Hobba dives into dinner

Establishing yourself as one of the south side’s most sought after breakfast destinations is no mean feat. With hundreds of venues for hungry Melburnians to choose from, your menu has to be pretty special to have punters lining up every weekend for a feed.

But Josh Powell and the team from Hobba in Malvern aren’t content with hogging the brunch crowd; they wanted to woo the dinner crowd too. And after some careful planning and consideration of just what vibe they wanted to create for their clientele, Hobba has unveiled its new evening menu.

Built around the concept that sharing really is caring, dinner at Hobba is all about share plates, large and small. On my recent visit on a warm Friday night, the atmosphere is chilled and the decor tastefully industrial, with a scattering of indoor plants and even a tree with coffee bean soil.

My dining partner and I start our meal out with a selection of small plates, including chorizo and octopus toast ($5), the prawn sandwich ($7), barbeque lamb ribs ($14) and my favourite, the haloumi with salsa verde ($10). It should be noted I would have been more than happy for the kitchen staff to slather that salsa on every dish that came out.

My pal indulged in Hobba’s own version of the espresso martini ($16) as I kicked myself for electing to be the designated driver.

Mouth-watering grass-fed rib eye steak ($54) and succulent lemon and peppercorn roasted chicken with stuffing ($35) make up two of the three large sharing plates on offer, and I would have had a hard time faulting either meal (helps that I’m an absolute sucker for stuffing).

And for those with any room left for sweets will be more than satisfied digging into the hokey pokey ice-cream sundae with peanut brittle caramel. I dare you to resist it.

Breakfast may be Hobba’s forte, but dinner could soon become my favourite meal of the day.

HOBBA
428 Malvern Road Prahran
Mon – Wed 7am – 5pm
Thurs – Say 7am – 11pm
Sun 8am – 5pm
hobba.com.au