Pavlov’s Duck

Pavlov known for his salivating dog experiment would be proud to know that Pavlovs duck can have a similar effect on humans. Having heard of this place from a new friend in Melbourne, I quickly jumped on the Pavlov duck site and their menu had me salivating. Each dish is a fusion of Sri Lankan and western cuisine.
You walk into a bright airy homely feeling restaurant with interesting music, a lantern, brightly coloured chest of drawers, an open airy kitchen with interesting kitchen ware and portable stovetops (reminds me of my mums kitchen).
The service is friendly. The quality of food is amazing. The café is clean and the menu had a variety of options however portion sizes are tiny (unbelievably tiny) and as such the place seems over priced.
Between the three of us, we ordered the Lankan croissant, the chilli chicken curry with asian pretzel, egg hopper, matcha latte, mocha, and a cold brewed coffee.
The Lankan croissant is toasted or fried and one half is covered in some herby paste while the other half is plain. It is served with a boiled egg and a potato curry. The potato curry was infused and bursting with flavours. Not spicy but had the taste of Mustard seeds, coriander and some other spice.
The chilli chicken curry was just one chicken leg piece with very little gravy. The asian pretzel was sort of star shaped and was average tasting. I expected the milk pudding to be sweet but it was like overly cooked sticky rice that seemed to have a coconut flavour.
The egg hopper was nice and crispy and soft with a sunny side egg in the middle. You break off a bit of the hopper, dip it into the yolk, then the coconut sambol, the sweet onion relish and delicious homely tasting dhaal.
The mocha was deliciously chocolatey and had a smooth coffee flavour.
Definitely going back.

This Smith Street establishment has lots of potential but seems to just miss. The internal layout is awkward, the street seating lacks adequate sun shelter, and the entry way requires you wait to be seated, but then have to go to the depths of the building to order — like it’s set up for the convenience of the shop, not its customers.
The coffee is ok; I need to order a bounce shot to get adequate flavour. The menu is reasonable, but again he food itself is a bit hot and miss, depending on what you order. And be sure to order clearly; the less than focussed cashier managed to miss half my order this time round.
Big plus: Pavlovs is licenced, so on 27 degree days like today, a nice cold one can overcome a multitude of sins.

Had and amazing experience here. Where East meets west. Amazing breakfast that just wakes up your taste buds. I had the hoppers and you can have the opportunity of seeing them being cooked right in front of you.
Such a humble warm hearted place. Lots of soul

The layout and name of this café is super inviting while shopping on smith st, we couldn’t wait for lunch and to come here and try.
I had a chai which was an experience in itself and delish although we probably wouldn’t be back here for coffee.
The salads were all pretty great, especially the pav’s special I think it was called… the pulled pork a let down and the burger did not disappoint.
If we were down this way again I’d definitely come back for a salad or burger.

Cute relaxed place, had fun here yesterday morning with some girlfriends. Nice coffee great service and seemed pretty baby friendly too (toys). Will be back

This place is gorgeous! We stumbled accords it on our latest trip to Melbourne, gorgeous staff, the food was lovely, there was a lovely relaxed atmosphere in there. We had eggs and bacon on amazing sourdough bread. I would recommend this place to everyone!

Hop out of your sensibility into a pair of skinny, reproductive organ damaging jeans and waltz into Hipster-​Ville.
Pavlov’s Duck is the place to be to grab a hipster approved coffee before entertaining your inner capitalist and shopping your inheritance away on Smith Street.
The space is saturated in hipster cool. Warm, woody open space. The general vibe is warm and welcoming.
This is my early Sunday morning coffee before shopping stop. The latte is latte-​like and all kinds of Sunday morning goodness.

I’m surprised Pavlov’s Duck hasn’t yet been reviewed on Unilocal — it’s a cute little café, much like all the other cute cafes up and down Smith Street.
Airy and open, it stretches back. Pick a table near the window on one of their large tables to see the world go by (or rather, people interested in Smith Street’s discount shops walk past). The menu is what you’d expect to find in most cafes: smashed avo on toast, eggs benedict, and the like, complemented by some pretty awesome juice bottles with retro pin-​up girls on them. (My brunch companion was so entranced he took my bottle home!) Look out for the specials board to find some decently-​priced options.
One thing that sets it apart is that you can buy art prints and stationery at the front counter, which is a nice counterpart that I wish more cafes had.