The Glass Den Coburg – Brunch Review

The Glass Den Coburg has one of those menus where you want to order all of the above. I am an indecisive person at the best of times, particularly before my first caffeine fix of the day. And after reading the menu and re-reading it again, I felt more and more confused. I wanted it all. But the best thing about plenty of options is that you will definitely want to go back.

Housed in the site of the former Pentridge Prison (Pentridge is the old name for Coburg), the Glass Den Coburg is located in the gatehouse of the notorious D Block. The prison only closed in 1997, so you can still feel the history of the place. Beyond the beautiful bluestone façade, you’ll now find a beautiful light filled space. Colourful mismatched chairs are teamed with contemporary art and plenty of greenery. Some of the prison bars still remain, ensuring that a little sense of history is instilled.

The menu is packed full of delicious breakfast and lunch treats. It’s playful and inventive, and is definitely a menu where you think “I could NOT have made this at home”. There’s plenty of gluten free options too. On the savoury side there’s an open soft shell crab croissant with spinach scrambled eggs and an Egg au Gratin with confit portobello mushrooms, while the sweet menu sings with rocky road French toast with matcha whipped mascarpone and blackforest hotcakes. Even the standard avo on toast is mighty tempting, teamed with fresh cherry tomatoes, dukkah, bocconchini fiordilatte, baby mizuna, basil pesto and balsamic reduction served on crisp soy and quinoa loaf.

More “lunchier” options are served from 11:00am and include a selection of burgers, a beetroot and thyme cured salmon and the super delicious (and healthy!) winter bowl – chock full of roasted pumpkin, cauliflower, baby spinach, candied almonds, chickpeas, house infused feta and a tahini dressing.

The blackforest hotcakes are a sweet tooth’s dream. A stack of three fluffy hotcakes are laden with cherry nibs, chocolate fudge, candied coconut and chocolate soil to produce a textural and flavour bomb. A side of vanilla bean whipped cream is just enough to cut through the richness and intensity of the chocolate.

The hotcakes are teamed with a shot of sour cherry ganache so you can pour to your heart’s content.

Equally delicious is the sizzling caramel bread pudding which is baked fresh in house daily and served in a black skillet. It’s a glamourous sticky date pudding of sorts, teamed with banana, brandy sauce, walnut, salted caramel fudge, house made toffee caramel ice cream and finished with cinnamon dust. One of those dishes which are almost too pretty to eat – highlight the almost!

They serve St Ali Coffee; the house blend is “Orthodox” 40% Colombia / 60% Brazil and they also serve a number of single origins which rotate regularly. Or you can have a health kick with a Good Brew Kombucha, one of their cold pressed juices or an avocado smoothie.

If you’re looking for a reason to check out Coburg, this is your reason.

The Glass Den Coburg

A 15 Urquhart St, Coburg VIC 3058
T (03) 9354 5032
W theglassden.com.au