The best Melbourne cafes for brunch: this week, Old Man Drew in Moonee Ponds

When Old Man Drew opened late last year, 300 people poured through its doors on day one, and it hasn’t stopped since.

Dorothy Leech’s family have owned the building since 1968, and it was run by her grandfather as Vic Drew’s Used Trucks. “He was a World War I veteran who fought in the Light Horse,” she says. “He was a man small in stature but big in personality.”

Her dad Bill took over the business and, when he passed away three years ago, the family was adamant the building remain intact. “We didn’t want it developed or knocked down,” Leech says. “We didn’t want that to be the end of the story.”

Leech transformed the hoarder’s paradise. “It was full of old truck parts,” she says. “One hundred and 50 tonnes of scrap, 14,000 hubcaps, and truckloads of nuts and bolts.”

Each room has been redesigned and reimagined, turned into an arty, maximalist, collectors’ haven. Yesteryear contraptions sit alongside handmade produce.

The “winter garden” is a huge, high-ceilinged space with giant hanging baskets of faux fernery and a wall of vintage mirrors, nearly all from the family.

Out back is a Garden of Eden-style courtyard, chockers with blooms, cherubic sculptures, a bathtub-turned water garden, topiary conifers shaped into spirals, and mismatched tables sheltered by retro umbrellas. A 1940 Bedford remains in the kitchen garden, now resplendent with produce.

Leech says her “furry baby is a very spoilt chihuahua”, so water bowls are dotted throughout the garden, she’s ordered dog beds for winter so four-legged guests won’t have to lie on cold concrete, and dog biscuits are on the chefs’ prep list.

The menu is loaded with easy-pleasers of classic egg brekkies, sangers (such as chicken and brie),and meal-sized salads, including a Greek with fall-apart, slow-cooked saltbush lamb.

Lunch is light on the vego front, with only a fab roast pumpkin, kale and quinoa number, but friendly staff happily ditch the meat if requested.

The pie is a ripper, topped with house-made flaky puff pastry, a sturdy shortcrust base, and a filling that changes. Do you want hand-cut chips with that? Yep! A mini bowl of crunchy kipflers is a goer, although the petal garnish is overkill.

Milkshakes get the small child stamp of approval, green smoothies are a power-packed nutrient boost of kale and more, and two-bite lamingtons are great as a tiny treat or part of a high tea.

“We’re loving it,” Leech says, and you can tell. Old Man Drew is a labour of love and the result is utterly charming.

House blend The full-bodied, chocolaty Five Senses Darkhorse, made from Colombian and Guatemalan beans. Coffee is strong and well made at Old Man Drew.

Must-have Beef pie, with its housemade puff pastry top and sturdy shortcrust bottom, and a slice of creamy chocolate sponge for afters.

Old Man Drew ● 359-361 Mount Alexander Road, Ascot Vale ● oldmandrewcafe.com.au