Summer on a plate at Industry Beans

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On my final morning of my January Melbourne trip, I had eyes only for one destination – Industry Beans in the heart of Fitzroy. My girl Laura Moseley suggested I check it out and after getting my stalk on with their Instagram account I was ready to enjoy the experience of visiting there. 

Housed in an open plan warehouse with an open kitchen and roastery out the back, the heady scent of coffee is thick in the air. The head chef Jess Allen has created a refined and elegant brunch menu, drawing on his wealth of experience in Melbourne’s fine dining scene. The ingredients used are fresh and seasonal, and the food is just plain exciting. 

The space is just plain beautiful and I’m happy to set up shop at the back of the venue so I can relax (and indulge in a little people watching too). To kick things off I start with an orange, mango and basil juice which is a fancy tropical juice but thick and refreshing. It goes down a treat and kicks my tastebuds into gear. 

Now to choose what to eat! I wish I had hours to spend here, to make my way through the menu but sadly there’s only so much stomach room one girl can have. Though the coconut crusted brioche sounds incredible, as does the rosewater compressed watermelon, I finally make my mind up to go with something else.

The truffle egg dish ($21.00) was a plate with pea pannacotta, summer vegetables, porcini powder, zucchini flowers, cornbread crumb and a poached egg on top. It was visually stunning, and a playful representation of the fresh produce available in summer. 

Texturally and flavour-wise there was a lot going on here. The creamy pannacotta was bursting with pea goodness, and contrasted perfectly against the savoury crunchy crumbs throughout which injected slight saltiness. 

There were a heap of vegetables throughout – some raw, some cooked. The spinach provided some substance to the dish and the asparagus had a good satisfying snap to it. But best of all was that oozy poached egg dusted in truffle powder which was earthy and really ticked the box when it comes to yolk porn. 

Poached eggs… or just eggs in general… ah I love them! And this dish, while on the small side, it was a real winner. 

Seeing as I had some time to kill, I decided to kick on and order a dessert to round out my breakfast at Industry Beans. The pandan jello ($12.00) sounded exactly like what I was craving, with it’s thai basil, mango, sesame peanut praline, watermelon, lotus and palm seeds. 

It was sweet but well balanced thanks to the addition of the tart mango which was smooth and silky in puree form, but soft and ripe from the actual slices of fruit. I really enjoyed the addition of the thai basil which lifted each bite and was the ideal accompaniment with that Asian flavoured jello. 

I really enjoyed my visit to Industry Beans and can see why it was spoken about so highly! I love places that are really reinventing the breakfast game and can safely say this place will be on my list every time I head back over east for a visit.