Melbourne Cafe Reviews

Bella Claire Gourmet House
28 Bank St
Port Fairy
Ph (03) 55681610

Large square date scones arrive on square white plates with two big triangles of butter in a small round jar. I ask for my strong l.b. and the girl says, ‘double shot?’ She asks the amount of water I want. Two-thirds fill I say. When the coffee lands it’s good. This place does lunches and sells gourmet goodies of all descriptions—biscuits, condiments, cheeses, jams—as well as Timboon icecream. A few tables out on the street, some inside the shop and a scattering out to the courtyard in the rear. I like it out here in a narrow breezeway with a rough scribbled wall on one side and a solid bluestone on the other. To the north I lift my gaze and see big columns swell in the sky. Two unseen persons recount tales of their childhood. Things aren’t cheap here in Port Fairy, but who cares? The service is amiable, time is ample, it’s early Feb 09 and kids and teachers now back in their shackles.

The Epicurean Delicatessen
79 Mitchell St
Bendigo
Ph (03) 5443 2699

Earlier in the morning I’d peered through the windows of this establishment and noticed a distinguished looking man of mature years at work on the coffee machine. After a succession of lukewarm efforts at other places, would my luck turn when I came back in the afternoon?

Why is it that invariably in country Victoria, the province of coffee-making is anybody’s job—kids, girls—with all the attendant horrors of general disinterest, lack of style, overfull cups, and dirty machines? But when I front in, it’s a girl at the machine. My l.b. is hot enough, but no crema and a flat texture.

At least my small humingbird cake is fine. Small selection of tarts, pastries, cakes and biscuits. Large selection of Italian meats and cheeses. Vivaldi and guitar music on the CD.

Strong plastic French-style chairs. A few tables and chairs outside on the pavement. There’s a courtyard at the rear, with four or five small olive trees in large pots. Coffee machines for sale. A warm wall of Tuscan red, large gilt-frame mirror. Photos of Paris & Venice in black and white.

No prices displayed—a worry. This is one of those places where you cop the glance on entering. There’s an air of aloofness and complacency here that disquiets me.

Lyn (left) and Teresa discuss a poem over a glass of wine

Submissions are now being sought for the CAFÉ POET PROGRAM. (Submission time has passed) The Australian Poetry Centre is seeking poets, in each Australian State or Territory, interested to sit as ‘poet-in-residence’ in a café in their capital city for a period of six months getting free tea or coffee while you write.

Please apply by emailing the Australian Poetry Centre with an expression of interest stating a) all your contact details, b) what you would get out of being the poet in residence, c) a clear personal objective focussing on what you would like to achieve with your poetry in the six months and d) a measurable public objective to benefit others, such as being prepared to give a reading at the end of it, or providing the cafe with a poem to display.

Deadlines for applications are Feb 20th, 2009.

For more details see the Australian Poetry Centre website (2009 Program—special opportunities) or call the office on (03) 9527 4063.

Dench Bakers
109 Scotchmer St
North Fitzroy
Ph 9486 3554

I’ve lobbed here with two companions, so it’s past the wall and into the kitchen and a seat for three at a bench of polished and painted wood in colours of red, blue white and yellow.

It’s early afternoon at this clearly popular place and many products have sold out—no escargots, fruit buns or croissants. So I settle for a small citrus tart of exquisite quality—rich, melting, syrupy. My l.b. is excellent.

Staff are polite, intelligent, courteous. Our glasses of water are filled as required. No fuss. There’s plenty of staff moving about the place. Music is soft.

Cooked breakfasts include poached/fried eggs on organic sourdough, cinnamon french toast and parsley, or scrambled eggs on brioche with oven roasted tomato. Patrons in for lunch are referred to the specials board—chef’s salad, tart of the day, egg and bacon pie with salad. There’s even take-home meals including dips and soups.

It strikes me that the ready, natural filling of the glasses is a sign: stay here, you don’t need to buy more, we like your company …

I’m putting Derrida aside for the moment and reading Carver. Beat this for an opener: ‘My marriage had just fallen apart. I couldn’t find a job. I had another girl. But she wasn’t in town. So I was at a bar …’

I ask the waitress if she’s heard of Raymond Carver. She hasn’t. I write Carver’s name on a slip of paper and make to give it to the waitress when we leave. But she’s on the ball—she shows me ‘Raymond Carver’ written on a serviette.

