A minor place
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 café 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 a.m. 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 café has a wireless network.
Did the café 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.
Rating 15/20
Rating update 16/20 (June 3, ’06)
Rating update 17/20 (June 19, ’07)
(Although I don’t ‘rate’ cafes anymore, this is an old-school review and gets a rating update)
3 June 06 *Update
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.
17 June 07 *Update
This place is well settled in now. It seems more accomplished, confident and the coffees are just superb.
Nice 2 know there R otherz hoo have “too many” coffees in da one day, Lawrence. I’m a cafe addict, which means I have 2 visit abowt 3 – 6 cafes a day JUST 4 da satisfying experience & atmosphere. It’s my way of connecting 2 other people.
— Ling Ling · Jul 1, 08:10 PM · #
Thanks for your comments. That’s (3-6) a lot of cafes in a day! But, yes, cafes are great for atmosphere, observation, reading, chatting… can’t be beaten really. It’s not hard to see how an addiction forms. We’re very lucky to have so many good caf’s on Melb.
— Lawrence · Jul 4, 10:30 AM · #