275 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
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Looky at what Trunk has gone and done. Some bright spark had the idea of using the space that is otherwise the lets-get-tanked-outdoors drinking area, and turn it into a hipsterdooferish American Diner. That’s right, coffee and pastries, salads and baguettes, burgers and beers, in a plastic curtain clad, heated…er…car port. But it is a superdooper car port with light features and a few wooden crates for designer effect!
Jesting aside, it does have a touch of ubercool about it, and I must give props to the sign writer. Love his work.
Anyway, here is where it gets interesting. This is the wagyu burger ($10) – a tightly packed puck of juicy flame-grilled beef on a toasted brioche bun, with cos lettuce, tomato, onion and house made pickled zucchini. I chose to pimp my ride with a slice of gruyere ($1.50), and a side of fries ($3), although other pimps include a variety of cheeses, grilled onions, jalapeno or crispy bacon. I like the way they plate it up too, paying homage to “diner” fare of old; instead of a metal tray with a plastic chips basket, you get a lacquered wooden tray with palm leaf bio platter. Must give props to the zucchini pickle too – it was awesome and I want the recipe.
A range of condiments awaits your saucing pleasure; brown barbecue, tomato ketchup (and a thick one at that), and two types of habanero chilli sauce, red and green. We watched in horror as the guy at the next table squirted the incendiary-hot green chilli sauce all over his chips like it was ketchup!
Trunk Diner is open for brekky and lunch, and I’m looking forward to trying out a few more of their dishes, especially the breakfast waffles with grilled bananas, hazelnuts and maple syrup. The also have a neat range of naffy snacks at the counter, such as caramel corn, juicy raspberries jellies and Junior Mints. Ooh, this is all sounding rather fun!
I’ll be back.
OMG OMG OMG YUMMMMIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! I wanna go now- it looks awesome!
Okay, that burger looks good! As do the fries. I feel I have no choice but to try it, to see how much further down the wagyu burger table the Rockpool version can be pushed.
Did the onion/tomato salad come already arranged into a little face, or was that your handiwork?
Looks like fun! Had an awesome Mojito in the Trunk bar last year, have been meaning to go back ever since. Now I have even more reason to return.
“saucing pleasure,” LOVE IT. I’ll be sure to check this place out. Mmm, burger. Is it licensed?
Ooooooooooooooh!! Hopefully I get a few more working days at the Paris end of the city soon so I can go check it out. Thanks for the tip off, Mellie! xx
Hey there Piggy Eatalot – you’ll have to make the trip up to the top end of town!
Hiya Injera – unfortunately my food styling is not up to such acts of brilliance. The salad face came out from the kitchen that way
Well, the wagyu battle burger is certainly hotting up. This one is only a tenner, and while not huge, it is certainly a burger I’d be back for.
Hi Suzinoz – Trunk is a unusual little place. They used to do a rockin’ pizza, but haven’t been back for a while to try. Interesting that the two businesses are now distinctly different. Italin-esque inside Trunk, and American outside Trunk.
Hey Nola – hmm, we all do enjoy a bit of saucing pleasure
And YES, whoop, it is licensed! They have a few beers on tap, and also a number of wines etc. I guess what ever you can get in Trunk, you can also get in Trunk Diner.
Hi Claire – see, I need to get down your end of town too so I can go EARLing for lunch, and also trying out the new Le Traiteur! We should start up a delivery service or something…
I am absolutely STOKED! $10 wagyu burger? Love that it’s literally just a hopskip away from my office. Thanks for the heads up Mellie, it’s lovely reading your posts again
Wow that seems so… un-Trunk! I hope they delve into some American things that are rare here; good onion rings, pumpkin pie, etc. Mmm pumpkin pie.
Ooh! This does look super cute! I didn’t enjoy my last meal at Trunk, but I may be willing to give this ago if the service is a bit more efficient…
Junior Mints!! LOVE!!
