Bayside locals are lucky to have Brighton Schoolhouse on their doorstep. For everyone else, the Brighton kid-friendly cafe is worth the drive!

It ticks all the boxes for both adults who are snobs about food and coffee snob (me) and fun-loving kids (Lady AB and Baby 2.0 who are generally happy with a babycino and toast).

Brighton Schoolhouse sits in the most stunning Downtown Abbey-esque surroundings, with manicured lawns and a round turning circle next to the church (though the New Street high street frontage is less picturesque).

The heritage listed stone building was built in 1842 and was an original schoolhouse. The decor retains the cathedral vaults and some monastic boarding school dining-room elements such as the long communal tables and round light fittings.

Old school chairs and desks still abound and there’s even some school lockers in one corner, but don’t worry you won’t feel like you’re back in Year 5 – they’ve been hipster-fied it with greenery, a long banquette, high stools and some fun murals.

The all day breakfast and lunch menu focuses on healthy, seasonal and sustainable dishes all named with eye-rolling schoolhouse puns.

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I order Ja’mie: Private School Girl’s Heirloom Tomatoes ($18.50). I am astonished by the size of the dish – there are probably a dozen tomatoes atop two slices of crusty olive bread slathered with avocado puree, a few dabs of ricotta and basil pesto and a perfectly poached egg wobbling to one side. I love the addition of popped grains to add textural crunch to an otherwise simple dish.

We also share Screech’s Saved by the Bell Pancakes ($18.50). It’s a pretty dish with two fat raspberry studded buttermilk pancakes, a huge ball of white chocolate ice cream, a hairdo of pistachio fairy floss and again I love the maple and ginger crumble for the crunch.

Brighton Schoolhouse source their Schoolhouse-only seasonal espresso blend from St Ali and they use premium fresh milk from St David Dairy so I’d expect the end product to be good.

What Brighton Schoolhouse does really well is cater for children. This starts at the entrance, where you’re directed to ramp access round the back if you have a wheelchair or a pram. There’s plenty of room for prams inside or in the front paved courtyard plus multiple high chairs available.

The short children’s menu is printed on colouring sheets that feature the cafe’s resident wire statues – Elle Phante the elephant, Giroughy the giraffe and Tex Walker the dinosaur. A tub of colouring pencils comes promptly with the menu.

The babycinos come with a wodge of marshmallow and might have even been free as they didn’t appear on our bill, either deliberately or by accident.

For indoors entertainment there’s also a large chalkboard for teacher games and a forage in the basket leads to the discovery of super hero figurines!

If the weather’s good then head outside to the schoolyard playground, with pre-loved toys, a slide, see-saw, double swing and sandpit. It’s even fenced, hallelujah!

Note that the playground has a dirt ground so gumboots are a good option, whatever the weather.

The child-friendly facilities continue with a disabled toilet with a change table inside.

I really enjoy my delicious and relaxed breakfast at Brighton Schoolhouse and am surprised it isn’t busier with prams and kids early on a weekend morning – maybe the bad weather? The menu is quite inventive, with twists on the standard-issue cafe offerings. Most dishes nudge close to the $20 mark but the serving sizes are huge and can easily be shared. And Lady AB and Baby 2.0 love it a lot!

Click here for more child-friendly cafes with outdoor play areas.

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HOT Tips:

• pram access;
• high chairs;
• disabled toilet with change table;
• children’s menu;
• standard menu suitable for kids;
• toys and colouring-in; and
• fenced playground.

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Brighton Schoolhouse 15 St Andrews St Brighton (03) 9593 3129

Mon – Fri: 7:30am-4pm

Sat – Sun: 7:30am-4:30pm