Vines Cafe & Bar
74 Barkly St
Ararat

Ph (03) 53521744
(Closed Wednesdays)

From The Age Good Food Guide 2007, ‘If only every Victorian town had an all purpose eatery and quaffery like this. Vines has the informal atmosphere of a great little breakfast spot but also feels special if you settle in for a serious evening meal.’

Initial feelings are rather less assuring. An interior door is unhinged and cranks open with difficulty. Banquettes are turned up at the edges. The place seems dusty.

But wait. The food is good and well-priced. Mine is a spanocopita for $12 with excellent salad. Delectable cakes. My standard l.b. has no crema in an over-the-limit fill.

There are two sections. The front, facing Barkly St. Those French cane chairs. Seems this place for mums and kids. Inside—tables and banquettes. Soft ochre walls and ceilings. And here’s the real treasure—perfect space. Tables not too close, not too far away. Never, in a cafe, have I seen before such perfection in this respect. I occupy a corner. I face across to the coffee machine. In another corner, ranks of wine.

Water at room temperature (a plus). Thick napkins. There’s a chalked sign that says, ‘All children running loose and unattended will be towed away and stored at the owner’s expense’. I fail to see any unattended children.

I’m here on the day after Obama’s inauguration. Auspicious. I feel expansive, relaxed, lazy. I grow into this place. It is good, despite the coffee. Service is well-paced. Music is very soft or non-exisitent. I have an hour before I return to the station and board the bus that will whisk me west. I plan that hour here.

Tin Pot Cafe
248 St Georges Rd
North Fitzroy
Ph 9481 5312

Your country reviewer finds herself caught in Melbourne some time between Xmas and New Year. She feels justified then, in penning a review in this august metropolis, turned as it is into a delightful country town for the holiday period. (A bit like Paris in August, one might say.) The mobs are dispersed to Rosebud, Portsea and Lorne, and cars are fewer. The wise are those who stay put. This is where the holiday is. Overwhelming choice becomes reasonable choice.

Window at Tin Pot

I’m in Tin Pit North Fitzroy, reached from the east-west walking/bike track from Nicholson St. It’s December 28, a warm and breezy Sunday arvo. The red walls, the right temperature, the sweeping curlicues on the pressed-metal ceiling, the metalrimmed laminex tables, the small groups, the couples, the lone readers and writers. What more is needed? I’m here for an l.b. and a small choc yo-yo. The long black is perfect—Genovese coffee, correct fill, correct crema, right heat, all productive of the perfect linger. A laid-back beat flows on the air. Trams trundle to and fro along St. Georges Rd, and in my view, any caf that has the luxury of trams is worth a visit. Piedemontes Supermarket is across the road, past two green and leafy oaks in the little square.

Prices are reasonable and promise value—soups, baguettes, pancakes and breakfast until 4 pm.

The people are leaving and so must I. Over the road at the pub, the pace too, seems slow. People sit outside in comfy chairs. Where to go? What to do? Nowhere and nothing are the answers.

Ludo Cafe
118 Queen St
Melbourne

I stumbled upon Ludo Cafe when visiting the shop next door. When you enter it has a sophisticated feel about it without being intimidating. Ludo is fabulous place for lunch or breakfast. They serve quality food and it is reasonably priced. It is also a pleasure to have table service in a cafe (makes a nice change). I love the menu especially the paninis and their daily soup and pasta specials are totally yummy. The coffee is great and it’s ground on the spot. I highly recommend this cafe-style restaurant and I noticed that they have been featured in the Herald Sun several times. They also sell wine by the glass. I highly recommend Ludo, it is my favourite Melbourne Cafe!

Each Peach
506 Lygon St
Brunswick East
Ph (03) 9383 4529

This is a pretty cafe, located at the top end of Lygon street in Brunswick East. Each Peach is a relatively new addition to this stretch of Lygon street which has become a thriving cafe zone. Though it can get busy here, I’ve come today at the sneaky time of 2:45 PM on a Tuesday whilst most people are working! Hence I can stretch out at the long pinewood table nearest the front window, read Kierkegaard’s diary and gaze out into the street.

