Barista Matt Sahely at Barry in Northcote. Picture: Nathan Dyer Source: News Limited
MELBOURNE’S obsession with coffee is nothing new but what is constantly changing is how our city’s specialist coffee hotspots keep raising the bar with both the coffee they source and how they brew it.
From flat whites to filters to cups of ‘magic’, our coffee aficionados Dan Stock, Simon Plant, Megan Miller, Susan Bugg and Anna Brain have sipped their way around town to reveal Melbourne best new coffee joints.
Scroll down for a look at where your favourite Melbourne celebrities go for their coffee fix.
ANOTHER day dawns in the land of the long flat white.
At Plenty in Windsor it always begins the same way: with the hiss and churn of its timber-panelled Slayer espresso machine. Arriving just before 6.30am, barista Ray Bennett has just 15 minutes to get it up and running before the first customers arrive for their daily dose of caffeine.
“The trick is to get the right balance between the grind and the pour,” he explains. And what are punters asking for?
“Lattes, usually. But we’re noticing a lot more asking for a shorter cup. What we call a ‘magic’.’’
Barely a year old, Plenty is not alone. A Weekend survey of the best specialist coffee hot spots to open in the past year reveals growing demand for variations on the classic flat white. A lot of us are warming to the idea of a “magic” — steamed milk poured over a double shot and served in a short “tulip” cup to intensify the flavour. But we are also investigating filter coffee and asking bearded baristas to brief us on brewing methods, from pour-overs to cold-drip.
While they’re at it, we’d love to know where the beans are from and where they were roasted. Heck, we even want to know who roasted them! “There’s never been so much interest and so much quality out there,’’ Plenty owner Jason Chan says.
Melburnians only want the very best when it comes to coffee. Picture: Nathan Dyer Source: News Limited
Carlton’s Seven Seeds manager Jennifer Jones agrees: “Melburnians are showing they’re willing to try something new. That gives us, in the industry, a chance to really be innovative.’’
The past 12 months has seen big changes on the food front, too. Gone are the days when cafe breakfasts consisted of eggs, bacon and smashed avocado. Now, we’re asking for toasted oats and tapioca, black pudding and hickory-smoked salmon. And vibrant brekky menus don’t finish at midday ... not if you want to keep customers satisfied.
“It’s an ever-evolving industry and you’ve got to keep offering something new,’’ Jones says.
Seven Seeds — the thriving cafe and roasting business established eight years ago by Mark Dundon and Bridget Amor — has been a driving force behind Melbourne’s deepening love affair with specialist coffee. Its dedication to quality beans, to local roasting, to a better customer-barista experience has influenced hundreds of cafes.
And Melburnians, inspired by Seven Seeds and others, are now taking Melbourne’s coffee culture offshore and making a latte splash in New York. Chan, who worked with Dundon at Brunswick’s pioneering Ray cafe, is not one of them.
“I’d rather build little places here that meet the needs of a small community,’’ he says.
New markets in Melbourne are emerging, too. Operators identify the outer east and southeast as territories ripe for development and predict a surge in micro-roasteries (cafes roasting their own beans). We can also expect to see high-calibre chefs in cafe kitchens, more attention given to artisan milk and way more filter coffee. Even McDonald’s is spruiking “the perfect coffee ... frothed by a barista”.
One thing won’t change and that’s the role cafes play in providing a place for us to flirt, gossip and do deals. Is there room for more of that? Plenty.
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Manager Ray Bennett out front of Plenty. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
PLENTY
78 Chapel St, Windsor
Coffee: Coffee Supreme South blend
Latte: $3.70
Espresso: $3.30
Go-to dish: Pork cheek, black pudding, fried egg and crisped sage ($16)
“YOU’RE only as a good as your last coffee,’’ Jason Chan warns. Fortunately, the proprietor of Plenty (and Balaclava’s Batch Espresso) employs baristas, such as Ray Bennett (pictured right), who know how to pull one super-smooth flat white after another. Flavoursome Coffee Supreme beans play their part. So does Schulz organic milk. But Plenty’s secret weapon is a custom-designed Slayer espresso machine. Admire its white oak trim while you enjoy superior food. Perhaps rabbit and mushroom sausages for brekkie then a smoked wagyu brisket roll for lunch. Plenty — charmingly furnished with twiggy branches and old Asian cabinets — also boasts an on-trend herb wall.
