Melbourne Cafe Reviews

Daley at Chimmy’s
276-278 Park St
South Melbourne

Public transport: Jump on a No. 1 South Melbourne Tram (comes from East Coburg via city/Swanston St) and get off at Stop 25 in South Melbourne. You are in Park St and close to Daley at Chimmy’s.

Large open space, high ceiling supported by massive riveted girders painted maroon. We’re here on a Sunday afternoon and only two others are joined with us. White-painted walls with a large archway. Out on the street, a wide verandah. All breads, cakes, pastries and pies are made on premises. This used to be an à la carte restaurant which is now closed. The wine list remains as a remnant. 2000 Blue Pyrenees Sparkling Brut $36, ’04 Xanadu Semillon/Sauv Blanc, Margeret River $30, ’02 Redfin Shiraz, Mt Barker $36. Breakfast from 7 a.m. every day. Various toasts available inc. fruit (bracketed as “Serious Toast”), Bircher Muesli and Yogurt $8. Soup $8, Quiche $6, Pies $5. No music. Recommended. Good tram access. Leave the car at home.

Feedings at Readings
253 Bay St
Port Melbourne
(03) 9681 9876

Public Transport: From Swantston St in the city, catch a Port Melbourne 109, jump off at Bridge St in Port Melbourne, Bay St is not far.

“I’ve missed really good coffee.” I’ve just sat in a corner back against the timber wall, and this is the first thing I hear from a woman who’s just about to depart. Good start. Soon our LBs arrive. Yep. Good. Nice strong genovese, correct fill. No meals for us today — just a coupla biscuits and a small lemon tart (excellent).

Above the kitchen, pleasant lime green high ceiling and the ceiling above me is pink. Its a Saturday morning and it’s quite, relaxed; people come and go, tables at the ready — nothing like the frenetic pace that seems to have taken over the weekend Brunswick scene lately.

The caf and the bookshop blend well. The caf has nooks, hidden corners. All the food — biscuits, cakes, wraps, stuffed rolls — look inviting. Bentwood chairs, gleaming wood. It’s a caf that combines space and intimacy.

I’d like to sit and muse, but the books and the Quarterly Essay I know await me on the shelves. I find the clientele interesting — certainly book-lovers without being bookish. There’s interesting-sounding wines by the bottle and the glass, wines whose names are unfamiliar to me. Also local and imported beers. These are listed on black boards and on discreet little printed lists nest to the tables.

Good spot. We’ll be back.

Sweethearts Cafe
263 Coventry St
South Melbourne

Good Genovese coffee. Cookies $2.50, biscotti $1.80, muesli slice $3.00. Off yellow walls, bentwood chairs, grey blue carpet, north facing, banquette, Arkley print. Shuts at 3. Soup $7.50. Toasted foccacia $13. Tables on pavement. A girl talks on her mobile, fag in hand. Two bottles of Mt Franklin mineral water. No “help yourself” water. You have to ask.

I like this place. I sat at a sun-filled table and gazed out on Coventry St. But closing at 3? Too early.

Laurent Patisserie
109 Dundas Place
Albert Park
03-9690 4700

I sit at a little round table of faux granite. Bentwood chair. The easy chairs by the windows are prized. When one becomes vacant, people pounce. It all seems a long way from Sadr City, Kabul (or the cafes of Brunswick for that matter.) Here, the crowd is well-heeled, quite genteel and there’s not a soul reading Crime and Punishment or belting out words on a laptop. A big brown canvas awning hangs out protectively and welcomingly over Dundas Place.

A cluster of red and white cane chairs on the wide pavement. From inside, big windows and the glass front door offer up fine views of the passing parade. No-one seems in a hurry here. No-one appears anxious or tense. The standard Laurent fare displays itself prettily in the display cases — croissants, Danish, meringues, apple-puffs, escargots, donuts. Loaves of bread for purchase. Cakes in the window. Water in silver jugs — help yourself. More expensive tempters like a green “Mirage” or a wicked chocolate “Christine” are up the back. (Ah, first mobile-caller in an hour, but he keeps it short and muted.)

Good coffee (Monte). My long black is a centimetre too full but I don’t mind. Some of the great lb’s in this town are shorts anywhere else.

