Workshop Brothers, Glen Waverley by Bureaucrat

The shops along the main dining area in Glen Waverley are in a midst of change. A couple of old stalwarts have upped and gone; while some newbies have struggled to survive in the midst of fierce competition. Workshop Brothers is one of the relative newcomers - I think it's been around for a year. It replaced the old Spicy Fish restaurant, which I always found amusing that it was located right next door to the fishmonger.

While I'd never be enticed to step into Spicy Fish, I was intrigued enough of the womb-like setting of Workshop Brothers. The cafe is decorated in soft pastel peachy pink hues and shiny gold accents; all of which is framed by a pair of circular archways. I'm guessing the circular archways are a nod to the Asian-fusion menu that's on offer.

The place is staffed by hip young things all dressed in black. The menu, as mentioned, is Asian-fusion. So think congee with caramelised pork belly and century old egg; Hong Kong waffles; soft-shell crab burger with yuzu and sambal.

Workshop Brothers, Glen Waverley, tempura calamari

For lunch, I went for the alluringly named Sea Garden - tempura calamari, with heirloom tomatoes, zucchini flowers, romesco sauce, snow pea tendrils and a poached egg. It was quite a tasty salad. There was plenty of tender calamari. The batter was nice and light and crispy. Same goes for the zucchini flowers. There were loads of flavoursome squeaky fresh tomatoes and corn nibblets off the cob. A very tasty dish for a hot day.

Workshop Brothers, Glen Waverley, kimchi risotto

The Lawyer can't go past a risotto and got the Kimchi Risotto. Despite the vermilion hued rice, the Lawyer said it wasn't overly spicy. There was a reasonable amount of scallops, mussels, prawns and calamari but he reckoned they were frozen not fresh. It was garnished with snow pea shoots and gruyere. All in all, he enjoyed his meal.