A Goslinger Danish open sandwich with a beaker-like pour over cup of coffee from Filter. Source: News Corp Australia
FILTER
555 Collins St, city
Coffee: Small Batch
Latte: $3.50 Espresso: $3.50
Go-to dish: Goslinger smorrebrod sandwich ($8)
WELCOME to Scandinavia. Filter, on the ground floor of a bland office block, channels the cool minimalism of northern climes but the mood of this cutting-edge cafe is warmly Australian.
Knowledgeable staff (kitted out in leathery aprons) know how to extract brightness and complexity from filter coffee using plungers, funnels and AeroPresses and will happily answer all your questions.
They can also unlock the mysteries of rye-based smorrebrod, open sandwiches inspired by examples popular in Sweden and Denmark.
We loved Filter’s Fisko, a piquant medley of garfish, celeriac, herring roe and remoulade, and the beautifully designed Goslinger combining chicken, avocado and buttons of saffron mayo.
Hortus at the Docklands offers quite a view. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
HORTUS
131-141 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands.
Coffee: Seven Seeds
Latte: $4
Espresso: $3.70
Go-to dish: Carrot cake ($5)
A TREE grows in Brooklyn. A greenhouse sprouts in Docklands. Hortus (Latin for “garden”) is the brainchild of Seven Seeds and the architecture studio Utopian Folk.
From the moment it put down roots in Melbourne’s waterfront in March, this tent-shaped pop-up cafe has been a hit.
Locals relish the rotating single origin coffees that barista Jake Sullivan handles so well.
They like the “daily bake”, which can include goodies from Yarraville pastry champ Matt Forbes. And they’re warming to Hortus’s greenhouse effect: a big central trolley, exploding with plant life.
Traveller’s pastry cabinet. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
Traveller staff make coffees for Melburnians. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
TRAVELLER
2/14 Crossley St, city
Coffee: Seven Seeds
Latte: $4
Espresso: $3.70
Go-to dish: Spinach and feta triangle with kasundi ($7.50)
ALL caramel curves and laminate trim with a dinky hatch, Traveller is a contender for Melbourne’s grooviest cafe.
Quite an achievement because inside there’s barely room to swing a latte. But Traveller — conceived by Seven Seeds coffee guru Mark Dundon — is more than its fit-out.
Look at the way barista-in-chief Jos Turner mans the front counter, dispensing espressos and “nice filter coffee’’ to customers while always up for a chat with the slim-suited fellas who make this their morning hotspot. Some of them linger in the lane.
Others snag a stool inside and order Traveller’s hot pastries and “sweet treats’’. By the way, the word “Traveller” is nowhere to be seen. Just look for a sign showing a shoe.
Lights in the Attic creates quite the coffe experience for its customers. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
LIGHTS IN THE ATTIC
38 Camberwell Rd, Hawthorn East
Coffee: Atomica Coffee Roaster
Latte: $3.80
Espresso: $3.80
Go-to dish: Bird Nest (Scotch egg in a potato chip nest with kransky chilli beans, $18)
BEAKERS, siphons and funnels at the front counter suggest mad scientists might be at work. But owner Kevin Lee (Green Eggs and Ham, St Kilda Rd) has assembled a crack barista team for his thriving white-tiled cafe.
Lights in the Attic prides itself on top-shelf provedores — Dench bakery, Yarra Valley dairy, Woodbridge smokehouse — and head chef Hwan Choi (ex-Koko at Crown) bolsters standard issue egg and bacon fare with quirky Korean influences. Pork floss and fish roe with your flat white? Coming right up.
