Ascot Food Store

Youngster Ascot Food Store is a fun little café hiding in the back streets of Moonee Ponds. Opened for just over a year and a half now it has made a name for itself as a neighbourhood gem and another reason to venture into the north western suburbs.
The café is a complete renovation of a former corner store and house and the new interior presents a modern yet slightly vintage design with the black tiled bar and counter and white tiled walls forming a sleek contrast with the added touch of some dark timber. Seating is a mixture of bar stools, a communal table, small tables and communal benches outside amongst large planter boxes.
The food menu is extravagant with a quite a mixture of styles of dishes offered by the dozen breakfast options and another dozen lunch options. Highlights include the Duck egg with toasted brioche, shiitake mushrooms and pecorino, Apple wood smoked ocean trout, Confit lobster burger and the Ascot Fried Chicken.
On this visit I ordered the soft shell crab burger with gribiche sauce, poached tomatoes and watercress. The creamy, flavoursome sauce complimented the tender and juicy crab well and the brioche bun was toasted to give that nice crunch.
And then there was dessert. Ascot Food Store is known for its donuts. Injectable donuts. Try and picture an iced donut with a syringe full of suave sticking out where the hole would be. Flavours vary day to day with usually a small selection on offer, on this visit I had mango, lychee and lime. It’s a great concept with a good flavour combination, but you need to be a bit careful with the squeezing the syringe otherwise you will end up with sauce all over your hands.
Coffee is from St Ali with a blend and single origin options available as espresso, filter and cold drip. Hot chocolate from Mork and tea from Storm in a Teacup is also on offer.
There is always a sense of adventure when you find a café in the backstreets of the suburbs, although there is a tram route running out the front, and Ascot Food Store is well worth the short trek.

The first thing most people tell you about Ascot Food Store is that you MUST TRY THEIR DOUGHNUTS! Well I’m here to reinforce that message. These doughnuts are soft, delicious and come with a syringe filled with flavoured creams to inject into the doughnut.
The café is located on a suburban side street so is more of a destination café than one you would accidentally walk past. We like sitting at the large street facing communist tables outside though there is plenty of space inside too.
The menu is pretty big and features lots of burgers (brioche buns!). Lots of vegetarian options are available too. The milkshakes are pretty special: salted caramel or the not-​on-​the-​menu-​special pins colada! Coffee is by st Ali and is poured well. This is a nice café and I would happily go out of my way to visit it again.

Quite disappointed on my first experience after travelling all the way out to try the food here. Don’t think that I will be back anytime soon.
Made the journey all the way from across town to Moonee Ponds to try the donuts here which had looked amazing. We got there around 12pm and were seated outside. Not sure if our seating choice was the reason for why the wait staff took quite long (15 mins) to notice us waiting for our order to be taken. But when the waitress did finally came around, I asked for the 62 degree eggs while both of my friends had ordered a lobster and a crab burger. I also asked the waitress what were the donut flavours that they had that day and she said that she would go check and get back to me. She then came back with glasses for everyone at the table, but no water.
After an even longer wait for our food (and water), I was wondering about the donuts so my friend and I made our way to ask at the front counter. Just as we got there, the couple in front of us had just left with a bag in their hand. After asking the guy about the donuts, he said that they had just sold the last ones to the couple that had just left. This was quite disappointing to hear as we had come out all the way for them specifically — and the waitress never got back to me like she said so we missed out on them in the end
At least their 62 degree eggs were nice, but my friends were still really hungry from their burgers that had costed $ 19 and $ 16 respectively? This was probably the first and only disappointing brunching experience that I’ve ever had in Melbourne so far. So it’s safe to say that I wouldn’t be back here for quite a while.

Nice food but a little small on the serving size considering the price. Tried it once but tbh probably won’t visit again.

Food great, our waitress had a grace and smile that helped us deal with the kitchen delays. Good coffee, great burgers and donuts special.

Poor service. Poor attitude. If going to have such a large seating capacity ensure enough staff to cover.
Not cool

I still haven’t been for lunch (slack I know considering I only work down the road), but breakfast is divine. As is the chocolate shake made with soy and ice to give poor old me a mostly dairy free option.
Best breakfast spot by far in the area, but pity the service is so slow. Even when there’s only 2 or 3 tables dining in (a lot of their trade is from take away coffees), everything from ordering to getting your food seems to take ages.
Fun Fact — this used to be a milk bar, and they’ve done a great job with the 60’s esque design.