Do cafe-haunters invade foreign territory all that often? Probably not. Hard to imagine any of the crowd here, at Ray, in Victoria St. It’s mid afternoon in winter. A glorious soft sun floods the windows, illuminating floor and table surface. An “02” tram comes into view. Why are there no spare parking places? Come on guys — walk here or catch the tram. It’s the land of big white dogs.

Feedback Cafe
31 Ballarat St
Yarraville 3013
(03) 9689 1955

Public Transport: Brilliant. 2 min walk from Yarraville Station.

I sit at a bright red laminex table rimmed with aluminium. It has 5 brothers and sisters, a larger green laminex table and a laminex bench with high chairs fronting Ballarat St. There are touches of corrugated iron, a clean concrete floor, soft yellow wall (replete with a birdie on a bush inscription) plus a good stack of papers and mags.

My long black is filled to the correct depth, good crema but a tad cool. Water is available. Music is soft, sometimes barely noticeable. This is more a lunch place than a cake and coffee nook so we find organic fruit toast, sourdough bread, satay burgers, spanikopita, lentil dahl and falafels as standard fare. Service is friendly.

A few outdoor tables on the pavement. A couple of slow fans hanging from the pine ceiling. An old Wega coffee machine, Genovese coffee, a chunky vase with big stalky yellow flowers, some still in bud. Artworks for sale grace a wall.

Breadworks
Crn Dundee Rd and Bardstown Rd
Louisville
Kentucky
USA

This is a cosy little nook in suburban Lousiville. There are racks of bagels, croissants and cakes, and up the back, rows of different breads. We are at a window table looking out to the busy Bardstown Rd. Inside the window is a wooden ledge on which crouch piles of free papers and flyers (e.g. 11th Belknap Neighbourhood Fall Festival). Whilst we were there, a group of four were discussing the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Here the coffees are graded Small/Medium/Large according to the number of shots. I chose a medium, i.e. a two-shot espresso. Good flavour, no crema. All the coffee is “Equal Exchange” i.e. fair trade coffee. These places that use fair trade coffee are evident throughout the USA and Canada.

I had a cinnamon scone which was quite large and heavy. Pleasant to eat, but not much style or class.

$6.78 for two coffees and the cake. Comestibles and coffee are cheaper in the States than Australia. There is no “service” in the states. You wait and collect your coffee and cake. Most stuff comes in paper cups so you need to ask if it can be served in a ceramic cup.

Trieste Caffe
601 Vallejo St
North Beach
San Francisco
USA

Round tables with mosaic tops. Cool intellectual/music type crowd. One or two laptops. No music. Very quiet, laid-back. Has an old 1950′s feel – the SF equivalent to Pellegrinis. Soft lighting. Welcoming. No attitude. As soon as you enter you feel welcome. People come and go regularly. You could hang but 30 minutes would seem fine. Tables and chairs outdoors on the pavement.

A long black is called an Americano as I believe they’re called in Italy. Single shot, little crema, but good flavour. Right temperature.

We had a marzipan croissant. Only cakes are available after 3 pm. Food is clearly fresh each day.

You queue then request you order. You wait and pay at the counter. Americano $2.50, Cappuccino $2.50. Croissant $3.00. (US $)

Coffee to the People
1206 Masonic Ave
Haight Ashbury
San Fransico CA 94117
USA

Very cool, laidback, spacious. Small circular wooden tables painted pink. Comfy lounges in alcove. Orange and pink walls. Olive ceiling. Light floods in during the summer afternoon. People sit at laptops – one guy writes in a notebook. A sign is set in our table, “Not in our name. No war on Iraq. No war on the world.” Other signs on walls – “Children should be seen and heard and believed,” “Little by little one walks far,” “It is only to the individual a soul is given.”

I had a short black, $1.50. All coffees come in “small” (12 oz) “medium” (16 oz) or “large” (20 oz) and priced accordingly. Only fair trade coffee is used. My s.b. was strong in flavour, good crema, good temperature.

Only had a choc chip cookie for $1.50. This was large, soft, fresh and good val. Snacks were also available, but we only came for a coffee.

You order and pay at the counter. You collect your own food and beverage. Costs as above. Excellent value.