Hawthorn Common owner Danny Colls on deck daughter Poppy. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
Hawthorn Common coffee roaster Ben Toovey. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
HAWTHORN COMMON
302 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn
Coffee: Ethically sourced and roasted in-house
Latte: $3.80
Espresso: $3
Go-to dish: Pancakes with vanilla creme pate, fruit (poached and fresh) and honey syrup ($14)
FOR cafe lovers in Melbourne’s east, Hawthorn Common is as comforting as a tartan rug at the footy.
Hospitality gun Danny Colls presides over his family-friendly place with an eager eye and easy smile, backed by whip-smart staff (such as bean roaster Ben Toovey) who know all the ins and outs of chef Stefano Rosi’s savvy restaurant-quality fare.
At breakfast, you might find black pudding pate and baked beans with ham hock. Or eggs with bacon crumble and a green kale smoothie. Coffee is the trump card. Beans are roasted to exacting standards on-site and blends change seasonally.
Frank and Ginger has locals already queuing up. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
FRANK AND GINGER
101-103 Orrong Cres, Caulfield North
Coffee: The Maling Room
Latte: $3.80
Espresso: $3.20
Go-to dish: Pea, feta and mint fritters with poached eggs, rocket, pancetta and spicy aioli ($16)
FROM the folks who brought us Armadale’s Gardiner and Field (Jesse Feldy and Nick Gardiner) comes another coffee cubby in the leafy east.
Frank and Ginger, which is just two months old, is all blond plywood and white-washed walls with the odd succulent soaking up the sun.
And judging from the queue forming after 9am, this unpretentious place is meeting pent-up demand.
Baristas working a silver Synesso machine draw fine filter coffee while a tight kitchen team punches out a short brekky menu that’s long on muesli, eggs and feta mash. Kids get tiger toast.
Operator 25 used to be a telephone exchange. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
The baristas at Operator 25 use a La Marzocco espresso machine for their coffee. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
OPERATOR 25
25 Wills St, city.
Coffee: Code Black
Latte: $3.80
Espresso: $3.50
Go-to dish: Grilled morcilla (black pudding), house baked beans, wilted spinach and poached egg with house-made corn bread ($17)
HOUSED in Melbourne’s first telephone exchange, Operator 25 is dialling up the specialist coffee offer at the top end of town.
Expert baristas — driving a splendid La Marzocco espresso machine — shoot for just the right balance in every Code Black brew, while Valerie Fong and Felipe Pereira Guedes work wonders on the food side.
Operator 25 has some amazing breakfast options too. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
Oats and barley porridge come with a berry compote, peas get smashed on multigrain with goat feta, and a brekkie tortilla brims with scrambled egg. All good.
Golden Child Cafe uses beans from Code Black in Brunswick. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
Golden Child’s unusual coffee tamper. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
GOLDEN CHILD
1-3 Bardolph St, Glen Iris
Coffee: Code Black Seasonal 3056 blend
Latte: $3.50
Espresso: $3
Go-to dish: Malaysian massaman breakfast pot with fried pretzels ($12)
BRICK house, train line, people mover, My Family stickers, funky cafe. Name the suburban line-up’s odd man out.
Golden Child proves you don’t need a Collingwood or Windsor address, occupying a former yoga studio on a sleepy strip in Glen Iris.
Owners Piers Smart and Jenna Langton met while working at Brighton’s The Little Ox before striking out on their own. Smart says their menu is “stuff we like to eat”, taking a little from Asia, Italy and the Middle East.
But their signature is the Chinese pretzel, a star-shaped, wonton-like morsel of fried goodness inspired by a dish of Langton’s grandmother.
When the cafe opened in March, the pretzels were served with an Asian pork mince and chilli dish, but sit with a slow-braised brisket massaman curry for winter.
From Code Black in Brunswick, the house blend uses Colombian, Indonesian and Brazilian beans that linger with caramel and chocolate.
On the run? Grab your fix from the coffee window that backs on to Burwood station.
