St Ali

St Ali is located in South Melbourne (click for google maps) on the street behind the Coles on Clarendon St. It is a little cafe that specialises in coffee with a nondescript whitewashed exterior and old wooden school chairs flanking the entrance. We read about St Ali in the Age Cheap Eats guide and have had a coffee and pastry on the way home from the markets before.

About St Ali

The first thing that struck me was the smell of coffee and eggs. In for a late breakfast on a Saturday, we sat at a long high bench next to the wall covered in old coffee bean sacks. Set in an old warehouse, it has a rugged, rustic feel. Most of the chairs are wooden and look secondhand 70s schoolhouse. The atmosphere was relaxed and staff friendly. It was packed, lots of twenty somethings, a few who had dragged their parents along for a 'hip brunch'.

St Ali does full table service. The food was a little slow to come but the place was packed and my coffee came fast.

What we ate

I ordered the organic poached eggs on pide with haloumi, cherry tomato, fresh mint and dukkah, served with red onion jam. The eggs were fantastically rich and the mint and onion flavours came through strongly. It worked extremely well and was an interesting twist on the poached egg breakfast for under $14.

Dawn had a Lebanese pizza with bacon, eggs, spinach, chili and sun dried tomato paste folded over to make a sandwich type dish. Unfortunately, the chef was a little to liberal with the chili, which kind of ruined it for her. I ending up eating half of it and had to agree, way too much chili for breakfast. Still, if you are after something with a bit of a kick it would be reasonable. Once again, under $14.

Dawn finished up with a chocolate chip brioche. It was very pleasant, but as she said, "you can't really go wrong with a brioche".

What we drunk

I started off with a cappuccino topped with cinnamon. Very nice and smooth. You can drill down and select you bean and roast, but I just stuck with selecting the preparation. I finished off with a long macchiato, it had the little bit of a sharp and bitter aftertaste I have come to expect from coffee in Australia (which is especially apparent in less milky coffee) but was quite reasonable.

Overall

Mark says: "It has a pleasant laid back atmosphere and a fantastic coffee and egg smell. The food has an interesting twist on traditional breakfast and the coffee is good. It is also quite affordable." 8/10

Dawn says: "Nice cafe, good atmosphere, friendly service. A bit fashionable but not unwelcoming. The menu looked appetising, although my selection did not really hit the mark." 7/10