alwaysacoffee

9 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  10     

Only had coffee here, and it's really good. In this original Toby's Estate coffee shop, you'll be able to taste the true nature of Toby's Estate coffees with that Arabica coffee bean's full bodiness to its flavour. Fresh roast and fresh grind are also a bless to have in Sydney. The only problem is that they over-roast the beans a little that it has a smoky after-taste to it. If you don't like over-roasted coffee beans, then Toby's Estate is not for you. Milk is also good, there's no complaint about barista, either. It's good for coffee and a place to hang out.

May 21, 2011

8 Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  10     

Only had coffee in Mecca Espresso, Coffee is definitely freshly roasted coffee beans and freshly grinded, and they use quality milk to produce just 100% perfect coffee that I'd love every day. The shop has a lovely coffee oil smell that's just homely and inviting. No matter how long you have to wait for, it's truly worth it.

But the problem is that the coffees are not consistent. The first day I had a great coffee, then another day I went there in the morning rush hour, and the coffee is not even as good as the coffees in my business building. Very disappointed.

May 21, 2011

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

6.5 Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  5     

This is only a coffee review. Dymocks uses Karmee coffee beans, in my opinion, medium bitterness with average level of aromas in it. The milk they use is definitely cheap cheap milk, no creaminess or flavour, and froth disappears within 30 seconds. Overall, coffee is not good.

But the cafe has great atmosphere, table and chair are solid and separated from each other, like American cafe style. It's very well located with views over downstairs bookstore, a lovely place for drawing, book reading, chilling out, and surprisingly quiet that you can have conversation at low volume and privacy to yourself.

For the ambience, I'll go back again. It's hard to find a good chill out place like this in city, but I would order orange juice or hot chocolate, not coffee again.

May 17, 2011

4.4 Below Average

Quality  1      Food  2      Ambience  10      Service  4      Value  5     

I love Berkelouw book and store set-up, it's quiet, intimate, love the music, bookshelf, wooden stairs, second-hand books, and free books to read during a coffee. But coffee and food wise, it's just awful as awful could get.

Without a doubt, coffee was using the cheapest beans and cheapest supermarket milk to make, it had no flavour, no strength, no taste to it. I was thoroughly disappointed, despite of how much I want to like it.

Food is in the same league, sandwiches and pastas are not made with best flavour recipe, but by random picking of ingredients; rather than cooking everything to perfection, they used raw materials, such as supermarket $2 tomato paste, capsicum; everything tastes boring and radom with no flavour, no oil, no cooking involved. Basically no love from the kitchen and chef.

If you like the environment, you can go there, but if you want some food and coffee and enjoy a proper morning coffee moment, it's a horrible place.

And the cruel reality is that although the staff in book counters are super nice, but staff in cafeteria area are not nice at all!

May 17, 2011

5.3 Average

Food  8      Ambience  1      Service  5      Value  7     

This review is just for coffee.

If you like Campos coffee, this is the best place to test the properly made Campos coffee. Barista skill is excellent and they are able to make Cappuccino look exactly the same as logo. No doubt that they use freshly roasted coffee beans and quality milk.

Speaking of Campos coffee beans, I found the beans to be single dimensionally bitter without all other aromas or the bitter-sweetness to support it, and the overall flavour presentation is poor and boring. Although I dislike the Campos coffee beans, I do rate the coffee here as excellent for Campos lovers.

As for the atmosphere, it's a super busy shop but small, there is no sound absorption technique applied and tables are all close to each other. It makes it really hard to have conversation at low volume, book reading is impossible! I didn't even realise that there were music playing until a few rare moments of low customer flow.

Good for Campos coffee lovers only or emergency hospital coffee, but not for any other purpose, especially to chill out for even 30 mins.

May 13, 2011

9 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  10     

Only had coffee here, and it's really good. In this original Toby's Estate coffee shop, you'll be able to taste the true nature of Toby's Estate coffees with that Arabica coffee bean's full bodiness to its flavour. Fresh roast and fresh grind are also a bless to have in Sydney. The only problem is that they over-roast the beans a little that it has a smoky after-taste to it. If you don't like over-roasted coffee beans, then Toby's Estate is not for you. Milk is also good, there's no complaint about barista, either. It's good for coffee and a place to hang out.

May 21, 2011

8 Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  10     

Only had coffee in Mecca Espresso, Coffee is definitely freshly roasted coffee beans and freshly grinded, and they use quality milk to produce just 100% perfect coffee that I'd love every day. The shop has a lovely coffee oil smell that's just homely and inviting. No matter how long you have to wait for, it's truly worth it.

But the problem is that the coffees are not consistent. The first day I had a great coffee, then another day I went there in the morning rush hour, and the coffee is not even as good as the coffees in my business building. Very disappointed.

May 21, 2011

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

6.5 Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  5     

This is only a coffee review. Dymocks uses Karmee coffee beans, in my opinion, medium bitterness with average level of aromas in it. The milk they use is definitely cheap cheap milk, no creaminess or flavour, and froth disappears within 30 seconds. Overall, coffee is not good.

But the cafe has great atmosphere, table and chair are solid and separated from each other, like American cafe style. It's very well located with views over downstairs bookstore, a lovely place for drawing, book reading, chilling out, and surprisingly quiet that you can have conversation at low volume and privacy to yourself.

For the ambience, I'll go back again. It's hard to find a good chill out place like this in city, but I would order orange juice or hot chocolate, not coffee again.

