When Tokyo Lamington opened in Sydney it was all about melding Japanese and Australian flavours. Its new Melbourne store in Carlton is adding Italian to the mix. 

Founder Eddie Stewart said it made sense to incorporate the area’s reputation for Italian cuisine. “Carlton is a really iconic part of Melbourne, it’s going through a nice transition, with lots of cool places opening up and it’s nice to be part of that,” he says.

“I think we’ve got to conform to where we are, there’s a rich Italian heritage in the area and we want to bring that local flavour to it.”

Expect to see a tiramisu lamington and meatball onigiri on the menu soon.

Stewart believes that Japanese and Italian cuisines work well together because of the strong umami thread linking them, from kombu to parmesan. “They’re two of the best countries to eat in and combining their food makes sense,” he says.

“It’s the strong umami thread that both countries do so well. Some of the best Italian I’ve had is in Japan, they really get Italian cooking.”

Related story: A specialty lamington chain dedicated to luxe lammos has opened in Sydney

While the focus of the menu is lamingtons, onigiri and pies, focaccia will also make an appearance. “Once we get up and running, we’ll do things like a lap cheong focaccia which is a Chinese sausage,” Stewart says.

Tokyo Lamington was a concept for Japan, but when Covid hit, Stewart opened in Sydney (where he’s based) in 2020, even though it had roots in Melbourne. “We first started here, we did a pop-up with Koko Black in 2020,” he says. 

“In June, we did another pop up with Lebajo and it really made us think there was a market for us.”

The concept centres around elevating the nostalgic lamington.

“Lamingtons are the perfect vehicle to explore flavours. It’s basically a sponge cake dipped in a flavour then dipped in another flavour. There’s a lot of different tastes in one bite,” Stewart says.

The options rotate constantly, with about 10 choices on offer. While you can always expect the three mainstays – OG, fairy bread and yuzu meringue – the rest are a lottery.

You could find mango sticky rice, a mix of coconut whipped cream, mango and purple rice sandwiched between vegan sponge, dipped in white chocolate sauce and coconut. Or the passionfruit and lemon myrtle lamington, filled with lemon myrtle passionfruit cream, dipped with white chocolate passionfruit sauce and coated with lemon myrtle and roasted coconut.

The menu also features pies – think Japanese chicken curry, beef rendang and vegan mapo tofu – alongside onigiri. The Japanese rice balls range from the classic mushroom kombu, which you can find at any Japanese convenience store, to Aussie bacon and egg, the bacon mixed through the rice, hiding an onsen egg.

Stewart is also introducing Carlton locals to Sydney’s popular Single O coffee roaster. “It’s hard because Melbourne is so fickle with coffee, but everyone wants to try it and we’ve had great feedback,” he says.

In addition to the classic caffeine orders, Stewart serves Japanese-inspired lattes including black sesame, matcha lavender and hojicha. He said the yuzu tonic has also been popular. “It’s yuzu juice and a shot of espresso topped up with tonic water. It’s a little sweet, a little tart and a great afternoon pick me up.” 

Tokyo Lamington
258 Elgin Street, Carlton VIC 3053
Daily, 7am-3pm
tokyolamington.com

Related story: 7 new lamington recipes that even nan will love