I know where I’m going for lunch next week! Will stock up on Junior Mints while I’m there I love them.
Hey there Pseudo Epicurean – ah yes, I remember you’re up that part of town (like me). I look forward to them expanding their menu a bit. When they first started promoting, there was the promise of hot dogs. It wasn’t on the menu though, so hopefully that one will be along soon.
Hi Daniel – yes, it is *very* un-Trunk-like. Oh dear…don’t start talking about pumpkin pie. I LOVE PUMPKIN PIE! It wasn’t on the menu, but if they should happen to read this post, I hope they put it on the menu
Hi Ashley – well, I think you need to take this new venture with a grain of salt, as they are still “finding their feet”. I wasn’t quite sure whether it was table service or counter service, but we seemed to get a mixture of both. But everyone was friendly etc., so no probs there.
Hey Ms Baklover – uh huh, a big bowl full of them!
Hey Melissa – well I hope you enjoy. Be sure to come back and leave your thoughts here. Will be interesting to see how it develops once it gets a few more customers…
Looks delicious & great value! What’s there not to love about a rich, tasty, brioche wagyu burger for 10 bucks?!
That looks awesome! Kinda weird to have this diner located right next to their more upmarket pizza restaurant though. I didn’t particularly enjoy my time at Trunk when I had dinner there last year but I reckon I’ll have a ball at this new diner. And if they sell Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, even better!
Went and tried it at lunchtime – for $10 as you’d imagine the size of the wagyu burger isn’t massive, but very tasty (especially with monterey jack cheese) and left feel sufficiently full but not greasy or overly salted.
The pattie was borderline under which some folk may not appreciate but personally I’m a big fan of good quality beef served under so it was all good.
Well worth checking out before it gets too busy / popular / in epicure.
Nice find!
I just tried their vanilla, poached pear and apricot muffin this morning. It was SENSATIONAL! And the guy tells me they make their own tomato sauce too (and might be selling it!)
Hey Forager – have to agree with you there! I think it might give Rockpool B&G a run for its money (literally!)
Hi Libby – heard similar things myself, thought I’ve often enjoyed a pizza at Trunk in the past. That being said, there are other awesome places in town to go for that. But the Diner is kinda kooky – but just remember its really an outdoor brekky/lunch cafe. Didn’t see any peanut butter cups, but their caramel corn is tasty!
Hiya Niels – my pattie was borderline too, though my dining companions burgers came out well done. I think it’s a neat lunchtime find. Something different from the droll cafes anyway!
G’day Pseudo Epicurean – ooh, I still haven’t made it for breakfast. Must go try those waffles! I wonder if the ketchup I had in my bottle was home made. It was *really really* thick. Must ask next time.
Hey Mellie, i’ve been to Trunk for drinks and pizza (which were beautiful!) but WOW they’ve opened up an american diner!
I can’t help but think of Cafe Vue’s wagyu beef burger which is also 10 bucks but the number of chips on the plate is tiny compared to Trunk, can’t wait to go and try it!!
Hi Ange! Well, the burger is $10 on it’s own, and $13 with chips. But that still beats Cafe Vue’s $15 burger, which is also a fair bit smaller.
I just went and had a burger there, the service is great, really friendly. I was very excited about the choice of cheeses, sadly they didn’t seem to have american cheese which is my favourite for a burger. The bun is excellent, but I think the patty is almost too big it was a bit hard to get my mouth around. It was much better than Cafe Vue, last time I went there my burger wasn’t that great at all, it just didn’t seem like it was freshly cooked. Something tells me they don’t cook to order and the fries were really dry like they’d been sitting under a heat lamp for a while. I’ll definitely be heading back to trunk again though!
Hey there zedmund – well you’re in luck, cause Monteray Jack (which they offer) IS an American cheese.
And funny that you mention the Cafe Vue burger. There was a bit of chatter on twitter about that the other day, in that some people thought the burger had been reheated in the microwave. Hmm..