The World Loves Melbourne Blog

This would have to be one of the hippest most exciting cafes in Melbourne! Possibly Hipster HQ! Pearl Oyster has an incredible ambience fashioned by quirky features, interesting plants, awesome staff and mismatched furniture. There’s four stunning areas to enjoy including two indoor areas, outside on the pavement and then out the back in the garden area.

I’m trying to work out whether this incredible vibe is planned or ad hoc… There must be a genius behind the scenes! Love the retro red chairs! Love the mirror balls strung across the window! Love the Chinese lantern hanging out the front! Elvis poster in the bathroom! Love the cutlery and 50s influences! Love the chaos in the open kitchen!

D’Marco is like an Italian café you would find in Italy and serves exceptional coffee and gourmet delights. The location is slightly surprising in a Centre right near Chinatown. This is a great picture of Melbourne! Dumplings next to an Espresso haven! D’Marco oozes charm with great ambience!

I’m getting to love the Italian way of coffee with strong blends and tasting notes that linger on – rather than a creamy coffee that is weak. D’Marco serves good strong coffee with great crema made with Vittoria beans. Al Pacino would be proud!

This is like chic Rome or Milan from yesteryear (I was there in the 70s). Love the velour benches, the dark timbers and the iconic stools. And I also love the posters with Italian themes from past decades.

Abbotsford Convent Bakery is one of my favourite places in Melbourne. It’s a great place to be on a sunny Melbourne day at one of the humble tables taking in the Convent ambience.

The Bakery is in the kitchen wing where the Sisters of the Good Shepherd made their culinary delights. I love how the Bakery has preserved the ambience of the inside area – rather than give it the full modern restoration. Love it!

We came here just to chill out after a long day of shopping and galleries. The coffee here is excellent and they sell great value organic coffee. Choose from the bakery selection including baguettes, cakes, tarts, cupcakes, and the amazing breads!

Bouchon is a wonderful café on classy High Street in Armadale. It’s such a welcoming café with great staff and excellent menu selections. There is ambience in spades whether inside or outside on the High Street.

Firstly, the coffee here is excellent using St Ali Coffee… The crema was perfect and the coffee rich in flavour. The large latte came in a large mug. Hot chocolates are also great here. As are the juices.

Chimmy’s is a popular café and bakery on Bridge Rd and is one of Richmonds’ finest! Having been there several dozen times I’m impressed with the food and drink, service and ambience. It’s not super fine dining but excellent food at a reasonable price.

Chimmy’s is always busy but it’s great to come here with groups and grab a large table for a convivial meal. Or grab some outside tables and enjoy the ambience of Bridge Road.

Miss Polly is a great place to catch up friends, enjoy a coffee after shopping or even come for a special occasion. In recent times the Brittania Mall has undergone pleasant changes and is now a worthy café strip.

Mitcham and the Eastern suburbs needs cafes such as Miss Polly (that could easily be dropped into the CBD – coffee bean district). The ambience seemed French to me… Wasn’t sure if there was a connection with the nursery rhyme, the film, or none of these…

Love their description on their Facebook page – “Miss Polly is a new funky cafe in Britannia Mall Mitcham. The decor is bright, homey and very cosy...yet with a sophistication to it. Miss Polly serves fair trade and organic Toby's Estate coffee and hot-chocolate. Only free-range eggs from south gippsland are used, which are delicious. And only fresh and great quality produce. With a great breakfast and lunch all day menu and freshly baked cakes, muffins and scones every morning...Miss Polly has something to suit everyone.”

We came here after I’d just got out of Box Hill Hospital for an operation. I’d been subjected to some fairly average food in hospital so I was in the mood for a positive review when we rolled up to Miss Polly. I had been hoping that Shannon Bennett might open up something in our public hospitals like he’s done at airports and art galleries. The thought of that concept still excites me!

“I’m no schoolboy but I know what I like!” exclaimed Mick Jagger in the famous Stones song. I wonder whether he was referring to the coffee and breakfast options at Brown Sugar café in Block Arcade.

You’ve got to love Block Arcade. Steeped in history going about 130 years when the fine citizens of the day used to “do the block” in their leisurely stroll. Today you rarely see any Melburnians taking a leisurely stroll anywhere – we are all rushing to be somewhere. Yet Block Arcade with its amazing mosaic floor and fine architecture deserves a stroll or two to take in the magnificence!

The Block brings a fresh approach and great coffee to Westfield Doncaster. Long, narrow and spacious one can just drop in conveniently and enjoy a great coffee! Love the decor! Love how it integrates with the shopping experience! Love how its also a haven for those caffeine cravings!

The Block is the second Coffee Hit in the Centre. There are so many cafes in this place that one could be confused about where to go... I had always rated the original Coffee Hit in the Centre as serving great coffee and wondrous latte art... Still do!

A small thing - but thanks for those newspapers...

Very hipster! Walking down Brunswick Street we stumbled across Black Cat on a lazy Saturday afternoon. As we’d been walking for about an hour this was the perfect café to visit.

We made a beeline for the large welcoming mismatched lounges. Once we’d done that we were so comfortable we didn’t want to leave in a hurry.

It was then I checked out the grungy room to discover the odds and sods arrangements on the walls and about the place. It looks and feels like the lounge room from the 1970’s (yes I can remember – only just). Someone told me Black Cat was famous for being pioneers in this kind of feel and look. I’m told they are an iconic part of Brunswick Street and indeed Fitzroy (around for decades).

