FOREWORD
Market cafes have come a long, long way from the shitty mountain foam cappuccinos that were served in the cafes of Preston market, who am I kidding, Preston market still has fucking terrible coffee, and so do most others, but the recent wave of a select few cafes opening in old markets, such as this place, has definitely given me some hope of riding to a market early* on a Saturday morning, lock my fixie** up, and take my keep cup*** to the awesome barista to give me the energy I need. So when I heard that the crew from the highly coveted Brunswick East Project were opening in South Melbourne Market, I was very eager to get down there to have a look. That morning, however didn’t start off as well as I would have liked, here’s a quick summary ( its too long and will take up way to much attention from the point of this review, so read it after you’ve finished this article, and then come back and enter your reaction here_____________. Here’s my reaction to your reaction: Hahaha, I know right. )
THE STORE
The finishing’s are similar to the Brunswick East Project, but the energy here is very different (and in no way is that a negative comment to the Brunswick store, you know I love that place) the best way to describe it is as: organised chaos. The chaos part is due to the fact that I think it’s the best execution of a specialty café adapting to a market environment. It doesn’t take you away from the market like Market Lane does (no negativity implied there, honest, read my review) instead it amplifies the whole experience. It’s constantly buzzing with with people, there’s always a line out the store, the tables are packed, and the retail section is like an Apple store the day after a new iPhone is released.
Doesn’t sound that appealing yet, does it? Here’s where the ‘organised’ part of kicks in. It is probably one of the most efficiently run cafes I have ever seen. The line moves incredibly quick, your coffee is in your hands before you know it and all the while the staff are chatting to the regulars as though there’s no one in the store. The crew really go all out to create a really great energy about the store, you can see they love working there, and love what they do. Especially the not-so-camera-shy Ken, who’s face you will see pop up in just about every photo above, its like Where’s Wally, you think he’s not in the shot, but he’s there ☺, and I believe that very fact is testament to the way he runs the place, you’ll see him on the slayer, on the floor, in retail, beat boxing on table tops (we'll see), but he’s always somewhere helping the team out. And that’s what makes Padre coffee so special (in all their locations), the people that work there are just an awesome bunch. So credit to Marinus for knowing how to hand select and hand craft the perfect baristas and beans.
THE COFFEE
Let’s be honest, coming in here knowing what I know about Padre I wasn’t expecting anything but a perfect coffee. And that’s what I got. I had about 8 coffees, but ill focus on the latte and the double ristretto. I had the latte in the Padre blend, which is my blend of choice for milk-based coffee. Tones of dark chocolate and caramel, it is well suited for milk which, may I add, was perfectly textured and served to me about 3 seconds after it was poured ( considering the amount of people in there, that was quite a feat and also why I cant stop raving about this place). The double ristretto was through the single origin Sumatran, and was just divine. Syrupy, low acidity, bright and had floral notes,, just what I needed to get me through the morning.
Note: Padre Coffee are now smashing out coffees on 2 Slayers (in case you didn’t know, they are the Aston Martin of coffee machines) and unlike some other cafes in town, they DON’T charge extra to have coffee through them. Which brings me to another point about Padre, they use the best machines and beans and keep their prices very well priced (i.e bag of 250gm Padre Blend is only $10)
They also have some cold drip and other brews on offer, which im sure I had, but at that point, the amount of caffeine in my veins didn’t allow me to write down any more notes.
-
* more like midday
** i don't have a fixie, or a bike that works in fact, I was just trying to impress you.
*** seriously, a keep cup? me wash my own cup? you don't know me very well. but keep cups are great.
Market cafes have come a long, long way from the shitty mountain foam cappuccinos that were served in the cafes of Preston market, who am I kidding, Preston market still has fucking terrible coffee, and so do most others, but the recent wave of a select few cafes opening in old markets, such as this place, has definitely given me some hope of riding to a market early* on a Saturday morning, lock my fixie** up, and take my keep cup*** to the awesome barista to give me the energy I need. So when I heard that the crew from the highly coveted Brunswick East Project were opening in South Melbourne Market, I was very eager to get down there to have a look. That morning, however didn’t start off as well as I would have liked, here’s a quick summary ( its too long and will take up way to much attention from the point of this review, so read it after you’ve finished this article, and then come back and enter your reaction here_____________. Here’s my reaction to your reaction: Hahaha, I know right. )
THE STORE
The finishing’s are similar to the Brunswick East Project, but the energy here is very different (and in no way is that a negative comment to the Brunswick store, you know I love that place) the best way to describe it is as: organised chaos. The chaos part is due to the fact that I think it’s the best execution of a specialty café adapting to a market environment. It doesn’t take you away from the market like Market Lane does (no negativity implied there, honest, read my review) instead it amplifies the whole experience. It’s constantly buzzing with with people, there’s always a line out the store, the tables are packed, and the retail section is like an Apple store the day after a new iPhone is released.
