Melbourne Cafe Reviews

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.

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.

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!

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.