Patch Cafe - CLOSED

Overview

What do you think of when you think of the Paleo diet? We would be lying if we said the image of a caveman gnawing on a piece of raw meat didn't come to mind. But, of course, there is a lot more to it than that and Patch Cafe is here to prove it.

For those playing at home the Paleo diet is about cutting out diary (with the exception of butter), grains, legumes, and bad fats (vegetable oils). They replace all of this with good fats like coconut oil and butter, proteins in the form of meats and fatty fish, leafy vegetables, fruit, and a small amount of starchy vegetables.

Patch, tucked into Richmond's Bendigo Street, presents a menu that adheres to the Paleo way of living, without alienating anyone who doesn't. The menu tells you whether the dish is Paleo or 'Paleo-inspired', and there are two options for bread: regular sourdough (not so Paleo) and their in-house Paleo bread that they've made somehow taste great, whilst keeping grain free. All hail the coconut, right?

Start your morning with a Paleo-inspired Bircher muesli of activated hazelnuts and almonds, goji berries, apricots, pumpkin seeds, coconut, chia seeds, honey, vanilla bean and orange, with coconut yoghurt and blueberries ($15), or the chilli scrambled eggs with avocado, chilli, bacon, chives, and Paleo toast ($17).

The all day menu turns more lunchy when you get to the second half with daikon tuna rolls — sashimi yellow fin tuna, avocado, cucumber, daikon wrapped with ginger and sesame tamari ($20 for three) — and the Cave Man: eggs, bacon, tomato, wagyu beef, sweet potato fritters, silver beet, and kale served with relish ($22).

Depending on your hankering, they're serving up Code Black coffee as well as Tanka Juice. It gets our non-Paleo tick of approval.