The Glass Den is known for bringing pretty brunches to the north, and now their sister cafe, The Butler’s Den, has brought some of that magic southside to Elwood beach.

The menu has an underlying Asian touch, featuring dishes like tonkatsu burgers, and trout with takoyaki and kewpie. Their take on the Eggs Benedict is the Denny Benny. Tempura soft-shell crab, pickled daikon and ginger, asparagus and poached eggs sit on top of beetroot English muffin, all drizzled in turmeric hollandaise. Little piles of green-coloured sand-like cheese look quite unusual, maybe even a little intimidating, but are incredibly delicious.

The Ramen, also coloured with beetroot, comes with prawn tempura, enoki, asparagus, pickled daikon, a soft boiled egg and seaweed chips. The miso tare is clean-tasting and flavoursome.

The sweet plates are amongst The Butler’s Den’s most eye-catching dishes. The Oreo Waffle is the crisp and puffy Hong Kong type. Berry soil, Oreo ice cream, strawberries, oreo bites and pieces of citrus meringue serve as the accompaniments, but I’m not too sure about how well the citrus sauce matches with the other ingredients.

The decadence of The Roti Stack pays off in flavour. The two thick and crispy roti ‘hotcake’ fritters are arranged in alternating layers with brownie and banana pieces. Housemade cookies and cream ice cream and Persian chocolate fairy floss complete the structure. Additional brownie pieces, strawberries, matcha soil and hazelnuts encircle the stack, and burnt milk sauce is made available for pouring. It’s a rich dish that’s definitely worth trying, though perhaps to share.

It might be difficult to get efficient service sitting outside, but the bright and colourful dishes at The Butler’s Den are certainly both visually striking and toothsome.

The Butler’s Den
63B Ormond Esplanade
Elwood, VIC, 3184
(03) 9531 7788
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