Café Melbourne
Informations
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Jaffles, tourtes australiennes, muffins faits maison ; tout ça et plus au Café Melbourne.
What she thought
Next stop on our Indie Coffee Passport voyage was Café Melbourne—a bit of Australia in Montréal. Hearing the accents of the barista and others who stopped by from that part of the world during our visit was refreshing.
- Coffee: The coffee menu at Café Melbourne is divided into Noir et Blanc, meaning one shot of espresso straight or with 4, 8 or 12 ounces of milk added. I was surprised that the espresso drinks were made with only one shot. I had a latte made with one shot of Kittel espresso and 8 ounces of milk. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you which of Kittel’s coffee roasts it was. The taste of the latte lacked a lot of the rich flavors I have been tasting in some of the cafés I have visited recently. The latte was not milky but the foam was thin, although I still had a tiny spoonful of foam left at the bottom of the cup. We also tried an espresso shot with 4 ounces of milk. The coffee flavor was more apparent; however, the espresso crema looked oily in appearance and the taste was not rich and flavorful. I felt there might have been an issue with the extraction.
- Seating: Some natural light enters through the large storefront window. Though a somewhat small space, the café has a fair amount of seating. In addition to a large, rough-hewn, high table, there are bars with stool seating along the window and the walls. Seating is also available at a bar nearby the barista area. Outside, a mini-terrace is in front of the window with some benches and small (tiny) stools.
- Atmosphere: Located on a busy stretch of Saint-Laurent Boulevard, there is a fair bit of noise that comes from the street. The barista (owner?) was not very animated or overly friendly with us. He did answer all our questions, albeit very succinctly. He was much more animated with people he knew that came in or passed on the street.
Final Thoughts: I want to encourage independent cafés, so stop into Café Melbourne and see what you think. Their selection of baked goods looked yummy, and the banana bread I had with my latte was delightful.
Nice latte art but not a lot of rich coffee flavor.
Ce qu’il en pense
Nous étions intrigués de visiter le Café Melbourne, nous avions lu quelques bons commentaires à leur sujet. Comme Montréal est un melting pot culturel, il est intéressant de visiter des commerces qui ont certains éléments qui rappellent la culture de leur(s) propriétaire(s). Au Café Melbourne, cela se matérialise, entre autre, dans le décor et le menu. Ce menu comprend des jaffles, sandwichs pressés au bords scellés, ici baptisés de façon inusitée : celui au thon s’appelle le “Flipper”.
Le café utilisé est le Kittel, de Montréal. Le latté est offert en trois formats: 4oz, 8oz et 12oz. Tous sont préparés à partir d’un espresso simple, seule la quantité de lait ajoutée change. J’ai d’abord commandé la version 8oz, mais le goût du café y était très effacé, le lait y avait cependant une assez bonne texture. J’ai ensuite commandé le format 4oz pour donner une juste chance au café. Le goût était plus prononcé, mais j’ai trouvé qu’il ne faisait pas bon mariage avec le lait.
- Le café (latté): le 8oz n’avait rien d’enthousiasmant au goût. Le 4oz était certes plus corsé, mais ne formait pas un heureux mélange avec le lait.
- Les lieux: une grande table haute, des comptoirs où s’asseoir, l’espace n’est pas encombré. Des tubes de Vegemite et une photo de Jean-Paul II complètent le décor.
- Le personnel: désintéressé, même si nous étions les seuls à commander. Pourtant, on peut lire à plusieurs endroits que les propriétaires sont sympathiques.
Un simple espresso et 4 onces de lait moussé.
