OTTO

Standing for "Ode To The Original", the name is a declaration of their philosophy to strive for the best in terms of cafe basics - coffee, food and service. OTTO is just a short tram ride, less than 15min away from Flinders St, on the quieter side of Bridge Rd. The cafe interior is bright and on-trend minimalist with marble tables and good lighting throughout (thank you for being considerate of us foodies!!).

We started off with coffee - a cappucino, which was nice and leaned towards a slightly acidic flavour.

The Summer French Toast looked incredibly enticing with the thick cut brioche, coloured brightly yellow from soaking in mango juice (no egg present as it is a VG dish). The sides to support the theme of Summer were white wine poached peaches, grenadine macerated strawberries, which were both prepared in liquid of some sort to enhance the flavours. The crunchy white chocolate soil served to give a contrast to the soft textures in the dish, with the frozen nougat emitting a cooling sensation. The combination of flavours were very refreshing, and not overly sweet. The best part was the brioche was completely soaked throughout.

Mango Anglaise Sauce

The Milanese refers specifically an South-American version of an Italian dish where the meat that has been coated in egg crumbed and pan fried, which on the surface appears similar to a schnitzel, but upon eating it the difference becomes clear. The dish uses 6 star marble wagyu scotch fillet which was cooked medium rare making it super tender, with a coating that was crunchy yet not hard and topped with gribiche sauce and puffed wild rice for added crunch. The sauce is  a French recipe made mostly of hard boiled egg yolk and mustard and worked well to enhance but not overpower the natural steak flavour. The side salad is simply a creamy and mildly sweet apple slaw. 

With dishes like these that's done so well, it's pretty obvious that they have chefs that can do a heck of a lot more than simple cafe food - the giveaway is that they can prepare meat dishes that's not just a burger! (Head chef has worked at Vue De Monde btw)

OTTO made sure to tick the boxes that this current generation of brunchers are look for, at the same time ensuring they offer creative dishes unique to only OTTO.

I rate this experience: 4/5

OTTO

3/189 Bridge Rd, Richmond VIC 3121 

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