no changing my mind. It came with two fried eggs, crispy pig’s jowl, shaved truffle, Madeira sauce and toast.

The eggs had perfectly runny yolks, the pig’s jowl was tender and seasoned well and the sauce was delicious too. The only downside was the lack of truffle flavour, I wouldn’t have picked it out without seeing it written on the menu.

Yuye ordered the Prince of Wales ($16.50) – I see a theme going on here. At the time of ordering it came with house smoked salmon with potato, lemon and mint, Pepe Saya creme fraiche and salad. It has changed in ingredients since then. We thought the salmon was a tad bit overcooked but still tasted great with the perfectly cooked poached eggs we got ($2.50 extra) and the creamy potatoes. It was a reasonably fresh tasting dish.

Racheese ordered the breakfast of champignons ($17.50) which came with field mushrooms, hash, Stilton cheese, mushroom duxelle and toast with added poached eggs on the side ($2.50 extra). It didn’t look all that filling (obviously from the lack of pork) and I didn’t taste the dish so can’t comment about it…I will say that the mushroom looked quite enticing..enough for me to want to steal it from her plate. I’m so bad…

We all had a nice meal at Duchess of Spotswood although we did find the dishes to be on the pricier side with the amount of food on the plate. Was it worth the 1 hour drive? Probably not but if you live nearby, it’s still definitely worth a visit as the food was tasty and the coffees aromatic. The dog being there seriously made the meal heaps better too, maybe I should sit outside more.

Duchess of Spotswood

Phone: (03) 9391 6016
Address: 87 Hudsons Rd Spotswood, VIC
Website: http://www.duchessofspotswood.com.au/
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 7am-3pm (Kitchen until 2.30pm), Saturday to Sunday 8am-4pm