Unfortunately that seems to be a weekday thing and all we got was some closed doors. So, what to do?
I start heading for Urban Grind, I know I'll get a good cup there. Laurene says that we really should go somewhere else and try them out. Ok I'll give, so we look up on my Beanhunter app to see what is local and rated highly.
Rating at a whopping 9.8 was a little place in Paddington called the Little Patisserie. With such a high raging it has to rock our socks off right? Wrong. It would seem that the critic who gave it such a high score has very low standards.
The cafe was not busy. A young Couple placed there order just before mine and went to sit down. After placing my order for two takeaway coffees I went for a short wander down the road to give her time to prep the first order and mine.
When I got back, the table was still bare and so I sat, to wait.
Finally she emerged with their order and went back in to create my much anticipated coffee.
Still I wait.
Eventually I get my coffees and banana bread and head back to the car. When I get there I open my cup to check the crema and have a sniff of it's aroma. There is none of either. Bum baarm.
There is nothing of the sort to be found. The black viscous liquid before me is bitter and burnt and lacking anything I want to taste from my espresso. Yuck. No seriously, yuck!! Rate a coffee that highly and you expect something good. Right. Now I know that one rating does not make for a good cafe. And even the banana bread was stale. She did ask me if i wanted it toasted but she should have stressed, IT NEEDS TO BE TOASTED!
Ok so the good points, the staff member was friendly and cheerful and the cafe looks like it would be nice to sit and enjoy a drink on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Young and funky, very new Paddington. I guess the sweets would also be nice on Friday when they are delivered.
So what do we do now. Both of our coffees and our snack are indigestible. Crap.
Laurene then says she heard about a little place further up the road on her Facebook from A Friend Told Me So. Check them out and friend or like them. It is another honest and reliable source of info for us Coffee Snobs.
So we pour out the crap and go and buy another coffee from "Hamptons".
From the outside you may not even realize they are a cafe. It is in the old Paddington and Flowers cafe building that I worked in, many years ago now. So it was a fond remembering as I tread those boards again. Only this time as a customer.
It is a giftware store with a cafe / restaurant at the back. Nicely decorated and quite busy. The manager or owner was very open and friendly and was keen to serve. He promptly took me order and even asked how much of the Doppio I wanted in my cup. Props. Nice to know that I would get what I asked for.
I went to see the awesome view, best part about the place that I remember.
The barista was focused and making all the right moves that I could see and promptly made my order. No banana bread this time but the coffee was there in a matter of moments even though the cafe was bustling with customers.
I returned to the car and within seconds we knew we had a winner. The smell was amazing. The crema was thick and smelt wondrous. The taste was a true sensation. Full of bitter sweet fruits ad rich caramels. Delightful.
I had to ask what coffee they used before I left because there is no signage around. They use St Ali from Melbourne. The menu looks great too. I'll be going back.
www.hamtonshomeliving.com.au
"Life is too short for bad coffee."
