Hobba: Eatery & Bar is located in Prahran and is housed in a once old tire factory, owned by Gerrick Numan, and joined by Simon McNamara and chef Josh Powell. Hobba has so much light and maintains its warehouse style and creates a relaxed atmosphere for its guests. I later also discovered that there is a giant tree which grows in the middle of the space through a table. Very interesting indeed! The restaurant space is open with high ceilings and exposed brick walls, and booths are made out of timber and have comfortable cushion seats.
I arrived before the rest of the group (there was going to be four of us) and was told that there would be a 15 minute wait for a table. (This was on Christmas Eve day by the way). However, there was a table much sooner and after about 5-7 minutes I was seated at a table. I was asked immediately if I wanted a coffee and was given water and the menu. As my friends hadn’t arrived yet I had plenty of time to have a look at their menu, and discovered that they Hobba now did dinner service – only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. They had a sample menu on the back of the Breakfast and Lunch menu (refer to the first thumbnail above) – and the food looked and sounded delicious. I made a mental note to definitely come back at dinner time.
The menu has a breakfast and lunch menu. The Breakfast menu is available all day, and there are a selection of sandwiches available from 10:30am. The menu consists of the general loved classic dishes such as toast with jam, muesli, eggs and omelettes, but what stands out about this place is the dishes that won’t find anywhere else – such as the Grilled asparagus, hazelnut crumbs, horseradish panna cotta & poached egg and the bubble and squeak dish.
I ordered the Grilled Asparagus dish and when the dish came out it was plated so beautifully. It is one of the best presented breakfast dishes I have had. The horseradish panna cotta made the dish look like a dessert dish. The asparagus was blanched and flavoured just perfectly. The poached egg…oh the poached egg – cooked to absolute perfection at 62.5 degrees and was runny and gooey and had such a light casing of the white. This mixed together with the hazelnut crumb added texture to the dish, and made for a winning combination. An addition I would have liked is a piece of sour dough bread to soak up that delicious runny egg.
A ordered the Bubble and Squeak dish and that too was presented in a great fashion – with the hollandaise sauce on the bottom and then the bubble and squeak placed on top with another layer atop of fried egg and bacon. V ordered the French Toast with banana creme fraiche which she thoroughly enjoyed. Banana Creme Fraiche is something that you wouldn’t find in many places and the macadamia crumble is another exotic addition. L had the Hobba breakfast which was quite decently sized and comes with tomato, bacon, sausage and eggs. The coffees here are pretty spot on as well and taste creamy and rich and are from Five Senses.
The atmosphere is laid back and relaxing and its a great place for a casual catchup. Hobba is great for all types of people and great for families as well. There are mini board games for the kiddies. I wonder what the atmosphere would be like for the dinner service. The space is really funky and trendy. Definitely will be back for more of the breakfast meals as well as for the dinner. It is on my highly recommended list when people ask me where they should go for brunch.
Open to the street and with a whacking great tree thrown in the middle of the lofty ex-tyre fitting garage, it almost feels like you’re eating al fresco – and who doesn’t love the feel of the morning breeze through their cereal? The atmosphere is pretty laid back, which is exactly what owner Gerrick Numan, and Powell were aiming for with their amusing pledge to under-promise, and over-deliver. They wanted the sort of place where they themselves would go to relax – which of course meant having the kind of food that they would want to eat.
Rating : 4.5 Pandas
Price: $$
Menu – Breakfast / Lunch Menu – http://www.hobba.com.au/Hobba/BreakfastLunch.html, Dinner Menu – http://www.hobba.com.au/Hobba/Dinner.html
Fullness: 100%
Atmosphere / Ambience: Casual, Relaxed and great for a Sunday afternoon.
Standout Dish:
Service: Friendly and Attentive
Online Booking: No
Restaurant Details and Location:
http://www.hobba.com.au/Hobba/Home.html
428 Malvern Road, Prahran
Tel No: 9510 8336
Opening Hours:
Monday to Wednesday: 7am to 5pm
Thursday to Saturday: 7am to 11pm (Dinner on Thursday to Saturday nights)
Sunday: 8am to 5pm
grazing panda 
You should try their poached eggs next time. It’s perfection. 🙂
well i did have a poached egg with my dish and that was pretty damn good! =) definite wanna try out their dinners..looks soooo good!