May 17, 2011

4.4 Below Average

Quality  1      Food  2      Ambience  10      Service  4      Value  5     

I love Berkelouw book and store set-up, it's quiet, intimate, love the music, bookshelf, wooden stairs, second-hand books, and free books to read during a coffee. But coffee and food wise, it's just awful as awful could get.

Without a doubt, coffee was using the cheapest beans and cheapest supermarket milk to make, it had no flavour, no strength, no taste to it. I was thoroughly disappointed, despite of how much I want to like it.

Food is in the same league, sandwiches and pastas are not made with best flavour recipe, but by random picking of ingredients; rather than cooking everything to perfection, they used raw materials, such as supermarket $2 tomato paste, capsicum; everything tastes boring and radom with no flavour, no oil, no cooking involved. Basically no love from the kitchen and chef.

If you like the environment, you can go there, but if you want some food and coffee and enjoy a proper morning coffee moment, it's a horrible place.

And the cruel reality is that although the staff in book counters are super nice, but staff in cafeteria area are not nice at all!

May 17, 2011

5.3 Average

Food  8      Ambience  1      Service  5      Value  7     

This review is just for coffee.

If you like Campos coffee, this is the best place to test the properly made Campos coffee. Barista skill is excellent and they are able to make Cappuccino look exactly the same as logo. No doubt that they use freshly roasted coffee beans and quality milk.

Speaking of Campos coffee beans, I found the beans to be single dimensionally bitter without all other aromas or the bitter-sweetness to support it, and the overall flavour presentation is poor and boring. Although I dislike the Campos coffee beans, I do rate the coffee here as excellent for Campos lovers.

As for the atmosphere, it's a super busy shop but small, there is no sound absorption technique applied and tables are all close to each other. It makes it really hard to have conversation at low volume, book reading is impossible! I didn't even realise that there were music playing until a few rare moments of low customer flow.

Good for Campos coffee lovers only or emergency hospital coffee, but not for any other purpose, especially to chill out for even 30 mins.

May 13, 2011

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  6      Service  10      Value  7     

It's quite a big place, and I loved the sofas in front of the window, looks like the ideal place to sit and chill out, and they played music and made it extra enjoyable. The only problem is the noise factor. Being on King st, the glass windows were not noise-proof, and it's pretty noisy even half way into the shop, it made sofa area undesible.

Coffee is great in terms of milk, barista skill, portion, food was wonderful with fresh deli supply. Staff are helpful, friendly and smile at customers. It's great for quick food and coffee, but perhaps not for book reading, as noise outside and music inside both make it difficult to concentrate on reading.

May 13, 2011

6 Average

Food  4      Ambience  4      Service  10      Value  6     

It's more of a restaurant than cafe, service is great and staff smiles, are friendly and helpful. Coffee is Molinari coffee, nothing special, milk is not of great quality, barista is very good, overall, not my cafe.

May 12, 2011

4 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  6      Value  3     

To be fair, the set up of the shop is great, solid wooden table, variable different areas to make efficient use of space, perfect location at Five Ways, freshly baked bread, window view is over a lovely pedestrian lane, but....

Nobody smiled in the shop, staff are servicing but not helping, food is overpriced for what's worth, bacon is not well cooked, mushroom had too much water, coffee is just average like a takeaway anywhere, bread is good though. Overall, it's not worth it.

And the worst part I hate is how they played Kanye West after Bob Marley! Seriously! I had to put earplugs on as I was eating and not wanting to vomit. And I'm not the only one, there are also a few putting earplugs on, too. Doesn't it say something about the shop when you see people eating breakky with earplugs on? It's not comfortable I tell ya.

May 12, 2011

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Without doubt, Bertoni produces what I'm looking for in a coffee all the time: freshness. Coffee is freshly roasted and served less than 72 hours (according to homepage). Any regular coffee drinkers should be able to tell the difference of fresh and not fresh coffees: fresh coffee has a strong but not bitter flavour, more aroma, complexity of tastes and so easy to drink that you don't even realise when you have finished it.

Also the after effect of coffee is better than commercial coffee, aka campos, molinari, etc. It activates all parts of brain and brings positivity up, instead of hitting only the back of the head (where your headache from caffeine addiction is). I can't emphasize the importance of freshness any more.

On top of coffee, food here is also fresh, good ingredients, flavoursome oil, well presented dishes and quick service, staff are friendly and come with smiles (which is always important, too).

Glad that it has another branch in city, too. Now I know where to have coffee, and don't have to put up with bitter yet weak coffee/burnt like charcoal coffee/sour must have sugar coffee with cheap coles milk any more!

May 12, 2011

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Tiger Mottle saved Paddington from my never-go-there-for-cafe list: while I have been to a few cafes, they are always busy and unfriendly, some even play pop music where I had to stick earplugs on to avoid. Tiger Mottle on the other hand is intimate, homely and has a great family atmosphere without trying too hard. Turntable is always playing old rock, either bench or tables are well situated to separate noises from outside to people sitting inside; services are quick and friendly, staff are very attentive and smile even during busy hours.

Shop specialty: Maple Mottle is made with perfection, I was amazed at how good it is, and would recommend to everyone I know. Traditionally I only go to coffee wholesalers with freshly roasted beans. For Tiger Mottle, I make an exception and look forward to my next visit.

May 12, 2011