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There's so many cafes in Melbourne, new ones seem to be popping up every day. We like cafes and we like coffee. This site aims to uncover some of these great places.

Empire Expresso Bar

Empire Expresso Bar
300 Sydney Rd
Brunswick
(03) 9380-8061

Public Transport:

Tram No 19, Stop No. 26
Train Upfield line, get off Brunswick Station.
Bus 506 and 508 have stops in vicinity

Rating: 14/20

Mobile use? None noticed.
Papers avail? Age.
Music? Some sort of mixed CD or similar. Various tunes from cheesy old style pop, to synthy soundscapes and house. Right volume.
Automatic water? Yes.
Crowd? Young to elderly, majority 30-something couples.

***

Empire faces onto busy Sydney Rd with old-style glass frontage. I walk in. There’s a retro look to it. Lamanex topped tables with silver edges and odd chairs. Two 20-30 somethings guys sit at a table right up at the front window. About four tables are positioned along the left side wall, a lady in her 70s with a young man and woman at one of these, a couple and their young kid at another.

Colour scheme of purple and green. There’s doorway at the back; another room with a cosy open fire, two or three tables and a pleasant smelling incense.

There’s a decent breakfast menu, bacon and eggs, and all the extras. Also pancakes. I’m in the mood for something lighter though and opt for one of the pides; sundried tomato bocconcini cheese, pesto. For coffee, a long black. The waiter is a cheerful, easy going type. Water is delivered immediately without needing to ask.

A noticeable factor straight away is lack of noise. Even though there’s about four different groups in this area, it’s not loud with talking, music or banging cutlery. Music plays at the right volume. At the moment it’s a sort of house beat.

I’m the only one at this communal table. Two Age’s are spread across it. I grab a section and read.

The coffee arrives in large brown cup with patterns on it. A definite crema on top, although a little thin. It’s a single-shot long black, but the flavour is fairly good. Importantly, it’s hot! My pide comes in a minute or two. It has a pleasant pesto flavour and some basil. My only gripe would be that if you bite in the wrong place, a whole sun-dried can end up hanging on your lip.

In this time a few people have left, including the two guys at the front window. I contentedly flick over to another page in the Age. Ah, the Opinion section. Some good reading ahead. A woman enters and orders a soy latte. Five minutes later I hear her commenting positively on the cup she receives it in. “I get them from the op-shop,” the waiter replies, “Only cost a buck or two. And I avoid that Coles Cafeteria look!”

14/20

1 July 05 by Lawrence Martin

4 Comments for Empire Expresso Bar

  1. Nicely written review but you need to learn some descriptors for coffee – “fairly good” tells me absolutely nothing.

    — Daniel Reeders · Nov 22, 03:16 PM · #

  2. Cheers. Yes, I hope to provide a sort of “idea of a place” in the reviews. In fact, this is really the main aim. If you’re after coffee ratings/reviews this is not the site to come to. We are not coffee experts, hence a critical review of coffee is not something you will find in the reviews.

    — Lawrence Martin · Nov 22, 09:47 PM · #

  3. this cafe has changed hands and has been completely renovated since you last visited by the look of your discriptions. Perhaps it is worth your heading back there and trying it out now, i’d be interested in what you have to say about it now.

    — anita · Mar 13, 06:32 PM · #

  4. Thanks for your comment Anita — yes, I will have to get there again. Some of these reviews are getting a bit old now!

    — Lawrence · Jun 15, 10:04 PM · #