I rarely walk over a kilometre for my morning coffee, but sometimes I just want to treat myself. On these occasions I'll brave the brazen sun and burning bitumen and walk along Vulture Street just to chill at Lucky Duck Espresso, or Lucky's for short.
It's a hole in the wall cafe like so many others in the area, but this one is better than the rest of them. It's cute, quirky, wild and bad arse all at the same time. I swear it's the only place I've been where I could genuinely laugh along with staff when my dog decided to piss in the communal dog water bowl. I was mortified but the girl laughed and squealed "nah, man. That's awesome!" while cooing at my dog holding a ice cream container of dog piss in her hands (against my efforts to take care of business, she refused, and came back with a clean dish).
Anecdotes aside, when you walk in, look to the left. There's a painting of a pretty green and brown duck with two heads. It's adorable and menacing at the same time. It seems to sum up the place perfectly. When you meet the girls at the counter, you'll feel like you're hanging with childhood friends. Straight off, we were playing the 'ahh- ahh- too slow!' game, making ugly faces at each other, and referring to each other as "Gorgeous, sweetheart, darling pie". From what I've seen, I think everyone gets this treatment, too.
The coffee is great. Some regard it as the best in the area. I'm of the opinion that in the inner south, it's worth more mention if the coffee isn't up to scratch. Lucky Duck is such a treat because of it's atmosphere and character. They've got cute, random paintings of duck related things all over the walls, obscure toys planted along the counter, and any rad cafes' obligatory poster wall of gigs and other not to miss events. Don't forget their kitsch array of books and magazines to rummage through while there. You've got old Mad mags, old Frankie editions, graphic design and architectural publications, and much more.
This is, by miles, my favourite cafe south side of the river. read more