There is a pleasant, warm and vibrant vibe here, in part due to the homely nature of the design and décor as well as the cheerful manner of the two ladies who run it. Natural light fills the front room, thanks to the large open window frontage. The ceiling is white and metal pressed, newly painted. The walls are painted white upper and, as a hasty search of the net reveals to me, a yellow chiffon lower. As well as the shared pinewood table there are two smaller tables in the front room, and in the street are a couple of laid back wicker seats with a small table. More seating is available out the back, whence from soft light glows.

Some randomly noted items from the blackboard menu: organic fairtrade espresso $2.50; milk coffees $3; organic sausage roll $6; waffles served with mocha ice-cream or banana, maple syrup and vanilla ice-cream $8; scrambled eggs with parmesan and asparagus $9.

Today I’ve just come for a long black and strawberry friand. The coffee comes in an old fashioned pale yellow cup, is hot, and has a fair crema. The friand is light and fresh. I look forward to a breakfast here one morning as the menu options look creative and I have a sense that meals here would be very good, (something I might mention here at a later stage). A lovely place.

Juliana’s
1 Sydney Rd
Coburg
Ph (03) 9386 3680

Juliana’s is a totally unpretentious cafe on the corner of Sydney and Moreland roads. It is perhaps one of the best located cafes in Coburg. Two tables in particular are perfectly placed to sit at and stare out into the busy junction of roads upon which endless stream of activity unfolds. I find this particularly pleasurable on grey, rainy days.

Having come to Juliana’s a few times now, generally in the morning for a relaxing coffee and read of the paper, it becomes hard to categorise the cafe. My first inclination was that Juliana’s is the classic workers’ cafe — hence the pleasant, unpretentious vibe; a place where you can drink a coffee, order a sandwich and read the paper and be left alone.

But I have occasionally witnessed here the kind of spontaneous activity that one would more sooner associate with an inner-city located cafe, say, one in Fitzroy. I’m thinking of when a man sat at a table near the door and quietly played away on his banjo for about half an hour, then upped and left.

I find Juliana’s an invaluable cafe in this increasingly popular part of Melbourne. As well as mornings here, I have also dropped by in afternoons to take a much needed break in study and to take a fresh look at things.

Annie’s Provedore
Shop 2, 50 Hitchcock Avenue
Barwon Heads VIC 3227
Ph (03) 5254 3233

$15.50 for a small lime tart, a commercial biscuit, an Earl Grey tea and a long black, may seem an excessive fee for a morning’s session in a coffee house. But remember folks, this is a Tourist Town, and the store has that expensive feel. Don’t complain.

My l.b. lacks crema and is a tad off correct serving temperature. I feel sorry for the lone black-clad worker though; she is anxious and harassed. Her co-worker has failed to front. On a grey overcast morning it’s not a bad place to be and seems to get the vote from the mixed bag of locals, business types, mothers and retirees. Talk is muted, cutlery tinkles. There was music but now there is — thankfully — none. (I do think we’re reaching the point where cafes will advertise themselves as NO MUSIC ZONES, inspired by John Cage who taught us the music of the ever-present sounds — the turning of a page, the whirr of the machine, a whispered word.)

Décor here is reminiscent of those overdressed interiors one finds in Australian Country Collections — a ladder, skirted to the ceiling and hung with swathes of garlic and dried flowers … A wire cage hooked up to the ceiling with wooden boxes once the repositories of French wine and Aussie cordial. A few black-topped tables, a ‘rustic’ wooden communal table, and a bench out on the pavement. All manner of things are sold in the shop — cheeses, Phillipa’s bread, biscuits, salamis. Lunch offerings include moussaka, lasagna and rolls of various fillings. A large black-framed mirror advertises specials — Potato and Chicken Pot Pies, Thai Chicken Curry, Rhubarb and Apple Tart.

At the entrance, two little bay trees sit in pots worshipped by a host of devoted lemons.