Rice Kitchen's Vietnamese Sunday Brunch Pop-Up

Overview

Suffering a bit of brunch boredom? Well, to help free you from the monotony of avo smash and egg scrambles, Rice Kitchen — the crew that delivers DIY Vietnamese feast boxes to your door — is holding a series of Vietnamese Sunday brunch pop-ups this October.

It's for a great cause, too, helmed by Australian chef Tracey Lister (Made In Vietnam, Vietnamese Street Food), and co-hosted with Know One Teach One, a social enterprise that provides hospitality training to disadvantaged youth.

Held every Sunday in October at a North Melbourne warehouse location, each of these brunch sessions will feature a unique, Hanoi-meets-Melbourne spread. Food will be served as it is in Vietnam, rolling through a parade of small dishes — though they'll be plated up with a sprinkling of that Melbourne brunch flair.

To that end, expect plates like xôi (a glutinous rice dish) with coconut braised pork belly and soft boiled eggs, pork terrine and prawn lettuce wraps, savoury sticky rice, and sweet potato, taro and turmeric croquettes. Of course, no Melbourne brunch is complete without some tasty mid-morning sips, so these feasts will also include liquid treats like matcha lattes and traditional Vietnamese egg coffee.

There'll be three brunch sittings each Sunday (10.30am, 12pm and 1.30pm), with a Hanoi street food menu on October 8 and 15, and a Hanoi home cooking menu on October 22 and 29.