Shop 3, 394 Henley Beach Road, Lockleys, SA 5032 I never thought I’d say (or write) this, and I will probably never say it again, but “I want to move to Lockleys!” I’m going out on a limb here folks – and I am asking you to join me here – because I am declaring [...]
182 Victoria Square, Adelaide CBD, SA 5000
As I walked around the Adelaide CBD last week, it seriously blew me away hour many cafés and speciality coffee places are around the place. If you decided to work your way through the city, starting at one end of North Terrace and systematically working your way down and up every street, and lane – it would seriously take you a year (especially if you wanted to sleep at some stage….perhaps an idea for a future blog??). I had heard of Blefari, only because I have been hounding the guys at Veneziano about when the ‘First Pour Adelaide’ will be opening on Melbourne Street – and they told me, in the mean time, to check out this place.
Located on the ground floor of the ‘Flinders University’ building – or at least that is what the sign on the roof says; I thought it was one of the Premier’s Department buildings – Bleflari looks like your typical ground floor of an office building café come cafeteria - and I guess, I considering that is what they are – then they hit the mark. If you can get a table outside, either looking across the road at Pilgrim Uniting, or at the grassy knoll on Victoria Square – then the quality of the ambience increases ten fold.
I ventured in around 1:30pm and the place was busy – all tables but one inside were full – but service was quick and efficient – and I was soon at my outside table, book in hand enjoying the sunshine. The coffees arrived in around 3 minutes – which is super fast, and the guy who delivered them was able to fill me in, in what I was about to drink.
Just in case you were wondering what a ‘Cucina’ is – well according to an Italian to English Translator it is a “noun – kitchen; cooker, stove; cookery, cuisine” – hopefully that helps.
195 Victoria Square, Adelaide CBD, SA 5000
Located in the centre of the city, facing the generally beautiful Victoria Square (at this time of year it resembles a fancy smancy caravan park – with all the tents and temporary buildings of the Tour Down Under) Delish Espresso is the last in a line of cafés that begin at the Franklin Street end and create a wall of caffeinated opportunities heading south. What sets Delish apart is also what drew me to them in my search for quality coffee, is that they are the only one NOT sporting some kind of large coffee roasting company paraphernalia on their store, umbrellas and bollards.
A fairly small establishment, with plenty of outdoor seating (6 tables outside, 2 inside) – Delish is run by Barista Marcus Clarke (I assume NOT of the State Bank) and when I was there – his Mum – serving ’boutique coffee’ and light lunches to the many suits (lawyers, bankers, journalists and politicians) that frequent the area. My order was quickly received - after the possibility of a ristretto was confirmed with Marcus – the ultimate of espresso beverages does not appear on the menu board – and I took my seat amidst the ambience of the poplar shaded alfresco area to wait. In less than 2 minutes, Marcus had brought my coffees to the table and when asked about his coffee blend, he told me that he blends his own beans, sourced from 5 Senses.
32 Leigh Street, Adelaide CBD, SA, 5000
Not sure how long the Coffee Branch has been open for – but for quite awhile it has been the place of legend. Even amongst the quality baristas that are popping up all around the city, they speak of the coffee experience at ‘the branch’ in hushed, awestruck tones…and finally – much like Bilbo on his way to Smaug’s Mountain – I made it to Coffee Branch.
Nestled in a ‘hole in the wall’ on the very trendy Leigh Street (complete with tree growing out of a Volkwagon Beetle – I kid you not) – this is one of Adelaide’s premium speciality coffee houses – it even has bicycles hanging on the wall – that is how premium it is!! What you can’t see from the photo – just off to the left – is a ‘gate’ style architectural feature which will remind worldly travellers of a poor man’s ‘Nottinghill Gate’ – or similar, that you will find dotted all over London.
I arrived at 10:45am on a working Wednesday – and the line was still out the door. I had been warned not to arrive in the peak hours of before work, lunch time, smoko, and after work – because the line is ridiculous – but I was surprised, and yet at the same time not – that the line was still out there. Once getting in the line, it took of all three minutes to get to the front and place my order – and I ventured out back into the tree lined street to commandeer one of the tables (there are only 2 of them) – there is some bench seating inside and a few tables at the back – but I suspect that most of their business is take away.
I thought to myself, based on previous experiences in 2012 – that this could take awhile – so I, checked into Foursquare, opened my book and before I got to the bottom of the first paragraph (about 3 minutes) my latte was being delivered – and soon after that, my ristretto… Read the rest of this entry
10,000 hits since the MakeCoffeeNotWar.com relaunch. Thanks to my dedicated reader and your ability to hit refresh 
Seriously – thanks to all those who read regularly and to those who just stumble on through – this is my hobby, and my passion – and it is nice to know that I am not alone in loving great coffee!
Cnr Jetty Road & Durham Street, Glenelg, SA, 5045
This place has the potential to one day be printing money for its owner. It is the ultimate expression of the burgeoning speciality coffee industry in South Australia, located in what is arguably the city’s premiere tourist strip, one street back from Moseley Square and the beach, in partnership with three of the best coffee roasters in the land – yet, on my first visit I was left with a nasty taste in my mouth (literally).
I ventured in on my wife’s birthday (with her blessing) and I said to her , “I would be – no longer than 30 minutes MAX” – and then would catch up with her. I went in, and there was one couple ahead of me waiting for service. We waited (there was four people behind the counter – one of whom was the barista – although it was not 100% clear who that was either) – and looked around at the dark decor, and read all the wonderful coffee ideals on the wall – and we waited – I checked in to Foursquare. Eventually the couple in front of me were served – while a couple who were already seated approached the counter, and embarrassingly asked whether their order had been forgotten…I had a sinking feeling. Finally it was my turn for service and I ordered my standard – a Latte and a Ristretto (always interesting to see what order they come in) – and waited to be asked what beans I would like (assuming that this would happen as they promote their various suppliers on their wall) – but nothing. Hmmmm.
Took a seat – and waited. According to my check in, it was 20 mins until my Ristretto and Latte arrived – together. I proceeded to ask what the beans were and where they from – and I was told they were 5 Senses from Perth. I clarified my question, and was told that he thought they were from Costa Rica. My sinking feeling continued…but now to the review.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,900 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.
This does not happen to me very much – so I was very excited when I tore open this month’s BeanScene Magazine and saw this ugly mug staring back at me! (make sure you click on the image to read the detail…)
Also to my surprise was the fact that they edited down the less than 200 words they asked me for – removing some theological reflection, and also a mention of my current favourite coffee beans – which for the record was Barossa Coffee Roasters – sorry!
While not on the massive media scale of some other colleagues and brothers (radio, newspapers, DVDs…) – I made the press!
For a small appearance fee, I would be happy to come past your café and sign copies for patrons
Thanks for your comments Vincent - always good to have cafe owners on here answering questions and e
Thanks for your comments Larissa - you are more than welcome to differ - no need to beg. One of the
I beg to differ! We are regular customers at Xpress-O on Flinders! As you said it was half full mid
Hi Daniela, As owner of "coffee by the beans" at Lockleys, I look at the additional costs associated
If you had one of my coffees from The Coffee Barun, then yes that was me! :-) I 've checked your blo
Thanks for your comments Abigail. I am glad that someone else doesn't think my experience was unique
I agree with all you have said! For someone who's involved in the industry and checks out ALL the to
TheRev on Beanhunter LATEST BEANHUNTER REVIEWS
