Allpress – cafedave.net

elatte cafe, padstow heights

cafe elatte, padstow heights

Allpress Espresso. 101 Villiers Rd, Padstow Heights. After a long time searching the green train line in Sydney for promising cafes, I’d all but given up finding anything that was putting forward a quality cup of coffee. I’d noticed a sign on Henry Lawson Drive that mentioned the cafe, and thought I’d try it out. It’s in a refurbished corner store – major refurbishment, and a really homey space.

There’s a bit staff working behind the scenes, they’re very child-friendly, and their coffee is solid – even their espresso.

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The Little Queen cafe, Chippendale

Allpress coffee. 28-30 Queen St, Chippendale. With windows at street level, it’s down a few stairs to the main space, which seats about 20.

Fresh flowers on the communal table separate out the space a little, and underneath there are a wide range of magazines and newspapers to wade through.

Most of the space has dark walls, with an almost Campos-green feature colour throughout, and then there’s this corner:

Spectacular colours, and Union Jack cushion covers bring home the “Queen” theme (if you look closely near the cash register, you can see a little statue of the Queen).

They manage to do a lot in the small space – there’s a freshly made salad of the day on offer, and some of the biggest sandwiches I’ve ever seen in a cafe ($9, unreviewed).

I heard about this place via the brasserie bread blog, and thought I should check it out.

Coffee is pleasant; pre-ground, but still a hint of sweetness.

Water is self-serve.

Update 24-11-10: They also have a little queen cafe facebook page with a daily update of their salad, and muffin of the day (thanks mei.

Cafe 407, Surry Hills

Allpress coffee. 407 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills. I noticed people walking around nearby with Allpress cups, and was pleasantly surprised to work out the source. Oddly, there’s nothing outside the cafe to suggest such a high-quality coffee is made here.

Inside, this place feels like an old fish-and-chip shop’s fittings have been given some paint and pictures to bring them up a notch: to go a step further, it would be necessary to do some serious remodelling, but it seems that with mostly takeaway customers that this is unnecessary.

The decaf latte is good: this would be a place worth revisiting if you’re in the neighborhood, and surely one of the better cups available in a two-block radius.

My Cuppa, Ultimo

Allpress Coffee. 769 Harris St, Ultimo. I spotted an Allpress cup on a desk at UTS, and asked “Where can I find it”. The answer was “around the corner from campus”, and indeed, only a short walk from the UTS Broadway campus is this place. With a bare street presence, it’s an easy one to miss, but they’re doing good work.

In the window are a range of pre-prepared breakfast and lunch options: salads, muesli-and-yoghurts. There’s indoor seating in the shop immediately next to the cafe (just walk through the interior doorway and down the step).

Coffee (the decaf is pre-ground) was good: the familiar Allpress flavour is there, and they know what they’re doing in making it.

Red Hook on Park, Sydney CBD

Allpress Espresso coffee. 60 Park St, Sydney (opposite Starbucks). It might be considered brave to set up a cafe across the road from the first Starbucks in Sydney, but this place doesn’t seem worried. Modern design with lots of straight lines and a repetitive dance beat, and an interior colour palette that it mostly black and grey, with red highlights. The cafe has the usual menu options: sandwiches and salads.

Coffee is the usual Allpress standard: a perfectly reasonable cup, but there’s nothing here that particularly draws me back to keep visiting.

Brasserie Bread, Banksmeadow

brasserie bread, banksmeadow

Allpress coffee. 1737 botany rd banksmeadow. It’s a long walk past the bread counter, all the way to the espresso bench in this bakery / café. Seating almost 50 in a modern, refurbished warehouse space, there’s a window into the bakery proper where a superb array of breads are created monday to saturday.

Coffee is quite well made: the milkwork is impressive, though grinding to order might enhance the freshness somewhat.

Worth a visit for the bread alone – try the caramelised garlic bread, even at breakfast time!

Brasserie Bread, Banksmeadow

Stir café, balmain

Allpress espresso coffee. 354 darling st, balmain. A green colourbond fence surrounds a paved courtyard with its funky wooden chairs, and black-painted wooden tables.

Staf are friendly, they even come to the table and pour your water for you, with a slice of lemon in the glass: above the call of duty.

The decaf is good – $5 gets you a bowl latte with four shots of coffee: it’s a monster, but it’s good drinking.

Quikfix coffee, sydney domestic terminal 2

Allpress coffee. Fast moving order process here: grind to order, helpful staff. Overlooks the tarmac. Sells food, coffee beans, and snacks.

Coffee is quite good. Hot, but not too hot, just the right texture. A good find as you race to your flight.

Le monde café, surry hills

UPDATE (4-Jun-10): I’ve revisited this cafe.

Allpress coffee. 83 foveaux st, surry hills. Cheerful french style accordion music is regularly drowned out by the sound of beans being ground, and coffee being made.

The aesthetic is dark wood, even lining the walls up to the high ceilings, and though the lighting is a little low, it has a pleasant ambience.

Coffee is made quickly – especially for takeaway orders, and it’s tasty and well made. Worth a visit.

This seems like it would be a good place to get some writing done, though it was difficult to get the waiter’s attention to order subsequent drinks after the first order: perhaps a more lenghty stay would correct that.

Grumpy baker, waverton

Allpress coffee. A combination of bakery, gourmet food shop and café, this friendly place even has a space in the back for kids to play.

The music – classic hits – is a little loud for ambience, but it distracts nicely from the sound of traffic. Wide range of lunch options: sandwiches and pies, and a highly tempting cake selection.

Coffee is good: promptly made, good temperature for immediate drinking, and tastes good: especially for a decaf.