They say home is where the heart is, and at Homm Dessert at Heart, it’s a place where traditional Thai flavours meet contemporary tastes and textures to deliver theatrical, charming and oh-so delicious modern desserts.
Melbourne’s obsession with Asian-style desserts shows no signs of slowing down. An industry that continues to develop, innovate and respond to consumer demands, dessert restaurants have been increasing in popularity in recent years.
Having found a home in Australia’s café capital, Melbourne, Homm continues to pride itself on its unique Thai fare and growing cult following.
At Homm, an inviting atmosphere, utmost service and generous servings is certainly part of what keeps customers coming back. While you may find that at the local cake store or ice-creamery, Homm delivers something beyond the traditional western dessert experience, and rather places a heavy emphasis on flavours and ingredients that are so visually alluring that unacquainted guests are intrigued to take a spoonful.
Having launched in early 2023 along La Trobe Street in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, Homm has successfully captured the hearts and stomachs of Melburnians and has excitingly opened TWO new outposts in Melbourne Central and Box Hill, with Box Hill being the brands first franchised store.
Founded by husband-and-wife duo Bass Sakdatorn and Proud Saithai, Co-Owned by ST Group [PappaRich, NeNe Chicken, Ippudo, Gong cha], Homm continues to grow from strength to strength with further plans for franchising expansion in Victoria and interstate.
“We’re so pleased to watch Homm grow and reach new customers across inner Melbourne. Our new stores offer the same menu of Thai-inspired flavour bombs, with the addition of a rotating specials to keep our cult-following growing. For us, expansion is about reaching new heights, reaching new customers and sharing with the community unique dessert experiences you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere,” says Homm founders Bass and Proud.
Bass and Proud are well travelled hospitality veterans with a strong ambition to showcase the very best of quality, made from scratch Thai desserts that draw inspiration from neighbours Singapore, Japan and Korea.
Having scaled the world in search of well-balanced desserts that satisfy even the sweetest of sweet tooths, Bass and Proud would yearn for the Thai sweet street classics they grew up enjoying in the tropical heat well into the early hours.
“Everyone is familiar with pad Thai, a zippy tom yum or spicy green chicken curry but Australians are far less acquainted with Thai desserts and sweets. We’re confident we’re putting Thai desserts on the map and we take great pleasure in doing so,” says Bass.
Taking tastebuds on a tour of Thailand, Homm intertwines the rich culinary heritage of Thailand’s street food culture with A-grade service and enchanting theatrics designed to tempt and delight food enthusiasts. The carefully curated menu showcases a range of traditional Asian desserts, each packed with sweetness and spiked with Thai flavours, offering an unparalleled sensory experience that doesn’t compromise on flavour, quality or service.
Everything on the menu at Homm are items the couple personally enjoy eating and inspires them to share their love for cuisine, flavour, culture and heritage.
“I think the pleasure of eating is partly about flavour but also heavily about texture and the visuals. We like to consider our desserts to be a little theatrical and interactive. It makes whatever’s on the plate far more desirable and in turn, delicious,” says Proud.
The menu flexes ample hot takes on staple Asian desserts including a Thai-twist on Korean bingsu featuring a shaved, Thai tea base topped with a choice of salted egg, Thai milk tea or taro.
Japanese Shokupan toast doused in caramelised butter, sugar cured coconut, Proud’s Kaya and aromatic toasted coconut crumble also makes an appearance, as well as a highly addictive and dip-worthy pandan Kaya served with steamed or buttered toasted Shokupan. A late-night classic found in Thailand, Proud’s Kaya is not to be missed!
A crowed favourite includes Homm’s mango sticky rice bingu. Think – Coconut milk snowflakes, syrup cured mango, home cooked sweet sticky rice, mango puree. This dish takes cues from Thailand’s famous mango sticky rice – a street food staple enjoyed roadside, well into the wee hours of the morning.
“We drew out mango and creamy sticky rise flavours, infusing it into Bingsu, to create a dessert that walks the line between a hot, sweet, sticky rice and iced old coconut milk bingsu,” says Proud.
In celebration of this expansion, Homm has also launch its new homemade Mochi Gelato menu exclusive to the Melbourne Central store; featuring soft and squishy mochi gelato flavours including Thai tea, salted kaya caramel, pineapple, Kati (authentic Thai coconut cream) and strawberry cheese pie.
With absolutely everything baked, brewed, preserved and simmered from scratch, all Homm menu items are made with love from local and Thai imported ingredients to create fluffy, flavourful treats worth the indulgence.