the scores:Coffee: 14/20
Total cafe score: 27/40
Tuesday: After a long day doing some economic modelling of sorts, I decided to pop into the city to catch up with nerd 2, whom I’ve not seen a lot of since my return from NZ. To wait out the hour I went by Le Pain Quotidien, in the city Westfield. While the café is not new to Sydney, it is somewhat original to the overall landscape.
It’s a crowed Tuesday afternoon in the lead up to Christmas so the Westfield is somewhat pulsating with people. I sit down knowing there could be a wait on my hands.
Surprisingly a girl quickly appears and asks me, what’s happening and how have I escaped work so early. This is somewhat is contrast to a previous experience where I was rudely approached and asked why I was here (very confusing experience!). But I’m only judging on this round.
I took a seat along the long shared bench in the middle of the corridor café and it’s nice place to scope out of the crowd. It’s a mix of inner city types here, but not many suits, more those shopping for the afternoon, tourists and retail employees looking for a breather. One of the true pleasures of this café, the light French wood tables and random provincial French stain glass widows aside, is the view of Pitt Street below it’s a strange but fun mix of France in the sky, bit of a people watching spot.
The coffee takes a while to come out, although (as mentioned) it was a little busy, however when it came I was not disappointed. I’ve been to this café a few times and it’s fellow chain store in Mumbai, India and know what to expect. The coffee here always brings me pleasure, as it is presented in giant (hand size) bowls.
Scores
Coffee: 7/10
Style: 7/10
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Coffee total: 14/20
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Café style: French barn in the sky
Cool?: 7/10
Service: 6/10
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coffee + cafe total scores: 27/40
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View coffee shop in a larger map
Surprisingly a girl quickly appears and asks me, what’s happening and how have I escaped work so early. This is somewhat is contrast to a previous experience where I was rudely approached and asked why I was here (very confusing experience!). But I’m only judging on this round.
I took a seat along the long shared bench in the middle of the corridor café and it’s nice place to scope out of the crowd. It’s a mix of inner city types here, but not many suits, more those shopping for the afternoon, tourists and retail employees looking for a breather. One of the true pleasures of this café, the light French wood tables and random provincial French stain glass widows aside, is the view of Pitt Street below it’s a strange but fun mix of France in the sky, bit of a people watching spot.The coffee takes a while to come out, although (as mentioned) it was a little busy, however when it came I was not disappointed. I’ve been to this café a few times and it’s fellow chain store in Mumbai, India and know what to expect. The coffee here always brings me pleasure, as it is presented in giant (hand size) bowls.
The long black was rich in its texture and had a very sweet berry and coca mix to its aroma. Upon sipping it you find this coffee sits on the tip of your tongue and the rich coca berry mix taste rides throughout your mouth. This coffee is so sweet, to me, that I am not sure I could handle it with sugar. The crema was nicely spread, considering the width of the cup, and the coffee maintained a nice level of acidity, which remained well after you put down the cup. I would not hesitate to say this is a good long black to start with if you’re a typical latte or flat white drinker.
Over all I really like this café, while service can be all over the place between trips, judging from this experience alone I enjoyed it. The coffee, while not being anything amazing, had a nice sweet and pleasant taste to it. The café is a great pitt stop (get it pitt as in the street) in a big shopping day in the city, or a nice place to stop after work (open after 5pm, rare in a coffee shop in the city). While it’s not the best coffee within 500m, but it’s the best sit down café I have been to, so far, in this area. Not to mention the breadstuff looks kinda amazing.
Over all I really like this café, while service can be all over the place between trips, judging from this experience alone I enjoyed it. The coffee, while not being anything amazing, had a nice sweet and pleasant taste to it. The café is a great pitt stop (get it pitt as in the street) in a big shopping day in the city, or a nice place to stop after work (open after 5pm, rare in a coffee shop in the city). While it’s not the best coffee within 500m, but it’s the best sit down café I have been to, so far, in this area. Not to mention the breadstuff looks kinda amazing.
ScoresCoffee: 7/10
Style: 7/10
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Coffee total: 14/20
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Café style: French barn in the sky
Cool?: 7/10
Service: 6/10
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coffee + cafe total scores: 27/40
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View coffee shop in a larger map
Taste wise it’s nothing amazing, with a slight burnt milk after taste lingering after every sip. I think when the milk for my drink was heated up the jug was not totally emptied. After taste aside, it had a reasonably strong flavour and hints of the cocoa smell were evident when drinking it, although the milk really was an issue it was over done and lacked texture to it.
We ended up at the Ministry of Food on Bligh Street under the Wentworth Hotel. First thing you notice about this place is that it is huge, cavernous you might even say. There are tables everywhere. We grabbed a seat outside,which was really pleasant and ordered three coffees. Marco and Chris both ordered flat whites and I ordered an espresso macchiato.
The coffee came out quickly and was placed in front of the three of us. The waitress made sure the teaspoon was behind the cup. Looking at the coffee it was nothing special. From my perspective little effort had really gone into the design on top of the flat whites (although Marco said he thought there was a cool design). Nor did the foam have that wonderful silky look that a good milk based coffee should have. This was only confirmed by my macchiato’s appearance, which for my preferences had too much milk, with again a dryish rather then smooth look to the foam. Aside from the total quantity it was portioned well.
Looking at the café itself. I had a few issues, while it’s nice to have an inside outside café, I found I was constantly exposed to cigarette smoke here, wafting in from outside. There was also no one really confortable place to sit and chill, seats are all plastic and tables kinda wobbly though over use. The floor was a little dirty and I somehow ended up with some tomato on my foot when I took my food out of my thong (flip flop Americans!).
The coffee all up had a smooth, non-bitter taste to it, but in total it was rather bland and not as much as an exciting taste sensation as I would have hoped, considering the effort which had gone into the drinks creation. When left to sit for a while, the coffee did infuse a little better with the milk, however that bland coffee taste remained. Very sad.
The café, is nothing glamorous, with just a little eat in section one of many along a pedestrian road. As you walk in you go right up the counter and order there. There does not seem to be any table service. I order two flat whites to sit in.
Taste wise, they were a little on the milky side, the bean seemed almost hidden within this drink, which actually surprised me, as Toby’s in their actual café has a very strong piercing taste to it, which while I have not reviewed it yet, is great. I’m assuming that the coffee was a little on the under extracted side. Side note here, the coffee shop is very exposed to the elements and the humidity has gone up and down a few times today, managing the grind would have been harder then normal, although it's not really the best excuse.
Scores:
