Melbourne and Victoria’s cafe culture is booming: there’s no shortage of exciting new spins on the classic – often with foam on top, sometimes infused with rare seasonal fruits, and occasionally paired with salt bread made fresh out the back. Stalwarts of the industry, meanwhile, are opening their second, third, fourth and fifth venues on both sides of the river, and several new players to the game are bringing the concept of a dirty coffee front and centre.
Hot or cold, flat white or filter, Melbourne’s best new cafes are making magic from Balnarring to Bourke Street. Here are seven we think you’re going to love
Regulars
Melbourne’s hottest cafe trend involves a minus 85 degrees Celsius coffee, and you’ll find it at Regulars in the CBD. It’s called a dirty coffee, popularised across Asia and now pushing its way into Melbourne’s café culture, and it consists of little more than vanilla-infused milk and ristretto. The trick is in the texture, achieved by the milk freezing as it hits the glass – which has just come out of Regulars’ monster-sized ultra low-temperature freezer.
Ground Floor/38-40 Little La Trobe St, Melbourne, @regularsmelb
Patricia
Good sequels take time, and that’s the case with Patricia 2.0. It’s been 15 years in the making, and while it’s still small, it provides the city another opportunity to experience the magic of one of Melbourne’s most defining cafés and coffee roasters. It’s the same exceptional coffee, minus the milk crates out front.
15/50 Lonsdale St, Melbourne, patriciacoffee.com.au, @pcoffeebrewers
Dreamer
Mornington Peninsula’s Dreamer is doubling down on venues, too, with its newly opened second café in Balnarring. It’s all about breakfast and brunch here. Avo on toast is upgraded to avocado tartine and features plenty of lemon ricotta and basil oil, the shakshuka from its original menu remains untouched, and then there’s the Balnarring plate, an unfussy collection of everything you’d want from a breakfast on the Peninsula: more lemon ricotta, avocado, soft-boiled egg, pickled onions, tomatoes and pickles. You’re in good hands when it comes to the brew, too, with coffee supplied by fellow Peninsulans Commonfolk.
15/3050 Frankston-Flinders Rd, Balnarring, dreamercoffeeandfood.com.au, @dreamer_coffeeandfood
Market Lane
When most coffee shops close at 3pm and most wine bars open at 5pm, where do you go? If you’re in Fitzroy North, Market Lane, of course. Its standout coffee has filled the cups of many a Melburnian since it opened its first outpost in Prahran Market in 2009, and now you can get it hot, fresh and delicious in Fitzroy North village right up until the edge of the afternoon.
220 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North, marketlane.com.au, @marketlane
Pinned Coffee
If there’s one way to make a splash in Melbourne’s café culture, it’s to have a signature drink. Good Measure in Carlton has its Mont Blanc, Regulars has laid claim to the dirty coffee here in Melbourne, and newcomer Pinned has what it calls the Lion Tamer – a delicious excursion into all things orange. It starts with house-made orange syrup, it’s topped with spiced orange cream and it’s showered generously in orange zest. Find it, and the queues that come with the drink, in a hole in the wall tucked down Rankins Lane in the CBD.
Rankins Ln, Melbourne, @pinned.coffee
Spyglass Coffee
I spy another dirty coffee, but this one is done with coconut milk. Spyglass is back with another chrome-covered CBD spot, serving up the same stacked chicken sandwiches, specialty coffee and surprising signature drinks you’ve come to know and love.
Rear of 600 Bourke St (cnr Little Bourke St and Gresham St), Melbourne, @spyglasscoffee_melb
Interlude
From the team that brought you beloved specialty coffee shop Cafe Tomi comes specialty tea spot Interlude. The name of the game here is Chinese and Japanese teas – green, black, oolong and red – all paired up with a bounty of baked goods prepared lovingly in the bakery out back. Baker Taylor Kim uses danishes as a base to explore flavours ranging from corn cheese to chorizo and cheddar, while former Society pastry chef Kyoko Miyazaki handles desserts including matcha pudding and oolong-infused castella cake.
Level 1, 62–64 Little La Trobe St, Melbourne, interlude.melbourne, @interlude.melbourne
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