Dak Dak‘s unique decor includes a VW bonnet. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
DAKDAK
Unit 2, 1-3 Bignell Rd, Moorabbin
Coffee: Fayale
Latte $3.50
Espresso $3.50
Go-to dish: Pulled pork roll with coleslaw, house barbecue sauce and triple-cooked hand-cut chips ($12)
WHERE else do rusty Eskies, the bonnet of a VW Beetle and a pink tin flamingo pass as cafe objets d’art? At Dakdak diner in Moorabbin.
The kooky caff is car collector Ben Cowen’s first hospitality venture. When in the industrial heartland having one of his beloved VWs tended to, he thought tradies in the area deserved something better than fried or bain marie offerings, and that families in nearby Bentleigh (where he used to live) shouldn’t have to travel far for a decent breakfast.
With his late mum’s advice to “enjoy what you do in life” ringing in his ears, the VCA set-design graduate swapped life as a film and TV props maker to combine food with his passion for the German car marque. (He has 11 VWs.)
In a former tint-a-car joint, Dakdak — the colloquial term for the sound of an idling VW engine — serves honest-to-goodness tucker.
The bread comes already buttered (nice!) and stir in your sachet sugar with a commemorative spoon from Noumea or New Zealand.
Coffee is one of two blends from Elsternwick roaster Fayale, albeit served in a daggy mug you’d find at your nan’s place. Happy days.
Coconut cold drip is just one brewing method used at Touchwood in Richmond. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Have you tried the new coffee joints on our list? What did you think? Post a comment in the box below or let us know using #melbsbestcoffee hashtag.
TOUCHWOOD
480 Bridge Rd, Richmond
Coffee: Five Senses Touchwood blend
Latte: $3.80
Espresso: $3.50
Go-to dish: Mexican chicken salad ($18)
“EXCUSE me, waiter. There’s a coconut in my coffee.” Coconut cold drip is but one of the brewing methods at this coffee-is-king hangout.
It uses sweet coconut water and is particularly popular in summer, Touchwood co-owner Matt Vero says.
This bustling 120-seater, which opened in September in a bright, light former furniture showroom, is largely loyal to Five Senses, with single-origin brews from local roasters on rotation.
Also opt for AeroPress, filter or espresso made with a house blend of beans from Brazil, Ethiopia and Peru. An impressive matte black Synesso Hydra coffee machine keeps the hordes happy, pumping out up to 400 coffees on a busy Saturday.
Between them, the team behind Touchwood has been responsible for places such as Tall Timber, Pillar of Salt, Station Street Trading Co and Coin Laundry.
It’s another creative menu; the big breakfast comes with a lamb chop, while the obligatory avo and toast is elevated by burnt lime and sumac salt. There’s also a healthy dose of salads and superfoods.
Try the smoked salmon on dark rye with poached eggs, avocado and preserved lemon at Townhouse. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
Townhouse in Toorak seats 60. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
TOWNHOUSE
466 Toorak Rd, Toorak
Coffee: Rosso
Latte: $4
Espresso: $3.50
Go-to dish: Smoked salmon on dark rye ($17.50)
CLUTCH pearls — speciality coffee has arrived at the top end of town. Townhouse has been giving Toorak’s mock-Tudor village an education in coffee since December.
Its house roast (a four-bean blend from Tullamarine’s Rosso) is smooth and light, ably supported by a rotation of single origins from a who’s who of local roasters: Reverence, Proud Mary, Small Batch, The Maling Room and Seven Seeds.
“The idea was to bring specialty coffees to Toorak and showcase the best of what Melbourne’s doing,” manager Daniel Mills says.
“No one else was really doing that around here.”
The Scandi-cool 60-seater is the second outing from the team at Camberwell’s Prospect Espresso, with Will Manning (ex-The Botanical and Verge via time in London) on the pans with a seasonally led mod-Euro menu.
Like your coffee cold from time to time? Order the Vietnamese-style ice coffee with sweet condensed milk ($5).
