On a weekend away in Melbourne I searched for a great breakfast place. Staying near the Queen Victoria Markets , The Hardware Societe is only a 10min stroll. At 8am the queue had already formed but was very easy to get a seat.
The staff take you through the menu and the specials on the day sounded fantastic. I opted for the Lobster Benedict and couldn't have been happier.

As a long black coffee drinker I find may cafes can't make a good coffee. The Hardware Societe was fantastic to the point i was in heaven on the first, second & third.

Well done Hardware Societe.

For a few years I've been wanting to try Hardware Society due to the high recommendations on TA but I must say seeing the queue (every time!) put me off as im too hungry to wait!! Last week during my visit to Melbourne, I waited...and it was worth it!

I agree with some reviews that the must haves - baked eggs and lobster benedict - are lovely. I had the baked eggs with chorizo and got to try the lobster benedict too. Both nice, but the lobster wins for me. Served over a dark bread roll, the contrast of hollandaise looked amazing and whilst it looked heavy to eat, the bread was light and slightly fluffy, lobster was prepared well, and overall just beautiful.

I definitely recommend waiting in line at this french inspired tucked away in a lane spot. If you can get a seat at the bar and watch them cook and prepare in action, simply amazing - they were so quick and efficient as a team and in such a tight and demanding spot...there's a lot of pride that goes out with the meals having watched it for ourselves. Staff are friendly and in the kitchen passionate - management are obviously doing something right. I'd hire their staff to work in my kitchen any day!

Enjoy!

Went here as so highly rated on trip advisor.

Must say I don't see why so much hype?

Service quite poor. No one seemed bothered about us wanting to come here to eat. Just typical get people in and out of the door as quick as possible...nothing personal about it

Coffee was poor. Yes the Melbourne standard of coffee is high but regardless...This was well below par.

Why are the menus printed in French as well as English? It's 10000 miles away from France physically and double that metaphorically. The
food may claim French inspiration but really I can only say this only seems in the most superficial sense. Those who have experienced traditional/modern/Provençal French cuisine will testify that this is worlds apart from what hardware societe
aspires to.

Food: I had the lobster benedict. Supposed to be a flagship dish here. In reality a stingy portion of lobster padded out with mandolined cucumber on a noir brioche bun (which had an unusual taste -couldn't quite place it- not in a good way) with undercooked poached eggs and an overly citrus hollandaise.

Nic had the fruit toast which was excellent. Lots of juicy fruit (apricot, fig and raisins in good portions) spread throughout a nicely raised loaf with butter and bonne maman conserve was lovely. A simple dish but perfectly done.

Shame it was a dining experience shared with 6 other strangers on a shared table whilst leaning against a column... Not the most comfortable way to spend to a Saturday morning. Especially after a long wait just to get past the threshold

In short; there are far superior places. Hardware societe lives off it's reputation but rests heavily on its laurels and fails to live up to it's far exaggerated hype. Avoid would be my advice.

Only guarantee available is disappointment.

Melbourne is famous for their cafe and during our trip, cafe hopping for brunch is one of our to-do-list.

Hardware Societe is highly recommended and had many great reviews so we decided to give it a try.

There was a queue on Sunday morning and we waited about an hour for the table.

Coffee is great as are most cafe in Melbourne but the food are not as nice as expected.

We ordered a baked egg (which i did not quite like), it is a unique dish no doubt but taste is not fantastic.

Poached egg with mushroom is quite nice. Hubby ordered one of their salmon dish and it was not very good either.

Overall we are a bit disappointed as we are hoping for a better quality food. Prices are quite steep as well compared to the other cafes around the area.

On of the best in Australia so far!
We shared a salmon scramble & ricotta w/ truffle roasted mushrooms and the portion were massive and so so so good :)
Quick, delicious, gorgeous présentation, good atmosphere and just a great value for money!
Will come back and would recomend !