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60 Chapel Street, Windsor, 9510 6655
My score: 4/5
Until I went to Uncommon, saying the words ‘mung beans’ made me put on a hippy-stoner voice and twist my hair into fake dreadlocks. I couldn’t help it. But the mung bean and turmeric fritter at this health-conscious cafe, open since December, has cured me of my mug mung moves. The fritter is a fetching early-sunset orange, made from those beans, quinoa and buckwheat. It’s set with nigari, the special salt that’s used in tofu production, giving it sturdy, compact body. A poached egg, chorizo and ricotta made from kefir (fermented milk) round it out beautifully. There’s so much roughage in the dish I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s one of those mythical negative calorie meals.
That Japanesque tofu technique is one of many creative moves from chef Matthew Kennedy, who has taken fine dining experience and layered it with a newfound passion for healthy eating. The result is clean, vigorous food that’s also interesting, technically proficient and tasty. He’s sprouting, fermenting, setting, preserving and experimenting but he’s all about flavour.
Also dressed up for the grain parade is a slow-cooked millet porridge flavoured with cardamom and cinnamon. It’s topped with rose petals, strawberry, banana and honeydew melon poached in birch syrup. It’s not easy to make millet magnificent but this creamy, textured breakfast bowl does so. House-cured salmon pastrami is another star brunch: firm fish, herby scrambled eggs (not curdy enough for me), tamari-tossed seeds and a creamy scoop of honey whipped with olive oil combine to create a satisfying if cacophonous meal that checks off sour, spiced, salty, sweet and savoury.
I like the coffee: the almond milk latte is rich and strong and there’s even a cold drip coffee served in a coconut. (Please Uncommon, rename this the CoCoCo!) It’s gorgeous in here too. Light pours in to a soaring industrial space strung with lavish hanging greenery; the scuffed white floor looks lovely against dark timber tables.
It would be easy to be cynical about the hip ‘n’ healthy vibes but I like the place. It’s caring (kids’ meals go straight to the front of the line). It’s fun (the cold-pressed Bloody Mary is served on a little tray with your own bottle of Tabasco). It’s thoughtful: Uncommon’s focus is unprocessed food. It’s friendly to all dietary needs but it doesn’t preach and it’s not dogmatic.
When built in the late 19th century, this building housed a draper called J.T. Moffitt. His 1886 advertisement in local rag the Telegraph states: “The chief aim is to provide residents of the district with the latest styles”. Whether you’re selling sateen and muslin, or fritters and cold drip coffee, this corner edifice seems to have a history of staying abreast of trends. Uncommon isn’t just honouring the building’s legacy. It’s earnestly aiming to create happy, healthy humans, and that’s an uncommonly winsome project indeed.
See their website.
More Health Conscious:
Combi, 140 Ormond Road, Elwood, 9531 0084.
Some days the people here are so bright and shiny that it can be hard to see, but there’s no knocking the exuberance of the mostly organic, raw and vegan food, especially the sweets.
Mastic, 26 Cotham Road, Kew, 9207 7477.
The green smoothies pack just the right kind of punch and the roast vegetable salads make for great lunch fuel.
Fred Gets, 41-49 Smith Street, Collingwood, 8459 7561.
Fred is all about whole, healthy food to eat in or take away. Order up dishes like cauliflower flatbread and check out the daily salads for seasonal flavours.
First published in The Age, 15th May 2016.
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