Melbourne Cafe Reviews

Minimo
822 Sydney Rd (Crn Donald St)
Brunswick

This neat cafe has only been open a bit over a week (as of writing this.) It occupies a corner on Sydney road, Brunswick. Already there is constant trade. Sitting here, at the large shared table (which most cafes seem to have now!) replete with a large bowl of fresh flowers, I realise that the cafe manages a quiet, peaceful vibe even though it’s right on Sydney road. The music is pleasant and set at a low volume. (A rare thing to find, it seems.)

I order a breakfast called eggs tepenade which consists of two free range poached eggs on sour dough with a mushroom and capsicum mix. The meal comes out elegantly presented and is just the right amount. Like Cafe 3A, I find the food here tastes excellent and is prepared with an ideology of quality, instead of serves too large/uninteresting.

As well on the menu are five varieties of french toast! The greatest variety of offering for this meal I’ve seen at any cafe so far.

The long black I order comes out hot and has a good depth of flavour and decent crema. A small and very fresh shortbread comes with the coffee. Perfect accompaniment.

At a table in the front window facing Sydney road two Muslim women speak quietly to one another. About every five-minutes or so someone comes in for a takeaway coffee. A business woman who looks like a regular joins me at the shared table, orders breakfast and selects The Age from the available papers. The various comings and goings and few (but not too many) cafe-goers inside give the sense of a quiet vibe but also a bit of spark.

Some lights are left off inside. I liked this. They didn’t need to be on. Natural light did the job perfectly.

Seating is available outside, on Donald street: an advantage of being on a corner — seating right on Sydney road wouldn’t be so pleasant.

A speciality of the cafe is their piadina — a bread made here and filled with a variety of tasty fillings. Only $7.50. (I’m looking forward to trying one of these!)

Highly recommended.

Tre Espresso Bar
Shop 10
Hardwick Building
459–475 Sydney Rd
Brunswick

I find myself perched at a little table near the professional ‘help-yourself water station’ at a cafe I think is fairly new.

As I look around: Large table with a plant at the centre, chairs with backs, wooden Ray-like stools, small round table and small rectangle tables. Concrete floor with a matt-type lacquer finish. Five cactuses in pebbles in a long rectangular plant box which has a fluoro light over the top. Windows have clear glass panels, with an odd panel pink or blue. Wooden panelled roof. A section of retro wall paper, patterns in browns. Bricks walls worked back in some parts and not others, some remains of paint. Six over-sized tungsten light bulbs dangling from long lighting cables. A cord board is mounted on one wall with large lettering above: NOTICES. For some reason I see this as reinforcing the notion of cafes as ‘local message centres / communication points’ where people in the community catch up, chat or just hang out.

As I listen: behind the counter staff are talking and I hear the words USB and WIRELESS. Near me a parent is trying to convince her child that it needs a custard-filled donut. (The child later goes on to make a repetitive tapping noise at one of the wooden stools, and is left unchecked.)

I order a long mac and a salami/fetta pizza. The pizza comes out with some rocket on top and olive oil. It’s small, herby and very tasty. The salami is cut very thin, and as such is there for the right reason: taste only. The crust is crunchy at the edge and seems to be home-made. The long mac is served in a cup, not a glass, so you don’t get to see how it looks, but it is a well made coffee, good depth of flavour.

I like the variety of seating. It allows you to find a good spot out of a variety of options, and acts to make the layout interesting. Plastic orange seats surround gas heating pylons outside, with a large wide fold-out awning providing cover. But the wind lashes about today and no-one’s game.

Music is pleasant, set at an unobtrusive volume. A woman sits at the large table reading the Herald Sun. She is delivered a custard-filled donut and cappuccino. To my right two people sit opposite each other with their coffees and talk quietly. A girl has just arrived and places notebooks on a table and fossicks around in her hession bag for a pen. A young guy with a small leather sling-bag has propped himself up at the counter and speaks familiarly with the staff.