Two Lost Boys owners Justin Kony and Michael Almagor. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
TWO LOST BOYS
20/2 Maddock St, Windsor
Coffee: Monk Bodhi Dharma
Latte: $3.80
Espresso: $3.50
Go-to dish: Lemon and ricotta pancakes ($14)
THEY might have named their cafe Two Lost Boys and be down a dead-end street, but owners Justin Kony and Michael Almagor are far from off course.
Having met five years ago through Almagor’s girlfriend and with a shared passion for coffee, the pair realised their dream of opening a cafe together in September.
Combining their smarts from time at places such as Dukes and Hobba, the result is a buzzing space overlooking Windsor station with excellent caffeine and a killer all-day brunch.
Boutique Balaclava roaster Monk Bodhi Dharma supplies the beans for both the filter and house blend that’s on weekly rotation. “We reckon
Monk Bodhi Dharma is Melbourne’s superior roaster,” Kony says.
Barry’s house blend satisfies coffee lovers in Northcote. Picture: Nathan Dyer Source: News Limited
BARRY
85 High St, Northcote
Coffee: 5 Senses house blend
Latte: $3.80
Espresso: $3.80
Go-to dish: Superfood salad ($15)
NOTHING less than a custom-made machine and house blend would satisfy the notoriously fussy Northcote crowd. Co-owner Matt Sahely says it takes a diverse range of high-quality coffees to keep crowds flocking in.
“We did a house blend working with 5 Senses, and we had a sweet tooth in mind,” he says. “It has a nice body to it.”
In addition to the house blend, the single origin on offer changes daily, and Barry does a pour-over and an AeroPress (both $6).
“We also do a cold press and coconut water coffee ($4),” Sahely says.
“It used to be more for summer but we’ve kept it on over winter and it’s very popular.”
So popular, in fact, that nearly a year after opening, Barry still has regular queues out into High St.
Little Tommy Tucker in Bentleigh was once a tobacconist. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Limited
LITTLE TOMMY TUCKER
432 Centre Rd, Bentleigh
Coffee: Dukes
Latte: $3.50
Espresso: $3.80
Go-to dish: Zucchini cake ($16, $19 with salmon)
BEFORE Little Tommy Tucker came to town, Centre Rd was something of a culinary black hole.
Owner Jimmy Marinis took pleasure in converting what was once a tobacconist into Bentleigh’s newest hot spot, with reclaimed Tassie timbers giving it a warm feel.
As for the coffee, there was only ever one way to go in his mind. “It had to be Dukes,” Marinis says.
The single origin changes two or three times a week, and Marinis says buying the beans has become a competitive sport.
“I just got some that I’ve been trying to get my hands on for about 12 months,” he says. “Everyone’s been trying to get a hold of it.”
Barista and owner Tomer Gian at Einstein's Relative. Picture: Nathan Dyer Source: News Corp Australia
Einstein's Relative has some kooky decor. Picture: Nathan Dyer Source: News Corp Australia
EINSTEIN’S RELATIVE
1/9 Yarra St, South Yarra
Coffee: Small Batch Candyman blend
Latte: $3.50
Espresso: $3.50
Go-to dish: Nobel Experiment
salad ($17)
IT’S not rocket science, just yummy food and good coffee that makes this South Yarra’s newest “must-do” lunch spot for the well-heeled.
Israeli-born owners Eitam Brami and Tomer Gian drank “a lot of coffee” before choosing the Candyman blend. Brami’s wife Tammy, who runs the cafe floor, says it delivers a consistent balance.
Trying to save a few calories? Tammy recommends AeroPress ($5).
“It’s good for people who are trying to give up milk in their coffee,” she says.
Allpress has converted an old warehouse into a flagship roastery. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
The custom-design roaster at Allpress makes all the difference. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
ALLPRESS ESPRESSO
80 Rupert St, Collingwood
Coffee: House roast
Latte: $3.50
Espresso: $3
Go-to dish: Corned beef sandwich ($12)
THREE years after he began supplying New Zealand with his roasted beans, Mike Allpress jumped the ditch in 2001 and set up a roastery/cafe in Sydney.
