If you’re like me, you have a written down list of places to have brunch. If you don’t have such a list, are you even serious? It has to be set in ink!

Recently, I got to cross out another café/restaurant off my list. I got up that morning and went on the mandatory travel to the Melbourne city centre hoping to have brunch (breakfast really) at 12. I didn’t give a lot of thought to the fact that White Mojo may have been a popular place and it may have been full at that time. I had rationalised in my head that getting there at 12 noon was perfect as that was when brunch usually started.

Of course, I was wrong. I walked in thinking I would get a seat immediately and was told there would be a 30 minute wait. I did see a queue outside but I didn’t really think about why they were there. Anyway, did the 30 minute wait deter me? Nope. I was willing to wait. A? Not so much. A proceeded to suggest another place (which is also on my list). However, when I looked at this other place’s menu, I thought it was boring. The pictures weren’t vibrant enough for me and you guys know how I feel about presentation! And I already had my heart set on White Mojo. The wait ended up being around 15 minutes in the end. Yay.

Although I thought that A’s suggested place had a boring menu, the thing is that most brunch places have similar menus anyway; they mostly comprise of dishes with granola, waffles, pancakes or something with poached eggs. White Mojo’s was no different. They did however have a lot more vegetarian dishes compared to other places. And all day breakfast and all day brunch. Yes!

After perusing their offerings, I ordered the Buttermilk Strawberry Pancake (with strawberry creme Chantilly, vanilla ricotta, fresh and freeze dried fruit and some herbs thrown in for health?) while A ordered the Smoked Salmon Tartare (salmon marinated in spicy mayo and served with avocado tahini, dehydrated red onions, black sesame, an egg and croissant slices). As usual, the pancake dish was the one I had set my mind on ordering when I viewed the menu beforehand. However, I was tempted by the Matcha Toast (I believe it was called), which is sadly not on the menu pictured here (their menu changes per season).

The salmon was really good although it had a bit of a fishy taste. It was also slightly spicy, in a lovely, ‘slowly builds up’ way. That said, I won’t be surprised if my fellow Yoruba people would not have been able to taste the spice. There was a generous serving of the salmon and not a lot of croissant which, in my opinion, is usually the other way round at restaurants. The croissant slices weren’t very memorable though; I assume they were just there to add structure to, and enhance the presentation of the dish.

You should check my Instagram page to see how this dish was presented. When the plate came, the waitress literally asked us if we wanted to record the ‘wonder’. I guess that might be one of the reasons why people order this dish?

My dish was very pretty and I spent a good amount of time eating the fruits and sauce first, which were sweet, just the way I like things. The pancakes were the least interesting part of my dish; they were a bit dry and were it not for the garnishes around and on them, would not have been very good on their own. Something that was puzzling to me with this dish was why they decided to have a medley of fresh and freeze dried fruits. Anyone have any ideas?

Looking around the restaurant, I noticed that our dishes were very popular options with diners; the diners we shared a table with and the diners two tables away ordered the exact same dishes. I also have to add that I had posted one of these dishes on my Instagram story and my friend said he hated White Mojo because when he went, the food was terrible. He also mentioned that the salmon was too fishy. Clearly, this is something they have to work on.

I’d like to visit again and try their other dishes. They have an award winning dish on their menu but I can’t eat that as it’s not halal. For this reason though, I’d like to assume that they serve other good food.

White Mojo has three locations; Melbourne, Balwyn and Glen Waverley. The one we went to is located at 115 Hardware St, Melbourne VIC 3000.