The High Horse

The High Horse is a modern, light-filled cafe in Officer's Timbertop estate, open seven days for breakfast and lunch, and it handles dogs better than most. The outdoor table area welcomes dogs outright, water bowls are on hand, and a free on-site car park means arriving with a dog in the car is painless.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the outdoor tables rather than inside the dining room. Water bowls are provided, so hydration is sorted, and you just need to keep your dog leashed and settled close to your table. The cafe is popular and the outdoor area can fill on weekends, so a dog that stays calm under the table is the right fit. If you are on your own, one trip inside to order is all it takes.

Worth knowing

The kitchen runs a solid all-day menu: chilli scrambled eggs and toasties get repeat orders, alongside club sandwiches, a schnitzel burger, a buddha bowl and homemade Belgian waffles. Coffee and the friendly service come up consistently from locals, which is half the reason the weekend tables go early.

Pepsi: weekday mid-morning is the sweet spot. Weekends fill up, and a busy deck is hard work for a dog still learning to settle.

Getting there and parking

The cafe sits at 4 Cotswold Crescent in the Timbertop estate, with a free on-site car park out front. Hours run from 6am on weekdays, a genuinely early start if you want to pair it with a first-thing walk, and from 8am on weekends, with the kitchen closing at 2pm weekdays and 3pm on weekends.

Close by with the dogs

For a proper leg-stretch, Onyx Crescent Fenced Dog Park is a short drive away, or stick to the estate's residential paths for an on-lead wander. Further afield, Nancy Eatery in Pakenham and Daydreamers Cafe in Beaconsfield are both worth the drive, and the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail makes a good long walk to earn the brunch.

More options are on the Victoria dog friendly cafes guide and the Officer destination page.