St Ali's

Once again we were on a coffee mission in Melbourne. Armed with the 3 bean recommendations from the 2010 Melbourne Coffee Review we set out to see how good the supposedly best coffee in Melbourne really was. On the way we discovered some very groovy cafes we may never have found otherwise.

St Ali's is a case in point, tucked into a completely unprepossessing Melbourne lane in an ex-industrial site we would never have found it if our previous experience of Brother Baba Budan hadn't taught us to look hard for Melbourne's hidden delights. We duly noticed a bench outside a very dull looking building and, on closer approach, realised that we had found the cafe. Inside an unmarked door there is a large double sized industrial space filled with a selection of eclectic seating and a lot of very happy people eating brunch and drinking very tasty smelling coffees.

St Ali roast their own beans and sell to other venues and the public. The morning we visited we tried the El Salvador COE #15 (i.e. it achieved 15th place in the Cup of Excellence) as a latte. It was very good but had perhaps been slightly over roasted for our taste.

We also enjoyed their quirky menu. My friend had an almond croissant and I had "a pretentious pear" consisting of a shot glass of carrot, celery and ginger juice and a perfectly ripe pear served with a knife stuck through it. It was a lot like the place itself - quirky and fun and very tasty.