Aroma coffee. This is the café I’ve seen for years at the corner of king st and sydney park rd. Inside, it’s pure newtown: lounges, old furniture, even a courtyard with some outdoor seats.
Coffee is good, but not great: strong, good texture. Good food choices, an excellent vibe, and water provided when you sit down!
Update: closed down
When I discovered Glow cafe, I was attracted by how it embodies the culture of Newtown. I love the vibe at Glow too and the automatic deliverance of refreshing cold water when you sit down. I am mostly impressed by the quality and price of the food and beverages and the cleanliness which is somewhat lacking at other local cafes. The cafe accommodates all walks of life including prams, dogs, smokers and non-smokers. I was surprise to read that the coffee is good but not great. From my experience the coffee is always great and even better when you have in and can see the lovely designs on the crème. Perhaps you accidentally got a soy milk coffee by accident!
Just a quick addition – discovered this cafe the other weekend.
This place expresses the ‘Newtown’ you had in your mind when you decided to jump the train / bus / car to that area.
Comfy furniture that only betrays is ad hoc appearance with its lounge-room vibe. Colourful walls inside hang framed 1960’s San Fran concert posters and a huge Elvis portrait. [before entering check out the huge wall art by brilliant Melbourne artist, Phibs].
The music showed no penchant for ‘Ibiza classics’ – while we were there is ranged from females blues vocals to Tom waits and into (i think?) T-Rex.
Food – Huge portions of unpretentious and tasty food presented imaginatively and originally [my friend’s fruit salad and my ‘Little Glow Brekky’ took the profile of dishes served with glossy cooking magazines spreads in mind – and then we sullied them with hunger’s contempt !]
Coffee – Round, full. No hint of burnt bitterness nor the watery ‘one shot’ shortcut you can get elsewhere. Coffee sat on the top of the milk and continued down the cup, like it should.
Only down side was that the place seems to be punching above its weight and at the time we got there at around 11:30ish, the wait on the order was alittle stretched.
All in all – i’ve been back afew times now and think i’ve found one of the last unaffected enclaves of ‘old Newtown’ along the local cafe strip.
captain peacock above is a little biased. related to the cafe.
sorry, but better newtown cafes down the strip………………enjoy the stroll.