Doesn’t sound that appealing yet, does it? Here’s where the ‘organised’ part of kicks in. It is probably one of the most efficiently run cafes I have ever seen. The line moves incredibly quick, your coffee is in your hands before you know it and all the while the staff are chatting to the regulars as though there’s no one in the store. The crew really go all out to create a really great energy about the store, you can see they love working there, and love what they do. Especially the not-so-camera-shy Ken, who’s face you will see pop up in just about every photo above, its like Where’s Wally, you think he’s not in the shot, but he’s there ☺, and I believe that very fact is testament to the way he runs the place, you’ll see him on the slayer, on the floor, in retail, beat boxing on table tops (we'll see), but he’s always somewhere helping the team out. And that’s what makes Padre coffee so special (in all their locations), the people that work there are just an awesome bunch. So credit to Marinus for knowing how to hand select and hand craft the perfect baristas and beans.
THE COFFEE
Let’s be honest, coming in here knowing what I know about Padre I wasn’t expecting anything but a perfect coffee. And that’s what I got. I had about 8 coffees, but ill focus on the latte and the double ristretto. I had the latte in the Padre blend, which is my blend of choice for milk-based coffee. Tones of dark chocolate and caramel, it is well suited for milk which, may I add, was perfectly textured and served to me about 3 seconds after it was poured ( considering the amount of people in there, that was quite a feat and also why I cant stop raving about this place). The double ristretto was through the single origin Sumatran, and was just divine. Syrupy, low acidity, bright and had floral notes,, just what I needed to get me through the morning.
Note: Padre Coffee are now smashing out coffees on 2 Slayers (in case you didn’t know, they are the Aston Martin of coffee machines) and unlike some other cafes in town, they DON’T charge extra to have coffee through them. Which brings me to another point about Padre, they use the best machines and beans and keep their prices very well priced (i.e bag of 250gm Padre Blend is only $10)
They also have some cold drip and other brews on offer, which im sure I had, but at that point, the amount of caffeine in my veins didn’t allow me to write down any more notes.
-
* more like midday
** i don't have a fixie, or a bike that works in fact, I was just trying to impress you.
*** seriously, a keep cup? me wash my own cup? you don't know me very well. but keep cups are great.
CONCLUSION
It's probably going to be one of the best coffees you will have at a market, actually, let's just say anywhere. Consistently perfect coffee, great range of retail & beans and amazing staff that work with your needs: you can be in and out in 2 mins or hang around for an hour. The choice is yours. If you ask me, do both: Come in the morning for a takeaway, do you all your market shopping, then come back, grab a seat, a double ristretto, a pastry and then if you go up to Ken and say this: "Cheers, Ken. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. And I have promises to keep. Miles to go before I sleep. Did you hear me, Ken? Miles to go, before you sleep." Ken will jump up on the Slayer and beatbox for you ;) ( BTW he doesn't know this yet, should be interesting... )
DETAILS
Coffee: Padre Coffee
Machines: 2 x Slayers
Latte: $3.5
Ristretto: $3
250gm beans: $10
-
South Melbourne Market
Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun 6am-4pm
P 9699 8348
www.padrecoffee.com.au
twitter: @padrecoffee
It's probably going to be one of the best coffees you will have at a market, actually, let's just say anywhere. Consistently perfect coffee, great range of retail & beans and amazing staff that work with your needs: you can be in and out in 2 mins or hang around for an hour. The choice is yours. If you ask me, do both: Come in the morning for a takeaway, do you all your market shopping, then come back, grab a seat, a double ristretto, a pastry and then if you go up to Ken and say this: "Cheers, Ken. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. And I have promises to keep. Miles to go before I sleep. Did you hear me, Ken? Miles to go, before you sleep." Ken will jump up on the Slayer and beatbox for you ;) ( BTW he doesn't know this yet, should be interesting... )
DETAILS
Coffee: Padre Coffee
Machines: 2 x Slayers
Latte: $3.5
Ristretto: $3
250gm beans: $10
-
South Melbourne Market
Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun 6am-4pm
P 9699 8348
www.padrecoffee.com.au
twitter: @padrecoffee