It’s Thursday 11.21 AM, perhaps the best time to try a cafe and avoid the rush. The atmosphere here is noticeably calm and relaxed. The break-up of people around the area set the scene right. It is much more welcoming than if a large loud group were to dominate the space. There’s a sense people have individually left their workplaces, or have stopped in on the way to somewhere else, to grab a coffee and a quiet moment to read or write. The girl with the hession bag places her cup carefully back onto the saucer so as to make no sound. An act of precision that I too, practice at times.

Good spot, recommended.

(This cafe is run by the owner of a Carlton cafe, Tre Bicchieri)

Cafe 3A
3A Edward St
Brunswick 3056
03-9380 4996

Public Transport: By train, get off at Jewell Station on the Upfield line. By tram, No. 19 get off at stop 25. A short walk from either.

At most this cosy place would accommodate about thirteen inside. Five square, solid wooden tables with two seats at each. Stool seating in the front window. Artistic photos spaced along the white walls. A blackboard with small neat handwriting in white chalk lays out the menu.

Meals are exquisite. I invariably order “Eggs Olivada”: Two poached free range eggs atop two slabs of quality sour dough, sprinkled with feta, an olive paste and capers. Small fresh cakes available, today among others are orange poppy seed cakes with thick icing.

The long black, when first placed on the table, had a crema of about 25mm. Organic, fair trade coffee is used — Ethiopia Gold. FaemaStar coffee machine. Music at a good volume, cool jazz. A couple sit next to our table, about four people at the tables along the wall, and a young woman reads at a stool in the front window. People come in for a take away coffee. Wicker stools out on the front pavement (but too cold today!)

Considering just how flavoursome and high quality the meals are, they’re very cheap. $7.50 for my Eggs Olivada. Almost no cafe will give you an egg inclusive breakfast for this amount. The waiter is efficient and has a sense of humour.

A1 Food Store
643 Sydney Rd 
Brunswick 3056
(03) 9386 0440

Public Transport: Catch the No. 19 Tram. It comes up Elizabeth St in the city or down Sydney Rd from Coburg North. Get off at Albion St. The train is a option too: Upfield Line, get off at Anstey Station, walk East to Sydney Rd.

I won’t rate A1 because it’s already known by many, and they know it’s good!

The food is the cheapest you’ll find anyway. I get the spinach and cheese triangles, $2.50 each. Fresh as. There’s also herb pizzas (1 buck!!!) and sausage pizzas, vegetarian pizzas… and more. Coffees are just $2, they make a strong coffee. Eating in makes no difference to the price.

A1 is not just a cafe, as the name says, it’s a food store too. It’s this factor, like Brunswick in general, that makes the place a joy to sit back in: it’s a functional, busy place. Stacks of cans, be it beans or tomatoes, are piled up to be sold cheaply. There’s breads, bottles, tins everywhere and shelves laden with food.

Update: 7 December 2008

A1′s prices have shot up. The classic Spinage & Cheese Triangle went from $2.50 to $3.50. I suppose it always had to go up, being such good value. Yet I found myself slightly disappointed by the sharp rise (if you think about it as a percentage). There’s one other annoyance: the tables and seats were replaced about six-months ago and the new ones are dreadful! Great heavy things that screech across the floor, and the table legs are great wacking steel girders that allow no room for your legs … yep, sorry folks, A1 is A2; but it’s still pretty good!

A Minor Place
103 Albion St
Brunswick
Ph 9384 3131

Public transport: Best would be an East Corburg (No 1) or Moreland (No 8) Tram. Ask to get off at Albion St. This is coming from the city (catch these on Swanston St. They go past Melbourne Uni.)

This place has a cool design. I wonder if there’s an architect specialising in cafes – it wouldn’t surprise me. A large shared table at the front, sturdy and with comfortable solid box seats. Along the left wall are small tables and a long, horizontal strip window. There’s another room to the right, through a cut-out made in the wall which has a ledge built into it. In here more seating; on the wall a section of neat green and white pattern wallpaper, wood panelling with the putty and work still showing. Outside there’s more seating, a veranda providing shade.

In its location, the cafe is fairly unique. Even though Lygon St is two stones throws away, this is a suburban street. Around it are houses. We might start to see more of this.

