Charisma Workshop is a little cafe with lots going on. They do brunch and specialty coffee and make fine patisserie desserts in house as well as handmade chocolates. It’s easy to find something to suit everyone’s tastebuds because they have a variety of tasty options.
I hadn’t had Syphon coffee before so it was great to see how they make it.
They have to keep the heat at a consistent temperature to draw out the flavour of the coffee. It was kind of like an espresso and was served with a shot of sparkling.
If you don’t want a coffee they have lots of other warm drinks available. The Ruby golden chai with soy was was yellow with a line of cinnamon over the top which made it look like a pot of custard (yum). It was like a turmeric latte. They also have hot chocolates and Hojicha (roasted green tea).
The confit duck leg melted apart, it was cooked perfectly. This was comfort food with a bright orange sweet potato and pumpkin mash with field mushrooms and a coffee red wine reduction. It usually comes with a tomato and parmesan marshmallow which sounds so interesting but they were out for the day. Definitely curious about this savoury marshmallow.
They had a couple of benedict’s on the menu. We tried the soft shell crab which was battered and fried with poached eggs on top, covered in hollandaise. Talk about indulgent. There was some wilted spinach and pickled radish to cut through the creaminess and it was all served on a big piece of sourdough.
We also tried the classic benedict with ham, poachies and hollandaise which was nice too.
Then we were onto the cakes were eye-catching as we walked into the store. The bright purple one was an earl grey and blackcurrent dome with earl grey bavarian cream, black current cremeux, bergamont jelly and almond sponge.
Matcha lovers will love the matcha white chocolate torte. It had two types of matcha. The matcha mousse had a light matcha flavour and matcha white chocolate sponge had a stronger more bitter matcha flavour.
The Mojito Gem was my fave it was basically the mojito cocktail in dessert form. It had bicardi rum jelly, lime mousse, mojito cremeux, fresh mint and olive oil sponge. It took us to paradise.
The love me tender was a gorgeous heart shaped dessert which was a special for valentines day. It was filled with chocolate mousse, mandarin cream and orange financier sponge. The beautiful heart may stick around for mothers day but may have a different filling.
Even the chocolates were all handmade in house and they had some interesting flavours. There was lemon and mint, Pina colada, lychee and cherry, rum and raisin and apricot rosemary. They put them in a pretty box if you order them to takeaway or you can give them as a gift.
Charisma Workshop is tucked away behind Pegasus hotel so you might need to look a little harder to find it down Fredericks Way. The chefs are passionate and the food is lovely.
I heart Charisma Workshop!
Olives x
Charisma Workshop
Address: 3 Frederick Way, Melbourne VIC 3000 (behind pegasus hotel 206 A’Beckett St)
Website: https://www.charismaworkshop.com.au/
Phone: (03) 8764 6663
Trading Hours: Mon-Fri: 7am-5pm, Sat-Sun: 9am-5pm