A Japanese-Inspired Cafe in Melbourne: The Story Behind Tomo’s Little Collins

Melbourne has always had a café culture of its own.

From specialty coffee and big breakfasts to the small cafés tucked around the city’s laneways, there is something particularly Melbourne about discovering a place, finding a favourite spot and coming back again.

At the same time, Japanese food and flavours have become increasingly familiar across Melbourne. Matcha, miso, karaage and Japanese-style rice bowls now sit comfortably alongside the coffee, eggs and brunch dishes the city is known for.

Some people might call this Japanese fusion.

At Tomo’s Little Collins, we think about it a little more simply.

We’re a Melbourne café with Japanese influence. Sometimes that influence is obvious. Sometimes it’s just a small detail. And sometimes a good café classic is perfectly fine exactly as it is.

First, What Does Tomo’s Little Collins Mean?

There’s a simple story behind our name.

Tomo — とも — means “friend” in Japanese.

It’s also the Japanese word you’ll see beneath the Tomo’s name in our logo.

When we opened Tomo’s, we wanted to create a friendly and welcoming café — somewhere people could meet over breakfast, catch up over lunch or simply stop by for their morning coffee.

“Little Collins” comes from where we are.

Our location on Little Collins Street is part of our identity, and we wanted the name to make the café easy to remember and reference.

Together, that became Tomo’s Little Collins.

Tomo means friend. Little Collins is where you’ll find us. And together, that’s Tomo’s Little Collins.

A Melbourne Cafe First, With Japanese Influence

We’ve never thought being a Japanese-inspired café means every dish needs miso, matcha or another Japanese ingredient added to it.

Melbourne café culture is very much the foundation of what we do.

You’ll find familiar breakfasts, French Toast, Eggs Benedict, toasties and Melbourne-roasted specialty coffee on our menu. Alongside them are Japanese-style lunch bowls, matcha and dishes where Japanese ingredients provide a subtle change to something familiar.

For us, the two don’t have to compete.

Some dishes lean more Japanese. Some remain unmistakably Melbourne. And sometimes the most interesting food sits somewhere in between.

Sometimes, It’s Just One Small Detail

Our Pantry Breakfast is a good example.

At heart, it’s a classic Melbourne big breakfast: free-range eggs cooked your way, seared streaky bacon, breakfast sausages, miso mushrooms, baby spinach, mini truss tomatoes, a crispy hash brown and buttered sourdough toast.

The Japanese influence isn’t there to transform the whole plate. It appears in our mushrooms, where we combine Swiss brown, flat and cup mushrooms with butter and miso, adding another layer of savoury flavour to a familiar breakfast favourite.

That’s enough.

The Pantry Breakfast isn’t about reinventing the big breakfast. It’s about taking familiar breakfast favourites and preparing each one with a little more care.

And Sometimes, It Doesn’t Need a Japanese Twist at All

Our Signature French Toast is another good example — for almost the opposite reason.

We use soft white brioche, dipped in our house mixture only when we’re ready to cook it, then pan-seared with butter. It’s served with fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, at least half a fresh banana, Cointreau cream and pure Canadian maple syrup.

There’s no miso caramel. No matcha sauce. No Japanese ingredient added simply so we can call it fusion.

It’s just our version of a breakfast classic.

Because being a café with Japanese influence doesn’t mean everything needs to taste Japanese.

Sometimes the best thing you can do with something familiar is simply prepare it with a little more care.

Where the Japanese Side of Tomo’s Comes Through

By lunchtime, our Japanese influence becomes much easier to see.

Our Japanese-style lunch bowls have become an important part of what we do, with dishes such as Chicken Karaage, Grilled Teriyaki Salmon and Chicken Yakitori, served with rice, vegetables and house-prepared sauces.

They’re particularly suited to weekday lunch in the Melbourne CBD: familiar, satisfying and easy to enjoy without turning lunch into a long occasion.

That combination of breakfast and lunch also means Tomo’s changes character through the day.

The morning might begin with coffee, eggs and French Toast. By midday, karaage and Japanese-style rice bowls are coming out of the kitchen.

We like having both.

Melbourne Coffee Meets Matcha

Perhaps nowhere is the meeting of Melbourne and Japan more obvious than in our drinks.

Coffee is fundamental to Melbourne café culture, and it’s fundamental to Tomo’s too. Our house coffee is roasted here in Melbourne by Undercover Roasters.

Alongside it, we serve ceremonial-grade matcha sourced from Uji, Kyoto, a place with a long association with Japanese tea.

We don’t think one needs to replace the other.

Some of our regulars come in for their morning flat white. Others come specifically for matcha. Plenty enjoy both.

In its own small way, that probably says quite a lot about Tomo’s.

A Cafe Among Melbourne’s Laneways

Location is an important part of our story too.

You’ll find us at 382 Little Collins Street, close to McKillop Street and surrounded by the offices, shops and laneways that give this part of Melbourne CBD its character.

Melbourne’s laneway café culture has always been partly about discovery. The city rewards people who look beyond the biggest streets and find the smaller places tucked into the blocks between them.

Some guests discover Tomo’s while searching for breakfast or brunch in Melbourne CBD. Some work nearby and come in for coffee or lunch. Others find us while exploring Melbourne’s laneways or arrive because a friend told them about us.

Perhaps that’s appropriate for a café called Tomo’s.

And if you’re searching for a hidden gem café in Melbourne CBD, we’d rather let you decide whether Tomo’s deserves that description.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Tomo’s mean?

Tomo — とも — means “friend” in Japanese. The word also appears in Japanese beneath the Tomo’s name in our logo. “Little Collins” refers to our location on Little Collins Street in Melbourne CBD, giving the café its location identity.

Is Tomo’s Little Collins a Japanese cafe?

We describe Tomo’s as a Melbourne café with Japanese influence rather than a traditional Japanese café. Our menu combines familiar Melbourne breakfast and brunch dishes with Japanese-style lunch bowls, matcha and Japanese ingredients where they naturally complement a dish.

Where is Tomo’s Little Collins?

Tomo’s is at 382 Little Collins Street in Melbourne CBD, close to McKillop Street and Melbourne’s network of CBD laneways.

Does everything at Tomo’s have Japanese flavours?

No — deliberately so. Some dishes have a clear Japanese influence, while others are café classics. Our Pantry Breakfast, for example, includes buttery miso mushrooms, while our Signature French Toast doesn’t need a Japanese twist at all.

Does Tomo’s serve Japanese-style lunch?

Yes. Our lunch menu includes Japanese-style rice bowls such as Chicken Karaage, Grilled Teriyaki Salmon and Chicken Yakitori, alongside other rotating and seasonal options.

Does Tomo’s serve coffee and matcha?

Yes. We serve Melbourne-roasted specialty coffee alongside ceremonial-grade matcha sourced from Uji, Kyoto.

Is Tomo’s a laneway cafe?

Tomo’s is located on Little Collins Street close to McKillop Street, right among Melbourne CBD’s laneway precinct. We’re not literally inside a laneway, but we’re surrounded by the smaller streets and laneways that are such a distinctive part of Melbourne’s CBD café culture.

Is Tomo’s Little Collins a hidden gem in Melbourne CBD?

We’ll leave that one to our guests. We’re a café on Little Collins Street serving breakfast, brunch, specialty coffee, matcha and Japanese-style lunches. If you’ve discovered us while exploring Melbourne CBD and think you’ve found a hidden gem, we’re very happy with that.