Went here again and loved it! Still as delicious as ever.
This time I tried the 62 degree egg with pickled truffle, cheese, chives and brioche soldiers– stand out dish for me. It was not only pretty to look out but amazing to eat. Truffle goes so well with gooey egg and buttery brioche!
I also tried a different flavour of milkshake this time round– white chocolate and coffee. It was super nice– a frothy white choc mocha!
Heads up though– this place is expensive– you will be paying around the 20 dollar mark for breakfast but I think the experience is worth it.

We’ve driven past this place hundreds of times, always gawking out our windows wondering what it’s like. Finally we made our way here for a late lunch and WOW were we ashamed of not coming here sooner!
We wandered in around 1:30 on a Saturday and were seated immediately. Outside was already full but there were a couple tables inside. The décor was beautiful. We just sat there admiring it all, I then spotted the snickers donuts on the counter and knew I’d be taking one of those away!
The menu was fantastic, one of those «oh jeez, what the hell do I order» ones. We settle on a carrot, ginger and orange juice, salted caramel milkshake, AFC (ascot fried chicken) and the soft shell crab burger.
Firstly, get the salted caramel milkshake. Just do please. Next the AFC was amazing! It came in a little take away box, reminiscent of the two piece feed. Crispy wings, brioche bun, potato and gravy and slaw. My partner keeps asking for more! My soft shell crab burger was dreamy. The bun so sweet and the crab so soft. It felt like a special treat lunch.
As we went up to pay I grabbed the donut to take away. The attendant squeezed the syringe of peanut ganache into my donut and handed it over in a little tub. It was delicious!
Can I go back yet?

My parents & I had a delicious brunch at Ascot Food Store. We each tried a different dish & had empty plates all round with no chance of sampling the others food!!!
The coffee was nice but arrived luke warm for my liking (I’ll be asking for extra hot next time), meaning that we had all well & truly drunk up before our food arrived.
We arrived around the same time as 20 others so service was perhaps a little slow & then rushed. That said the wait didn’t seem excessive & we were all left satisfied with sadly no room left to try one of the delicious looking doughnuts… just means I’ll have to go back :)

I’ve been meaning to come to AFS for so long and I finally found a free morning to pop in me see what all the fuss was about.
Sundays seem to be popular as it took roughly 25 mins for a table. I was okay with that because it seemed to be a day in which all the celebs and good looking people came out to brunch.
A few minutes after sitting I was presented with a delicious skinny latte that went down a treat.
The poached eggs with avocado and trio of mushrooms really hit the spot, as did the corn fritters and burger that my friends ate.
The atmosphere is busy, but lovely and really hits the hipster mark when you make your way to the register to pay (see photo!). All in all, a nice dining experience and is be happy to go back :)

Went on their first day since I work in the area and was pretty impressed. I had a soft shell crab burger and the person I went with had a Royale with cheese (cheeseburger). Both were very well put together and tasted great. The kitchen was running like it had been around for a while and the coffee was at little weird but in a very good way.
I have been back about 12 times since and each time as been amazing. Top notch. Keep an eye out for their specials (currently KFC rip off meal which is awesome)

Trying too hard… Ordered the corn fritters and they tasted like dim sims. The menu is too complex and fancy for what they have to offer.

What a delight! Went to Ascot Food Store for the doughnuts, left with a belly full of brunch-​esque goodness.
For me it’s a great location. Nice set out and comfy atmosphere.
The menu was interesting with plenty of choice. Definitely give the eggs benny with pork belly a go. And why not get some pork belly on the side, it’s worth it.
The only let down really was the coffee and hot chocolate. Just not quite up there with other places around town.
This may just become my local!

Don’t think just do the doughnut. Eat all the delicious things.
The store has been lovingly renovated and is very hipster sleek.
I’m still terribly sad about the odd metallic tasting coffee. I’ve tried twice now and each time I’ve walked away full of hope and dreams. Only to be shattered by odd mysteriously bizarre coffee.
love the friendly staff and the row of special kettles for the great tea on offer.

Was a regular weekly customer since they open. Although serving sizes are pretty small the taste is amazing. Quality over quantity! So don’t be surprised at the size of your burger or the side of pork belly!
Love their soft shell crab burger. Hope they keep that on the menu ongoing as I recall the workers there asking for feedback whether it was ok or not, also my work colleagues thought the concept of soft shell crab in a burger was odd. So keep it on the menu guys! As the place becomes more well known it gets more busier so be wary during weekends and lunch rush on weekdays.
Nice ambience, pretty hipster, lovely place to dine in. A nice find in the area