Though his Allpress beans have found their way to Melbourne cafes since 2007, it was only late last year that he opened a shop down here. But what a shop. An abandoned Collingwood warehouse was converted into a flagship roastery where beans from Brazil, Guatemala and PNG are transformed into a bold Supremo house blend.
The custom-designed roaster (by the man himself) is on display from the light and bright cafe space, where four blends of coffee, a Colombian decaf and two rotating single-origin beans are served to the local creative class which camps out here during the week.
On weekends cool Collingwood kids come for simple breakfast fare (eggs and soldiers, granola, frittata), interesting toasted sandwiches and bags of those great beans to go.
Melburnians love the nutty flavour of the roast on offer at Two Little Pigs. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
You can get amazing meat and great coffee at Two Little Pigs. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
TWO LITTLE PIGS
146 Sydney Rd, Brunswick
Coffee: House roast
Latte: $3.80
Espresso: $3.50
Go-to dish: Peas and ham (roasted pork belly, poached eggs, pea veloute, $16.50)
COUSINS Jonathan Ioannou and Terrence Farrugia spied a hole in the ever more crowded Brunswick coffee scene: lots of cafes, not much charcuterie.
So they teamed the two, and their buzzy Sydney Rd cafe has been packed since opening in April.
Along with their great range of cured and other porky products (the lunchtime charcuterie plate is a mighty feast) they serve up an original breakfast menu packed with hits.
Coffee is a signature house blend roasted exclusively for Two Little Pigs, and it has sweet/nutty characteristics — lovely in a flat white but equally as enjoyable as a straight-up espresso.
There’s V60, Chemex and AeroPress filter methods offered with single-origin beans for the serious buffs; there’s nice cakes and other sweet treats to enjoy in the courtyard for the rest of us.
A double ristretto base means the coffee at True North is wonderfully strong. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
TRUE NORTH
2 Munro St, Coburg. Ph: 9917 2262
Coffee: Coffee Supreme
Latte: $3.80
Espresso: $3.20
Go-to dish: Breakfast roll ($13.50)
MUSICIAN Brett O’Riley and partner Nadia Camus decked out a former hair salon in Coburg with recycled timber, leather booths, etched mirrors and quirky ephmera to create a homely cafe that opened in March and is all northern class.
Food comes flying fast from the small open kitchen.
Five and Dime bagels and house-made granola have many fans but meet their match in the True North breakfast roll — an egg, bacon, bubble-and-squeak beauty that’s made even better with a few drops of hot sauce from the big collection on the counter.
Coffee comes courtesy of Coffee Supreme, delivered as crowd-pleasing creamy lattes and punchy short blacks from a glistening
La Marzocco machine. All coffees are served wonderfully strong — a double ristretto base means your coffee comes with a kick in all the right spots.
A look inside Wild Timor. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
WILD TIMOR CAFE
282 Sydney Rd, Coburg
Coffee: Timorese single-origin
Latte: $3.50
Espresso: $3
Go-to dish: Portuguese tart ($3.50)
IT wouldn’t have been possible without a Pozible campaign, but the Wild Timor Coffee Co now has a brand-new Coburg cafe to go with its wholesale business.
Set up on their return by four former Australian peacekeepers deployed to Timor, Wild Timor Coffee Co buys the beans — a Robusta-Arabica hybrid unique to Timor (hybrid de Timor) that grows wild — directly from local villagers in Aileu, East Timor.
The beans are roasted in Melbourne to create coffees that are robust and fragrant and reflective of the two styles
of bean. There’s muesli and granola to get you going in the morning, along with smoothies such as the Balibo Super Green or the Baucau Mixed Berry.
It’s hard to go past a Portuguese tart. and coffee at Wild Timor. Source: News Corp Australia
A range of Timorese and raw cakes are served if you have a sweet tooth — but it’s hard to go past a delicious Portuguese tart.
