cafe • restaurants

Short Black Cafe Camberwell

Short Black Cafe is a spacious, vibrant cafe in the lovely suburb of Camberwell. With round the clock, bustling vibes, Short Black gives a sense of a casual Melbourne cafe or restaurant that you could easily spend hours just chatting away in, especially over some award-winning coffees and INSANELY delicious dessert! They have quite a large menu, featuring not only simple brunch dishes, but also an extensive Italian feature, from house-made dry aged prosciutto, to pasta and wood-fired pizzas. The good fat: The dry aged prosciutto as part of their antipasto platter was so light in texture, with fringes of fatty meat on the set yet had tinges of that classic, cured Italian taste that makes it so delicious and addictive to eat – especially with an olive and feta on the side. The flavours of the gnocchi were very pleasing – as we’re not usually fans of the gnocchi, the pumpkin gnocchi with mushroom cream sauce definitely changed my opinion. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly, but the creamy sauce was earthy, grounded and had hints of a cheesiness without it being too overpoweringly creamy. The perfect sauce with the perfect gnocchi! Funky-shaped sizes also gave it a sense of hand made love. Absolutely loved LOVED the dessert. I am somewhat of a cheesecake expert, having had not only incredibly ones around Melbourne, but also around the world – and the Tim Tam Cheesecake from Short Black now goes on my list of my favourites. Worried that it was going to be too sweet, these thoughts quickly dissipated as I munched my way through the light layers of caramel glaze, subtle chocolate cream, and dense layers of cheese cake that somehow came together to be of perfect balance, and not at ALL too sweet or sickening. Likewise, the lemon rhubarb tart was actually the perfect accompanying dessert – refreshingly sour from the lemon curd, complete with a crumbly short-crust base. The bad fat: Our seafood risotto, whilst still hearty and satisfying to eat, with delicious helpings of fresh prawns, was a little stock-standard in comparison. The rhubarb from the tart also failed to come through the strong flavours of the lemon. SHOULD YOU GET FAT HERE? YES! Camberwell is full of classic Melbourne brunch cafes – and Short Black lives up to this neighbourhood. FAT-O-METER: 4.5/5 (5/5 DESSERTS THOUGH!)