Proud Mary @ Collingwood, Melbourne

It's back to exploring the Melbourne breakfast scene once again. On a rather cold and raining Saturday morning, we made our way to Proud Mary after hearing how they have this bespoke Synesso coffee machine and serve a mean coffee.


Despite the dreading weather and the location being at the corner of a row of industrial warehouses, half of Melbourne town looked like they made their way here that morning. Faced with a half hour wait, not to mention, the unbearable noise level inside, we said, we will brave the drizzle and sit outside under a big umbrella. It was cold but we got seats straight away, got to chat away without any pressure and we were the only ones making noise.

Look out for this sign or the long queue outside.

After discovering "magic" at St Ali which I am told is a double ristretto shot in slightly less milk than a latte, I was excited to find that they do the same thing here. Cold morning and good coffee, works perfectly.

Much has been said about their Mocha and I guess for star! ters, it is the huge cup it comes in. The Wife finds it too sweet and I didn't try it till it almost become iced chocolate (from the cold weather) so I guess I will take her words for it.

Despite the crowd standing outside the cafe and the crowd inside the cafe, the food was surprisingly quite fast. However fast though, I thought the food was slightly rushed. The rosti was not crisp enough on the surface and I am wondering whether they have just cooked it in batches in an oven instead of pan frying it individually to get the surface crispy. Either that or it wasn't too smart putting hot spinach leaves on top of it. I got to say despite my love for bacon, I don't really like eating crunchy ones. The sauce was also slightly too salty. Despite all that complaints, I still polished it off really quickly, after all, I am not one to waste food.

The Pork Belly Sandwich was rich, hearty and heart clogging too. The Pork Belly was probably twice cooked, oven and probably flash fried, topped off with condiments I can't remember and buttered toast, this should set you right up for the whole day.

I loved the coffees here, having also tried one of their syphon coffees too but gosh at $8 a cup, I was lucky not to have ordered 2 cups of that. The food seemed a little rush, whether I forgive that in view of the! crowd, I am not too sure. Meanwhile, I am happy to come back just for a quick coffee (and if its ever quiet).

Address and contact details:

Verdict: 3.5 stars out of 5 stars. Another one of the more "famous" Melbourne breakfast / brunch places that excels in their coffees.