There’s a fair mob here, but it was easy, at 10.50 AM to grab a spot at the shared table. On the menu are various eggy options. Not the usual. Combo’s including avocado, bagels, relish, ham, spinach. I noticed the French toast had rhubarb included.

I ordered a long black and a bagel. I can’t remember the bagel’s name, but it had a poached egg, relish, ham and rocket. I don’t normally like relish, but theirs was very nice. The bagel wasn’t an annoying bagel – (they can be annoying – not very fulfilling). This bagel had substance, like a sour-dough. The long black came with a smooth dark gold crema. A slip revealed the coffee as hot and strong, but without a lingering taste. It was lacking in body. Other coffees I saw coming out looked good – the lattes had a creamy head with a lovely swirl.

Music was grooving and not loud. A girl next me was on the mobile and the guy with her a bit over it; he was answering for the person she was speaking to, and repeating her questions. A guy sat on one of the tables near the horizontal window with a laptop. I noticed he was online. Maybe the cafe has a wireless network.

Did the cafe have the vibe for hanging around, chilling out and reading papers? Getting there. The design is 100 per cent, there’s plenty going on around you, but it doesn’t quite have that yet.*

Service is friendly and efficient. The staff seem happy to be here.

Coffees marked as $2.80, but they charged $2.50. Bagel $7.60.

* Update: 3 June 06

Coming here today, I took a seat in the second room. Only about six in here — a group of three, a couple and a girl tapping away on a laptop. It’s four in the arvo, a nice light enters the room. Having already had some coffees today (too many!) I order an earl grey tea. The vibe is about right, and I happily read for an hour.

Update: 17 June 07

This place is well settled in now. It seems more accomplished, confident and the coffees are just superb. On the downside, Minor Place has been so busy I was totally ignored for 20 minutes one Sat morn! Also, the music tends to get too loud — something that deteriorates off MP’s otherwise cool vibe.

Green Refectory
115 Sydney Rd
Brunswick
93871150

Public transport: Catch the No. 19 tram!

Cakes so fresh they slump.

I had to start with that line. Even though this time I didn’t have a cake. But from my position, at the large shared table, I had a direct view. The slump I refer is to that of the Vanilla Slices topped with passion-fruit icing. The custard looked so fresh there was no hope of these slices holding a starch straight position. And yes, next time I’ll have one and tell you about it, but I think there’s a chance, if you’re a cake enjoyer, you’ll beat me to it. As well there were two large cakes, one a four-story black forrest — the price for a slice? Just $4.50.

The refectory has a moderate sized front room where you order. There’s a lot on offer. And fresh seems to be the word. A couple of meters of blackboard with cursive hand-writing in different colours lays out your options. That and the counter area laiden with food. The front room is well broken up with seating options and filled with natural light. A big table, shared. A couple of small for-two tables, and a couple of window seats. Then there’s the next room in, lots of two, three, and four-people tables. Here it takes on a very house type look – as if somebody’s converted their terrace house into a cafe (maybe somebody did). Then another room, past the stairs. Again, a room of a house, tables all about. And you can even walk out a side door to find tables along the side path against the tin fence. And happy cafes goers in all these places.

I order a long black and scrambled eggs. Previously, a friend who really likes a good long black had to order one with a double-shot to get the strength they require, and this cost more. However today I didn’t order mine this way, (just ordered a long black) and it came as a 1/2 to 3/4 cup full, good crema and flavour. I think their coffee’s been given a lift. Good stuff. The scrambles eggs were light and fluffy and a couple of slabs of white bread. No complaints here.

At about 11.45 Refectory was full. I’d squeezed onto the large table, having to ask someone who was sitting at an end to get up and let me in. 20 minutes later there were gaps here and there and it was generally more relaxing. Refectory has been accepted by the locals as a fine place to come. Music: Tracy Chapman. Crowd, 20s, 30s, 50s, I’d say majority late twenties to thirties. Conversation? Next to me a woman was reading out a stern text message received from her daughter to her companion cafe goer. They were laughing.