Niche on Bridge is a great addition to the Bridge Rd café scene. This is a great place to come for brunch and to meet as groups. It’s in a great location with plenty of parking nearby including directly in front of the café.

Love the modern ambience of this café as a contrast with several “grunge” type options (which I also enjoy) in the precinct. Great place for brunch/lunch on a weekend!

I love the spaciousness with many tables and the ability to cater for larger groups. I love the golden table (is that gold tiles under the glass?). Or enjoy the ambience at outside tables.

A taste of Paris in the Melbourne CBD. This Patisserie is large and spacious and oozes elegance and charm. A great place to meet friends. The fit out here is classy, with marble topped counter areas by the window overlooking the lane.

The selection in the glass display cabinets is almost overwhelming. Try and choose from the amazing selection of baguettes, cakes, macaroons, and other tasty delights.

You recognise a “foodie” kind of place when you see one! Mamma’s Boy is a “foodie” haven, like Fatto a Mano is a “foodie” haven. One of the best value gourmet establishments in Melbourne.

Love the ambience with concrete floor and open kitchen!

Self Preservation has a great ambience and is a popular café on Bourke St. Seems to be a favourite of office types and trendy set. Come here for great coffee, tasty menu options and the ambience.

To be honest I’ve found this place hard to find, only because the self Preservation signage above the café is easier to spot if you stand back a little – like on the other side of the road.

Come here for iconic Melbourne ambience. Demi Tasse is a great part of Melbourne’s legal precinct on Londsdale. Known for great coffee, wine and food, and a charming ambience.

Demi Tasse means half or small cup in French. They take their coffee seriously with Jasper fair trade coffee. I loved my large latte here which came in a gigantic mug! But the coffee was superb and not too milky.

Love the almost retro feel with timbers and panelling. Low lighting lamps along with fluros. Love the cool furniture with leather and timber, oozing an elegance.

One of Melbourne’s best kept secrets. It’s a haven for those who’ve just endured a packed train ride. To unwind in Emily’s Place is the perfect relax. It’s a small café with a great ambience. In fact there are cool photos on the wall with a French/European theme. And, as typical of French themed cafes, quirky objects to be seen around the room.

At times there’s dreamy music playing away… And you can dream that you are in fact in Europe and not in bustling Melbourne Central.

Love the little booths with the small cushions. Sit here and have breakfast and read the paper (and/or check emails). Occasionally glancing up as the regulars stream in for their morning coffee.

One of my favourite breakfast places because of the focus on great coffee and simple menu choices. Seriously this is one of the best coffee houses in Melbourne! Cafenatics have quite a few outlets around Melbourne (currently 9 so they must be doing something right) including a great cafe in QV, excellent cafe at 500 Bourke and a vibey cafe in Docklands (always packed, great decor and excellent food options and the best coffee in the area).

They won Australia’s best coffee chain award in 2010 and I find the quality of coffee consistently high.

Great café hidden away as part of RMIT – you just need to be able to find it! Fortunately there is some signage from La Trobe but you are kept guessing! Pearson and Murphy’s is a big departure from the cafeteria’s I was used to at Uni back in the 80s. Back then it was just a pie or for something exotic some fried rice with chilli sauce! This place offers quality gourmet food in the form of wraps, sandwiches, muffins and the like.

Cool and quirky! What an exciting and unique café on Fitzroy St! Great place to take out of towners! This is a large spacious café with several beguiling sections. You can sit by the entrance and play board games while enjoying gourmet pizza and fine coffee, sit around the old barbeque that doubles for a table or even go out to the back section to enter a world of fun and all things quirky.

Attached to the popular Gills’ Diner this inner city bakery has a class of it’s own. Enjoy a quality coffee while reading the paper on a stool, while admiring the cool mosaic tiles on walls and even on the floor by the entrance.

Come here for a great breakfast which could include a major bacon and egg or ommlette option or something simple like an egg and bacon muffin – which is presented with a touch of gourmet and toasted while you wait.

Early morning punters prefer enjoying the upstairs area that becomes Gill’s Diner. The downstairs section is really for single diners not groups, but the large window that is opened up on a good day gives you an outlook onto Little Collins St.

Sally’s Kitchen is a brilliant restaurant for fine food, wonderful ambience, and great service. Local office workers and business professionals love it! Sally is friendly and passionate about the food and dining experience. This adds to it all! The website says Sally is looking to “share her knowledge and love of cooking. The menu is a combination of different cuisines (and Sally’s experiences of cooking for family and friends).”

Great options for breakfast including the creamy scrambled eggs and pork and fennel sausage! Also love the sour dough and preserves (make themselves) with French butter! At lunch you can get a great sandwich or a risotto and many other great choices!

Coffee from Sally’s Kitchen is superb! My large latte was just so impressive in terms of taste and cream, not to mention latte art! The website says ‘Sally’s Kitchen uses their organically grown blend which carries Fairtrade certification which ensures the growers are paid a price which covers the costs of production and provides funds for education and community services. Taken to a full espresso roast, this coffee has a creamy body, medium, acidity, some gamey fruit and an earthy, spicy complexity. Suitable for all brewing methods but best as espresso in milk.”