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Smith & Deli – great vegan food & moreish drinks at the OG in Collingwood
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Smith and Deli has been a staple of the vegan food scene in Melbourne for a decade. It currently resides in Collingwood, on unassuming Cambridge Street just off the more familiar Smith Street. While it’s not a coffee shop, this café/deli operation still serves up a worthy brew. My oat latte was very chocolately,…
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King Of The Castle – outstanding coffee with industrial vibes on Pako
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King Of The Castle has been a popular coffee shop and café on bustling Pakington Street in Geelong for more than a decade. I was a frequent visitor for several years after it first opened when I lived locally. A trip into Pako gave me an opportunity to visit again after many years. I…
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Nira – great coffee with a dose of history in Castlemaine
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Looking for a coffee on a brief stop on a drive passing through the historic Victorian Goldfields town of Castlemaine, I stumbled across Nira. It turned out that this “hole in the wall” style coffee shop only opened a week-or-so before my visit. Locals were clearly discovering it for the first time as I…
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Milo – great coffee and vegan vibes in Maryborough
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The small Victorian Goldfields city of Maryborough is lucky to have a thriving vegan café. Milo Café and Store, perfectly situated on the high street, is not only serving up good vegan food but also focuses on a great coffee experience. I enjoyed at least ten oat lattes from Milo and the consistency was…
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Rusty’s – coffee with a beautiful view in Portarlington
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Daniel is a popular local chef in the pretty seaside town of Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula. He previously ran a café in the town centre and has cooked in many of the kitchens locally and in Geelong and the Surf Coast area. His latest offering is a small shop just out of town,…
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Blue Doors – great coffee with a laneway vibe in Melbourne
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I was a regular at Cartel Coffee‘s funky coffee shop on ever-improving Somerset Place (just off Little Bourke Street) when I worked in the Melbourne CBD. I was surprised when it became Blue Doors, the Melbourne offering of the popular Indonesian outfit. But the good news was that they continued to use Cartel’s beans…
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Union Kiosk – legendary vegan café in the Melbourne CBD
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I’ve been a regular at Union Kiosk in Melbourne for years. What started life as a tiny “hole in the wall” jaffle shop has become a much larger cafe space in a laneway. It has since even taken over the shop next door as well to provide additional seating. The coffee here is consistently…
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Blackbird Laneway – amazing coffee and top vibes in Cairns!
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Very occasionally, I visit a coffee shop that just nails it – and Blackbird Laneway in Cairns is one such place. On a recent trip to Far North Queensland, I did some coffee research before the trip. Blackbird Laneway got great reviews, so it was the first place I headed after checking-in to our…
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Caffiend – clever branding and good coffee in Cairns
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On a recent trip to Far North Queensland, I went in search of an early morning takeaway coffee in Cairns. Checking out local reviews, I headed to the cleverly-named Caffiend in the city centre. Caffiend is more of a cafe than just a coffee shop, with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, and it…
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Origin – roasting and serving stunning coffee in Port Douglas
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On a recent trip to Far North Queensland, my pre-trip research led me to Origin Espresso in Port Douglas. It became my “go to” coffee shop during my brief stay in the town. On my first visit, the place was packed. There was a big queue to order, with many already waiting for takeaways…