Asuka N.
Yelp
We weren't quite sure if we wanted to make the trek out from CBD to Two Birds One Stone for brunch, but we decided to go for it after giving the reviews one more glance. We showed up a little on the later side, relatively speaking - around 9:30 in the morning or so - and we got lucky and were able to snag a couple of seats at the coffee bar off to the side. The space is airy, and even though there's not much floor space, there are booths, tables, and a good utilization of every available countertop to make sure as many folks can get seated. There are also a few spots outside, from what I could tell, but given it had just stopped raining and was a bit overcast, I was glad we made it inside. We had our orders taken promptly, and the food came out relatively quickly as well, so no complaints there. I ended up going with an orange juice, and although it was fresh-squeezed, I was a bit puzzled as to why it was served with ice - I have usually only encountered that with bottled juice from concentrate in Europe previously. That said, it mainly meant that I had to drink it quicker before it diluted the flavor.
The food itself, to no surprise, was absolutely fantastic here. The famed ricotta pancakes are some of the best I've had, largely because despite the ricotta, the pancakes are fluffy (as evidenced by their height) and not as dense as other iterations I have had. They did reduce the number of pancakes to two from three, but, to be honest, their reasoning (and my experience here now) made sense - no one would likely finish the third pancake as it is quite filling. All of the fruit it is served with is delicious, but the topper (literally and figuratively) is the mascarpone, which adds a nice creaminess and soaks into the spongelike pancakes. My wife went with the pork belly, which was incredibly delicious and had the perfect balance of crispness and succulence. I really enjoyed the cauliflower purée as well; that added a nice earthiness to contrast against the richness of the pork. We also ordered an unnecessary side of bacon, and to be honest, that was nothing to write home about - it was a little undercooked and definitely the weakest part of the entire meal.
There's no doubt that whenever I make it back, I'd love to eat breakfast or brunch here again. Both mains we had were phenomenal, and there were so many other items listed (such as the twice-cooked French toast) that made me wish I had another day to come back. Even if it's not in the heart of downtown Melbourne, it is worth the trip out to eat here.