So I dropped in there this morning to check it out. Its _good!_ The staff seemed nice and friendly and passionate about their coffee (a guy walked in and asked for "a skim flat white and two ordinary flat whites please", and got the response "sorry, we won't serve 'ordinary' coffee, we only make 'great' coffee"). The atmosphere was cool, less hectic that Single Origin, but not as tranquil as Tobys Estate's City Rd store, a good balance I think. The food menu looked interesting (I just had toast though, and it was good - the jam was excellent!) The Robur has a doser, but they're running it with the dosing chamber completely empty, and with only a few hundred grams of beans in the hopper. I should have taken more notice of who's roast they're using, but I didn't (they have "branded" espresso cups and saucers, but I've already forgotten the brand...)[1]. The Marzocco holds pride of place in the cafe - they're obviously pretty proud of it - it makes the place instantly feel like a "serious coffee place". But what you _really_ want to know about is the coffee, right? I had a latte and an espresso. The espresso was _really_ good - nice thick crema, smooth creamy mouthfeel, great flavour with just the right amount of bitterness. It was served in an appropriately warmed cup. I really enjoyed it. The latte was good, but not great - the actual shot was probably great, but the milk wasn't quite right, not quite as smooth as I'm used to from places like Single Origin or Tobys Estate. It was perfectly drinkable, but as I said, not "great". (It did have a nice rosetta on it though.) All up I'd rate them based on todays visit as somewhere between good and excellent, with a suspicion that they're only being held back from approaching excellence by teething problems (I'm pretty sure they weren't open yet when I went past on the weekend, so they've only actually been open a few days). I'll be back. If you're in the East Sydney/Darlinghurst/Oxford St area, take a detour down to the corner of Liverpool and Palmer - if you read this newsgroup, it'll definitely be worth you while. (No affiliation, just a satisfied customer. Sydney needs more "serious coffee" cafes. I'm happy to support them when they turn up.)Update: 2006 05 10 Its Di Lorenzo coffee they're using. I just got mail
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