I think I first heard of this place via John's blog and then The Boy and I kept driving past it on our way to "somewhere else". Every time we went by I'd beg him to slow the car down so that I could stare, longingly, at this petite little cafe. Often I'd sigh and say "this is the kind of place I want to own". It's seems small, and manageable for someone - like me - who doesn't know the first thing about owning or running a cafe.
This cafe is SO small that there is absolute NO seating inside. There's pretty much just enough room for the three staff working there and one customer at a time to step in, place there order, and then step back out onto the footpath to await their order. The ordering process reminds me a bit of the Soup Nazi episode from Seinfeld, except for everyone is really nice and the staff serve every customer with a smile and an hello.
I step in, place my order, step out and go find a seat at one of the mini-sized tables scattered along the footpath outside the cafe. I often worry about seating like this - I mean I'm no feather weight. What if I break the chair, or get down but can't get back up again - my knees don't work so well afterall (for the record, all was well on this occasion...I got down and up again incident free).
I'm here for a quick pre-working breakfast so a coffee is in order. They serve Campos coffee here and it's a really good cup. Not much else to say really - tastes like coffee, wasn't bitter and I didn't need to add sugar. Two thumbs up.
Food wise, the only thing on offer besides a few sweet treats is a selection of bagels. These are some of the flattest bagels I've EVER seen...but this smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel was also one of the most delicious I've had. I think the flatness makes the bagel quite crunchy and the texture is less chewy and doughy then regular bagels. I LOVE the toasted sesame seeds on top.
Coffee, Tea and Me is at 93b Redfern Street, Redfern.
Hole-in-the-wall spots always win on charm. I presume the bagels were significantly flattened by the sandwich press? And haha I feel the same way about primary school-sized chairs too.
ReplyDeleteCute! I had to giggle at the pic of the guy in the chair - they are quite close to the ground aren't they ;D Glad you escaped well fed and incident free - haha.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I've seen them use an ironing board as an outdoor table :) Cute place
ReplyDeleteOoh the bagel looks fantastic! The coffee here is pretty good isn't it? :)
ReplyDeleteI can imagine you owning a place like this Mel. The coffee and bagel both look great.
ReplyDeleteSort of place I'd love, hole in the wall and cutesey to boot! though not sure I I could get used to the flat bagels, lol
ReplyDeleteThey are tiny chairs! Such a cute little cafe.
ReplyDeleteI love the tiny chairs - reminds me of dining on the street in Vietnam (or any South East Asian country really!), and being constantly afraid that my giant arse was going to collapse the chair!
ReplyDelete