Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Niche on Bridge


While I'm going through and editing all my most recent pictures from my adventures, I thought I would catch up to speed on some of my backlog. 


So let me whisk you away for an absolutely charming weekend breakfast Brad and I had on Bridge Road.

Not our usual spot for breakfast, but I had been intrigued to try something new. I had driven along Bridge Road one night and seen Niche on Bridge, it's sign back lit in an array of pretty colours and decided to pop in for breakfast. 


For being a 'Niche' on Bridge road, it has a fairly simple and rather broad goal, to be a welcome environment for it's clientele to pop by any time of the day to enjoy a coffee, a nibble or a meal. 



The restaurant is bright, clean and modern. Not quite the hip, close quarters, grungy thing all these cafes are into at the moment, but it was refreshing to have some space to stretch out. There were some elegant motifs, on menus and mirrors, to add a touch of class. There's also a much plusher looking side to the restaurant, but this was closed off for the morning.



I loved not having to worry about waiting for a seat. I'm sure the restaurant would much rather be absolutely pumping, but as a customer, it was a sigh of relief. I'm always worried Brad's going to eat me if we wait too long…or maybe I'm the one who gets cranky. Hmmm….



Brad said his coffee was good, and I loved getting my chai in a mug. One, it's gratifying to have a bigger cup than Brad, and it's just incredibly comforting as it stayed nice and warm all morning, with my fat little fingers wrapped around it like a hoarding goblin. It was a nice balance of sweet and spicy.

I was kind of tempted to order a smoothie afterwards though, as they really seemed to be pumping them out from behind the counter…and they did look really good!


Brad went for the 'Ultimate Niche Breaky', as usual. The boy needs his fill in the morning! 2 poached eggs, bacon, cheese kransky, hash brown, Spanish peppers, morcilla sausage, toast and harissa yoghurt. Phew! 


His plate was really a nice healthy dose of protein. And protein. One of Brad's poached eggs was slightly overcooked, whilst the second one was perfect (or oerfect according to my notes…). 


I was excited by the morcilla sausage, as it really looked the par of a big black puck of formidability. Surprisingly though, it is one of the milder black puddings I've had. Not too intense, not to iron-y and a gentle warmth to the mouth, like a mild curry. Hardly fatty at all, it instead had a bit of a dry texture to it, which I quite liked. 

His 'hash brown', which was more like a potato bake, in my opinion, was also divine. Just delicious. Potatoes finely sliced and layered, I kind of wish I had been able to see the whole tray of it being made…my mouth waters thinking of it!

It was definitely a slightly different interpretation to the big breakfast. Though, how can you be so different with a big breakkie? It's the mix of proteins, the cheese kransky with the Spanish pepper, the hash brown that's not really a typical hash brown…fabulous.


I had been having this thing for smashed avocado's lately, so the trend continued on and I went with the avocado and meredith goats cheese smash with blood orange, sliced chilli and baby basil on gluten free toast (usually 7 seed toast).


Again, a beautiful mix. Incredibly fresh ingredients helped for a great looking and tasting dish! The avocado was creamy and beautiful. The blood orange was a bit of a different twist to the lemon I had been seeing recently. Just giving that bit of zest and freshness, yet touch of sweetness at the same time. I was quite surprised how well it went! 

My only niggle was that I was keen to see how much of a kick the chilli would give to a dish like this, but I didn't actually end up seeing or tasting any in my dish! It was delicious regardless though!


Niche on Bridge surprised me by being one of those places I could quite have happily sat at all day with Brad, drinking more chai lattes, or perhaps even with a newspaper or good book. There was just such a pleasant atmosphere. Easy parking, no rushing, not too much hustle and bustle, friendly staff. 

Oh and pretty scrumptious food as well. I look forward to popping by sometime to try their dinner menu, although it really is hard to go past the fantastic breakfast offerings…. 


571 Bridge Road 
RichmondVIC 3121

Niche on Bridge on Urbanspoon


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