ADDICT
240 Johnston St, Fitzroy
Coffee: Market Lane
Latte: $3.80 Espresso $3.50
Go-to dish: Southern pulled pork burger with slaw ($17)
HAVING come from caffeinating Shepparton with their successful roastery/cafe outfit, foursome Greg Brassil and wife Brooke, plus Joe and Brooke Ventura have hit the bright lights of Fitzroy in a big way, opening Addict cafe in June.
And it lives up to its name, with some seriously good ways to sate those cravings.
On a gleaming La Marzocco Linea machine, two baristas transform a changing roster of blends (Clement Coffee, Market Lane) into punchy flat whites and perfect espressos (served with a shot of sparkling Hepburn Spring water), while three filter options (pour over, batch brew and AeroPress) enhance the characteristics of the single origin beans on offer.
Thanks to a couple of ex-St Ali chefs (Mark Boyd and Steve Hogan) food ticks the breakfast boxes with hearty class, while lunch is a step up from the usual fare — confit duck with braised cabbage, or roast chicken with bacon brussels sprouts.
It’s the inner north, so there’s quinoa, and pulled pork and macrame baskets too, but coffee is very much the headline act in this white and bright space. Thanks to Addict, it’s a crave new world.
Brother Thomas call their house blend The Father. Picture: Nathan Dyer Source: News Corp Australia
BROTHER THOMAS
350 William St, city
Coffee: The Father
Latte: $3.90
Espresso: $3.30
Go-to dish: Ribollita soup ($12)
LONG-TIME roasters, first-time cafe, Brother Thomas is a welcome CBD newcomer serving coffee to the legal eagles who fly around Flagstaff.
The bright space — all polished concrete, blonde wood and greenery — is the perfect spot to take 10 and enjoy an excellent nutty flat white made from their house-roasted house blend called The Father.
There’s a rotating range of guest brews, as well as bags of roasted beans to go. Breakfast is filled with the usual savoury suspects, or get your sweet on with a brioche French toast with banana and salted caramel.
Lunch can be an interesting sourdough to go (chipotle pulled beef with sauerkraut or poached chicken with feta and avo) or linger longer over hearty beef cheek moussaka or the ribollita, a Tuscan soup that’s comfort in a bowl.
Comfort food and amazing coffee make Stagger Lee’s a great place for a coffee fix. Source: News Corp Australia
STAGGER LEE’S
276 Fitzroy St, Fitzroy.
Coffee: Ghost Rider
Latte: $3.80
Espresso: $3.80
Go-to dish: Shrooms ‘n’ truffles ($17.50)
THEY were at the vanguard of the coffee revolution that created the Melbourne coffee scene as we now know it with Proud Mary.
And now the team has done it again with Stagger Lee’s. The Brunswick St corner cafe has been jam-packed since opening earlier this year, bringing the same formula — obsessively created coffee and cool comfort food — to the new venue, with one difference: all coffee served is single origin espresso or filter.
But you don’t need to swot up on your beans to enjoy the excellent brews, and, thanks to chef/co-owner Chris Hamburger, the food, too, is a singular cause for celebration.
Whether it’s Cave Man granola (for the virtuous) or Coco Pop French Toast (for the less so) for breakfast, or buttermilk fried chicken or braised beef and bacon pappardelle for lunch, dishes have restaurant smarts at cafe prices.
The minimalist room — exposed bricks, beams and bulbs — is as good-looking as the staff, who handle the always busy space with refreshingly unaffected skill.
Butcher 128 offers both pour-overs and batch brews. Picture: Eugene Hyland Source: News Corp Australia
BUTCHER 128
128 Roberts St, Yarraville
@butcher128
Coffee: The Maling Room Black Mamba blend
Latte: $3.80 Espresso: $3.80
Go-to dish: Butcher’s breakfast ($16.50)
BUTCHER128 bills itself as a “coffee shop and eatery”. That’s deliberate.
Co-owner Donnie Lam loves his coffee (no milk, double espresso first-up, pour-over filter the rest of the day) and wants to give customers at this converted butcher’s shop “something on top” of the usual cafe coffee offerings by way of specialty methods such as pour-overs and batch brews.