Ray Cafe
332 Victoria St, Brunswick
(03) 9380-8593

Public Transport: Tram: No 19, Stop No. 28. Train: Upfield line, get off Brunswick Station. Bus: 508 goes down Victoria St.

Cafe Ray is a very cool cafe. Just about everything seems right. Architecturally the space is good size. I like the way the bricks have been worked — kind of roughly sanded or something; paint remains here and there. The lighting is good: as well as electric lights, there’s these two very mechanical looking sky lights at the rear providing natural light. A great big slide up window is in the front wall, and a large table behind it. There’s no better place to sit and collect the morning sun. In the middle of the table is a pot plant. I remember being back in the country some time ago (two, three years?) and the Age had reviewed this cafe in the Epicure section. They had a photo of this big table, with the pot plant in the middle. Sometimes I feel a bit out of it in the country, a bit isolated. When I returned to Melbourne I went to this cafe and sat at the same table: I felt as though I’d entered a set, previously only able to view remotely on TV.

Speaking of TV, one of the things that intrigued me a good deal when I first came here was this little screen they have mounted on the wall. Somewhere — and I had to figure out where – a camera was mounted and providing the image.

They have a menu based around the Turkish bread — pide. But there’s also muesli, toast and other stuff. I really like the pides though. I love the Tomato Bocconcini one — it’s those two ingredients and a pesto with a lovely parmesan taste too — and fresh basil. There’s also cakes: fresh lemon tarts, Ray Cakes — a chocolate cup cake with Ray in pink icing on top and a variety of slices.

So far I’ve never had a coffee in the whole of Melbourne, better than at Ray. Ray is my coffee benchmark. But I have had equally as good — so I’m not stating there’s no comparison. Nor do I expect every place to do their coffee this way.

Ordering a long black (my favourite test for flavour and punch) gets you a double shot coffee, only about half full in the cup with a thick crema. Just great. The cafe lattes they do often come out with the head still forming – you can it watch slowly become whiter at the top 10-15 mm. Needless to say it has a lovely smooth texture, and blends in with the rest of the drink (ever had a latte or cappuccino where after the froth is gone it’s just a flat, unexciting drink? Not at Ray.) There’s only one fault I’d pick: I have before had a coffee which hasn’t been hot enough, but it doesn’t happen often.

At Ray there’s plenty of reading material — multiple copies of the Age and Herald Sun. I always like this, because it invites you to hang around and read. Water is readily available from the counter, they keep full bottles and glasses there — help yourself.

An iconic Ray sign is the wooden stools out on the footpath. Almost any time of day you can go past and see people sitting at these.

People who come to Ray are generally the late 20 and 30s, but you can get a very mixed crowd from young to elderly, a good sign. Most of the people look interesting types. I’ve heard people talking about film, reading and writing. Often I’ve seen a person scribbling away in a notebook.

Ray is very popular and most of the time there’s a quite a few people here. On your own you’ll normally find a seat, but with two or more there are peak times when you won’t: like Sunday and Saturday mid morning through to the arvo. Pick you time carefully and you can spend an hour here in relative quiet.

REVIEW UPDATES (1)

Sept 28, 2007

It’s about time to provide a brief update since this initial review (ages ago!).
Essentially, Ray remains a great Cafe. This is due to a consistent adherence to the original elements which made this cafe great: great coffee, great food including simple winners like the tomato bocconcini pide, grooving music at right volume, good crowd.

However, it must be said, that even Ray has its minor slips which don’t fail to cause annoyance. Two chief annoyances with Ray are forgotten/very very late coffee orders and, surprisingly, unkempt/unclean table tops. This second point in particular might seem petty. Maybe it is, but why it’s significant is because it reveals a “slackness” in service in general, which most of the time is very good, but at times stretched, perhaps by the still-thriving popularity of the cafe. And it is annoying to sit at a table and notice a stickiness about it.

In sum, Ray remains tops, but it’s not a cafe you always want to be at. As suggested in the original review, there are times when Ray is too busy and best avoided.