a couple of weeks ago, pictures of red velvet pancakes kept appearing on my instagram feed and i just had to find out to find out if the visual appeal translated in real life. so the husband + i headed out to hawthorn to muharam café on burwood road. these guys have been open for a while, but recently underwent a renovation and overhaul of their menu, so i was excited to see what the buzz was about.

muharam serve niccolo coffee which i was stoked about – love their coffee – and my husband opted for the green smoothie (coconut water, spinach, kiwi + banana) which is an unusual choice for him but he really enjoyed it… nothing like some super greens to kick off your weekend! poached eggs + bacon. the eggs were cooked well with runny yokes + the bacon was crispy and tasty. spiced sweetcorn fritters with red pepper salsa, bacon, avocado + poached eggs. egg yolks were runny and the salsa had a good kick to it. the bacon was excellent. avocado was creamy and fresh. i was disappointed with the corn fritters, they were undercooked so the texture was powdery + a bit doughy. the cafe itself is beautiful, with a gorgeous timber counter running the length of the front room + plenty of foliage and wood decorating the walls and tables. there is also a small sunny courtyard out the back.

and finally, the dish i had been waiting for…

red velvet pancakes with cream cheese, strawberries + warm chocolate.
firstly, visually this dish is divinely appealing. beautifully decorated with micro herbs, icing sugar, chocolate powder, finely chopped strawberries and a couple of blueberries. the cream cheese was addictive – sweet + creamy. the chocolate sauce was rich + silky. overall, the flavours in the topping were to die for + i thought for sure this dish was about to make its way into my favourites list. however, the first cut into my pancake yielded a cold gooey raw batter which quickly left me disappointed. whilst i did move on to the 2nd and 3rd pancakes which were thankfully cooked, they were still cooked quite inconsistently.

unfortunately, there were a few things that didn’t run so well for these guys on the morning we visited. the majority of it had to do with the lack of consistency in the food, particularly the fritters and pancakes. this definitely impacted my overall experience, whilst all of the rest of the savoury elements were lovely. the other issue was timing. we waited 40 mins for a table despite there being an unoccupied reserved table and spare seats around the communal table up the back of the room. also, from seating to completion our brunch took 90 minutes. i’m a pretty patient person but the wait for our food was unnecessarily long. i’m sincerely hoping that i can put it down to a new chef + menu that just need some ironing out, but unfortunately i was left a bit disappointed.

verdict: some issues to iron out – but the potential is there
find: http://www.muharam.com.au/