The house blend is a Black Mamba from The Maling Room, which also provides different single origins throughout the week.
An all-day menu includes variations on brekkie favourites (granola, porridge, avocado smash and Persian eggs). Kids can have a toastie before heading to the backyard play area constructed by Lam and business partner Jason Blake.
Cobb Lane Bakery do an amazing English breakfast. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
There are incredible sweet treats on offer at Cobb Lane. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia
COBB LANE
13 Anderson St, Yarraville;
Coffee: Clement Coffee
Latte: $4 Espresso: $3.50
Go-to dish: Salted caramel doughnut ($4.50)
AN Instagram photo of Cobb Lane’s cake-filled counter had a Bendigo friend zipping down the Calder to try pastry chef Matt Forbes’ treats.
Forbes estimates 99 per cent of his weekday custom to be local since opening his Yarraville Village bakery cafe in December.
But at weekends travellers come from far and wide to grab a sandwich on house-made bread, sample his short but stylish brekkie menu or nab a doughnut oozing with custard.
Espresso, a single origin from Clement, comes from a Spirit machine and there’s a filter on offer, rotating weekly around roasters such as Seven Seeds, Dukes and Small Batch.
Forbes flies the flag for his native Britain with a breakfast featuring a Scotch egg, black pudding and brown sauce ($18.50).
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Where do you go for great coffee? What did you think of our list? Post a comment in the box below or let us know using #melbsbestcoffee hashtag.
WHERE MELBOURNE’S FAMOUS FACES GET THEIR COFFEE FIX
Busy mum Rebecca Judd, seen here with daughter Billy, loves the coffee at Dukes in Prahran. Credit: Rob McKechnie/ Save the Children Source: Supplied
REBECCA JUDD
Drinks: Strong latte.
Where: Dukes Coffee Roasters in Prahran.
Why: Best coffee in town as it’s strong but creamy. Industrial but warm interiors and an awesome food menu, too.
DJ Grant Smillie gets his coffee at St Ali and Stagger Lee’s. Picture: Jason Edwards Source: News Limited
GRANT SMILLIE
Drinks: Macchiato.
Where: St Ali in South Melbourne.
Why: With the world barista champ on site you always get consistent coffee. Nothing more infuriating than inconsistency!
Food is great and it’s a warehouse. Ticks all the boxes. If I’m north side, Stagger Lee’s is the bomb.
Chrissie Swan gets her coffee fix at Brunetti. Picture: Nicole Cleary Source: News Limited
CHRISSIE SWAN
Drinks: Strong flat white.
Where: Brunetti.
Why: It’s consistently delicious and a Melbourne institution. Never weak. Never too strong. Utterly dependable.
X Factor judge Natalie Bassingthwaighte loves the coffee at The Pantry in Brighton. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis Source: News Corp Australia
NATALIE BASSINGTHWAIGHTE
Drink: Soy piccolo.
Where: The Pantry in Brighton.
Why: I love the atmosphere. The service is brilliant and the food is delicious.
New dad Hamish Blake amidts he’s no coffee expert, but loves the brews at St Ali. Source: Supplied
HAMISH BLAKE
Drink: Long black, no sugar.
Where: It’s a two-way tie for me, with about 15 runners-up. Dead Man Espresso and St Ali are both in South Melbourne where I work and are pretty excellent at what they do.
Why: I love coffee but don’t know anything about it.
So for me there’s a great balance in these places of what is undoubtedly brilliant bean juice, but also an atmosphere where you can pull the laptop out and do some work, and to top it off, super fun staff.
Foodie Matt Preston, made into coffee art here by Michael Breach, heads to Fergus in Malvern East for his coffee fix. Source: Supplied
MATT PRESTON
Drink: Short black or a skinny latte to go.
Where: Fergus in Malvern East.
Why: It’s warm, light and calm. It’s near where I live, it’s easy to get a park and the people there are lovely.
Oh, and I might bump into Gary Mehigan (@crispycrackling) as it’s his local as well! I reckon he’s in love with their three-group customised Synesso espresso machine.
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