turning point

the 5 star reviews are super confusing. maybe it’s the novelty dry ice being served with their desserts that’s bringing people in. but this place is just your bog-standard melbourne cafe. not bad but certainly not worthy of the insane zomato rating.

so lucky to get a seat here today as it coincided with the attica bake sale which flooded ripponlea with hundreds of people and cars. coldest day in the year so after realising at least 500 people were in front of us on the queue headed to turning point.

warm inside, i quickly ordered for us, a shared plate of the three point turn (aka big brekkie see pic) and an almond mocha. every part of this was so tasty and perfectly cooked. huge serving so sharing it was a perfect idea. 5/5 for this on all levels. the mocha whilst not hot and not silky was very good.

we left when tens of people were coming in, like us, coming in bcz they didn’t want to wait in the huge line freezing their butts off. so relieved we beat the crowds.

great staff and food. i will return.

i had an amazing vegan brunch spread at turning point!
the warm pumpkin salad was perfect for a pumpkin-lover like me 🎃 cant decide if i enjoyed the pumpkin wedge or pumpkin purée more 🤔
i also tried the pina colada granola bowl 🥥 a bowl of fruity, coconutty goodness. so refreshing on a hot day!

food, coffee and vibes all top notch. the team are super lovely too! 

edit: i went again and tried the mushroom bagel with fries and it was amazing. definitely recommend this dish!!

following a common trend in melbourne of a menu comprised of a majority of unimaginative food for a inflated price. service is ok, but given the flavour profile and the cost, would not recommend

we came back recently to turning point, this time with another couple and their baby. it was a little more rush with the little fella as he didn’t want to settle and the resulting noise was certainly a piercing. staff were still very accommodating and probably put a rush on our order.

we loved the smashed avocado which came with tasty feta, subtle lemon, punchy pesto and the added crunch of pepitas & sunflower seeds which sets this avo dish above others

other savoury highlight included the warm pumpkin salad with textural buckwheat, almonds which worked well in this salad along with crisp sage leaves. we added halloumi which was generous portioned.

the sweet highlight was the french toast which was truely an amazingly plated dish, so much so that it captured the attention of several of our fellow dinners. berries, lemon curd cones, coconut ice cream and fairy floss all feature atop of brioche french toasted. this dish was the highlight of the meal.

our fourth visit over and we would still look forward to coming back.

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on a previous visit...

turning point is perfectly positioned on the sunny corner of the shops right opposite ripponlea train station and inside was very nicely decked out with light wood tones and greenery plus some ultra cool light fitting and wall neon and imagery.

i had saved up my calories today for this late lunch and as such it’s no surprise that i ordered the beef burger with two cheeses (a cheddar and a brie). it came beer battered chips and the option of a shake for and additional $3.50 (of course i did). the burger was a delight although i nearly scrapped off the onions until i realised they were pickled (yum). although filling it was manageable without mess. chips were supposed to
be smoked paprika but if so it was too subtle for
me to pick up on.

was expecting it to be far busier than what it was considering it’s rating but it was very quiet on a saturday morning. had the eggs benny which was good, eggs cooked well and hood flavours but still firmly believe you don’t go past the classic of english muffins and ham instead of pulled pork on rosti. service was very good.

came here for breakfast this morning. we arrived around 9.30am and there were plenty of tables.
i had the warm pumpkin salad which was excellent, extremely filling when you add both the recommended sides of haloumi and a poached egg.
my husband had the eggs benny with was also great - nice light hollandaise sauce. coffee was good.
friendly and quick service.

tasty and quality ingredients, fresh decor. i prefer strong flavours and lots of them, so found our dishes to be slightly boring as it was a large volume of just a couple things, so i tired of eating the same ingredient. however those ingredients were prepared very well, so maybe suited to those who don’t like a lot going on in their dish. (i had pumpkin dish and added egg and haloumi.). caroline juice (carrot, apple, celery, lemon) was quite refreshing. mushroom side was amazing.

this is a brunch spot you must visit. the creativity is taken to another level here, with the point of no return and piña colada bowl literally blowing me away. such an inventive way to present food and really stepping up to the challenge. the avocado smash was plentiful, so much avo (currently in an avo coma) and i loved the feta!!!
the space is light and seating comfortable, obsessed with the neon light (perfect for photos). close to ripponlea station too!

i’ve been here before and recently went to try their new winter menu. my last experience had been okay, the food was nice but didn’t knock my socks off i guess you could say. well i was pleasantly surprised to find i really enjoyed this new menu! the waffles were just heaven, i had to hold myself back from eating it all (as a food blogger if i ate everything i would be very unwell). but the zucchini and pea fritters were delicious, hard to describe by get it with bacon if you can!

turning point offers a compelling option to indulge in the weekend lazy brunch ritual.

another stunning venture by the undercover retail group, the space formerly occupied by hawk and hunter has received a beautiful makeover. the new space is bright and airy with light blonde timber furnishings and touches of greenery.

somehow allowed us to make a booking for ny day, when they weren’t even open. drove an hour only to find out they were closed. not impressed

first impression: the staff are very efficient with the seating and taking the coffee orders allowing us to contemplate on their very inventive dishes on the menu. the first coffee came pretty quickly and full of wow with lots of aaaaah mixed with it.

it’s a modern but noisy restaurant. perhaps line the ceiling with acoustic tiles to reduce the reverberations. i thought i had gone blind in the toilet with the black finished surfaces.

brunch was as expected, classy and well presented.

overall impression 4.1

great plant based options! loved the light filled space & friendly service. especially impressed with the chunky haloumi that comes as an optional extra al- drool!

nice vibrant coffee shop in ripponlea. great coffee, good breakfast options. service was slow but overall nothing wrong with this place. worth a visit if you are in the area.