Hong Kong Central

Hong Kong Central is a cha chaan teng, a Hong Kong-style cafe, in the Eat Street precinct at Burwood Brickworks, and it is a genuinely different answer to the usual brunch menu. Baked pork chop rice, curry beef brisket on rice, chow fun and sweet and sour pork sit beside pineapple buns, milk tea and yuen yeung, and reviewers consistently call the staff welcoming. The outdoor tables open straight onto the Brickworks plaza, one of the more dog-tolerant dining precincts in Melbourne's east.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the undercover outdoor tables in the Eat Street area on a lead. Indoors stays people-only, as with most food venues in the centre. There is no dedicated pet menu here specifically, but water bowls are commonly out at venues along Eat Street; bring a portable bowl as backup on hot days. The wider Brickworks plaza is dog friendly for a wander before or after you eat.

Worth knowing

Hours run 10:30am to 8:30pm Monday to Thursday, to 9:30pm Friday and Saturday and to 9pm Sunday, so it works for early dinners as well as lunch. The room is roomy enough for prams, and service is counter-casual rather than long-sit. If you want the full Bricksworks experience, time your visit for a weekend market morning.

Getting there and parking

Find it at Shop 13, 70 Middleborough Road, Burwood East, inside Burwood Brickworks. Parking on site is free, including the rooftop level, and the precinct is flat and stroller friendly from the car park to the plaza.

Close by with the dogs

For a proper walk either side of lunch, the Holland Gully Dog Off Leash Area is in the same suburb and the Gardiners Creek Reserve Dog Off Leash Area runs along the creek a short drive north. Spizzico Gourmet Deli and Cafe covers the Italian-deli end of the same suburb.

More options are on the VIC dog friendly cafes guide and the Burwood East destination page.

Max: baked pork chop rice smells like a five-star feast from a foot away. Undercover tables mean we can sit here even when the Melbourne sky turns on us.