Journeyman Melbourne (First Impression)

If we’re talking about good brunch places in Melbourne, the list would be endless! I personally haven’t been to a lot of them, but I’ve tried quite a bunch of decent ones, or should I say the ‘internet favorite’ ones. I won’t lie to you, despite living in Melbourne for more than three years, I’d still rely on Google whenever I needed a recommendation for a place to eat, and this one is no exception.

Journeyman

I found Journeyman by Google recommendation under the keyword of ‘brunch in Melbourne’. I was on my day off at the time, I was hungry, I wanted to eat out, I wanted to go somewhere new, and if I could also put it on the blog, that would be awesome too! So after a little bit of research a.k.a ‘stalking’ their Instagram page for a good five minutes, I decided that I wanted to grab lunch in Journeyman. I didn’t go alone today, I asked Megga if she could be my company, and thankfully, she was just as hungry.

Journeyman is located on Chapel Street, Windsor, a.k.a the ‘hip’ area where all the good cafes, restaurants, and bars are placed. The easiest way to get there by public transport is to take the number 6 tram (if you’re in the CBD, catch them on Swanston St), get off on Chapel Street, and it’s just literally 30 seconds walk from there, very easy to find.

It’s already past lunchtime when we arrived at Journeyman, but the scene was still quite busy. After causing a tiny fuss by asking for a different table, the nice front staff lady got us the perfect spot inside to sit, it seems like she knew that we’re going to take a bunch of photos, haha.

Journeyman has a decent capacity to fit at least 50 patrons inside and around 15 on the outside. The theme here is very rustic and I see that they use a lot of wood for the furniture, they don’t use any lighting besides the natural sunlight that came from the middle of the space.

The first thing that we need to do before ordering is to sign in to their system. It becomes a new normal now to always sign in whenever you’re visiting any cafes & restaurants,  just in case if there’s a Covid-19 outbreak on the premises, they can reach out to everyone who visits that day and ask them to get tested or self-quarantine. Some places still stick with the classic pen and paper to do so, but a lot of places including Journeyman are switching to a barcode scan from your phone.

Another thing that I also appreciate is that their menu now becomes paperless! The system will take you straight to their online menu right after you sign in, which is very clever in my opinion. I always love the idea of businesses becoming more sustainable, and not having to waste paper for every season whenever they change their menu. It’s a good example that every Cafe should try to apply in the future. 

What did we order? For the drink, I got my usual Oat Magic, while Meg was being quite adventurous with Vietnamese Iced Coffee. For the food, Meg ordered the Almond & Cornflake Crispy Chicken Burger and I went for their Roast Portobello Mushroom Benedict (V)

How was it? Alright, since me and Meg are both baristas, we might have some things that we’re quite anal about when it comes to drinks. One thing that was quite uneasy to me was when Meg’s Vietnamese Iced Coffee got a piece of hair (or maybe beard) on it. We didn’t make a scene out of it, we just politely mentioned the hair to the waiter and asked for a new one, but one thing that I noticed was that the way he handled the situation was rather ‘too chill’? If it was me who was working, I would take this matter very seriously, imho.

But anyway, she got the replacement of her iced coffee, although again sadly speaking, it wasn’t up to her liking. I remember having a sip and what I could taste was an extreme bitterness of the espresso, and the extra sweetness of the condensed milk, it was an unpleasant mix. Meanwhile for my Oat Magic, it was okay. A little bit too much milk, personally speaking. I would use a 4oz cup instead of 6oz for Magic, but again, every cafe owner/head barista could have their own interpretation of what a ‘Magic’ coffee is, so it’s all alright.

As for the food, I remembered we enjoyed both of them thoroughly, but nothing out of ordinary, it was a good brunch as a whole. Overall, I enjoyed my experience in Journeyman Melbourne, out of ten I would rate them 7. If you have been there, let me know how was your experience, and what’s your favorite menu? 

Summary

• Journeyman Prahran
• Business Hours :
• Mon – Sat : 7 AM – 3:30 PM
• Sunday : 8 AM – 3:30 PM
• Coffee : Yes
• Brunch : Yes
• Indoor Capacity : +- 50
• Outdoor Capacity : +- 20
• Total Capacity : +- 70
• Waiting Time : 10-15 Minutes
• Range Price : $20-$45/person
• Ambiance : Wooden
• Toilet : Yes
• WiFi : Not sure
• Vegan / Vegetarian Options : Yes