This cafe is off the beaten path, blinked and you will easily miss it. Located in a hidden alleyway of Raffa Pl, precisely next to a gas station. From the outside, this looks like one of the crappiest Cafe I've ever been to in the city, but once inside, the atmosphere transforms into something different... The space actually feels like I'm walking into someone else's backyard! High glass ceiling, wooden furnitures, industrial vibes adorned with lush greeneries hanging throughout the restaurant - what a relaxing ambiance and the kind of place that invites you to hang a little bit longer. Originally, I came to try their famous salmon garden entree, but unfortunately they no longer have that on their menu *Sad*... So I settled for their breakfast pasta and happy to say, it doesn't disappoint in any way. The pasta comes in a pretty ceramic bowl, the presentation was fancy to the eyes, consisting of bacon, three kinds of cheese and poached egg. The dish was seriously creamy without giving you that nauseating feeling, absolutely yum! For my drink, I had the hot chocolate and it was a disappointment, slightly bitter, grainy and watered down, should have stick with the coffee, next time. The pricing was quite affordable per my Melbourne cafe standard. The service was quick and efficient, although I feel they kinda rushed you to order. But that aside, what a delicious find!! read more

Vertue Coffee Roasters - Hot chocolate, not their strength. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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Walking behind the Shell service station down a dodgy Carlton alley doesn't seem like a good time, but Vertue makes the trip worthwhile. Spinning the alley corner you are immediately greeted with giant open doors and polished floorboards, leading to an impressive counter layered with fresh coffee blends, beans barreled up and ready to be ground, and some great looking snacks to go with your caffine. This is definitely a place for coffee lovers, with various batches of beans available for purchase to take home and brew yourself. They also have a lovely seating area with a menu available for eats, but I was only stopping for coffee. And what a coffee it was! Beautifully roasted with a maple finish that made me feel like I was drinking a coffee flavoured pancake. I have no idea what magical method they use on their soy, but it was light, fluffy and sweet. So go down that dark alley and find one of Carlton's finest establishments. read more

Vertue Coffee Roasters - Best latte in carlton - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Located behind a petrol station, you wouldn't expect such a welcoming, airy, brights industrial style coffee house. Playing delicious tunes, the sound of the coffee machine, and lots of coffee paraphernalia, this place is a party waiting to happen. I was greeted by a young man and though he took my name down I wasn't shown to a seat until my friend arrived. Loitering around for 20 minutes inside while waiting for a friend and being asked multiple times whether I had been looked after got annoying. At least I could have been offered a bar stool. And there was no queue so why couldn't I just sit down. When my friend got here I had ordered a coffee. For some reason I was expected to carry this coffee along narrow alleys to get to my table in front of the kitchen. Weird. The coffee was delicious. It was their sabretooth house blend. The size for 4 dollars was pretty decent. I ordered the seafood chowder that came with toast. It contained quail egg, roasted corn, carrot, mussels, salmon and some other fish and was drizzled with chilli oil. For 20,I received a massive portion. It was nice but not amazing. I still had to add pepper and salt to it. The quail egg was delicious but I felt sick after eating half of the chowder. definitely hearty enough for winter or a rainy day. My friend ordered a coconut chia pudding with passion fruit jelly, compressed watermelon, blueberries and apple. Her dish for 18 dollars seemed miniscule and she was starving after. She only got four pieces of watermelon and had to hunt for the uber thick glooby chia pudding in her watermelon maze. She said the passion fruit jelly was overly sweet and she was expecting a fringe of sourness. She couldn't understand why the chia pudding was so dense. For the first time in my life, I didn't want anything from the brunch menu. Their savoury options were quite boring. And rightly so as most people appeared to order the french toast or off their lunch menu. Pretty average. Won't go again for food but coffee was good. read more

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Amazing place in Carlton. It's a little bit hidden but the inside is very nice and the staff is so kind too. The food is awesome and the coffee is delicious. I encorage you to try a Pink Pear for drink. Love it! :) read more

Vertue Coffee Roasters - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Melbourne's lane way cafe culture is not just limited to the CBD. Taking its name from an ad for the first London cafe in the 1600s, The Vertue of the Coffee Drink is tucked down a small lane next to a petrol station in Carlton. In fact, it's hidden to the point where there's no visible signs of its existence from the street. Housed in a converted stable, Vertue has made great use of the big open space whilst keeping element of its original use. The two storey-high ceiling of the main seating area is opaque, filling the whole space with natural light. A mix of stained timber furnishing and exposed brick add to the "modern barn" feel. This even extends to the seats which are cylindrical solid wood stools. Seating is a mixture of small tables, benches along the wall and a large communal table upstairs in a loft-style room. The food menu is a mix of all day breakfast and lunch options, but not the usual suspects. Chickpea chips, scotch egg, terrine, chowder and muffuletta (a popular deli-style sandwich from New Orleans) are just some of the many tasty choices on offer. On this visit I ordered the eight hour cooked lamb shoulder with tabbouleh, baby broccoli, dukkah and tahini yoghurt dressing. The lamb was nice and tender and the rest of the dish provided well complimented flavours but needed just that little something extra. Presentation could also be tweaked a little. Coffee was great with the house blend and not one, but three single origin beans available and all roasted on site, with the roaster being the centre point of the space. Both espresso and filter options are on offer. A range of tea, juices, beer and wine are also available. The Vertue of the Coffee Drink takes Melbourne's thriving cafe and lane way cultures and brings them together in a quaint hidden venue with much to offer. read more

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Coffee was good but my iced latte with soy milk started separating ehhh maybe it's the milk? I got the smoked salmon side with sautéed spinach for a quick lunch. You can't really mess tht up. But I'd come here again for the location and ambiance. So cool! Need to try more food tho. read more

Vertue Coffee Roasters - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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Okay, firstly . . . . make the effort to get to this place as its such a surprise from the lane way entry. They've done a great job with the space and maximizing on the high ceilings and natural light, as i said its such a surprise. Coffee and a snack was all I had but it sure hit the mark. The coffee was one of the best I've had for a while although they had the dark brown hipster sugar that I still don't get . . . . .you all know what I'm talking about. As i was just after a snack and don't have a sweat tooth I had the toastie from the kids menu and it did the job. Service was just right for the time of day and I feel i will be back to try something a little more seeing some of the awesome plates of food coming out of the kitchen. read more

Definitely worth the trip out. At some point I realized the girl in front of me was headed to this shop as well. There's only so many people looking towards Google maps to guide them into nondescript alleys. Love the space, and the coffee was delicious! read more

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Nealty tucked away in Raffa Place, the location of The Verture of the Coffee Drink (which I will call TVOFCD from now on) is really cool - it makes you feel as if you've found out on great little secret. There has also clearly been a great effort into designing the cafe. The roaster is centrally located, with a neat bar serving all the coffee. Plenty of natural light also enters the room, which is delightful. Unfortunately that's about as good as TVOFCD gets. The coffee was good without being anything special, and the food was quite overpriced. They were very impressive dishes, but $21 for a single scotch egg and three little brioche fingers was hard to swallow (especially being a uni student). I highly recommend TVOFCD as a great place to go if you want to try something different in Carlton with good coffee, but maybe give it a skip if you your after a big feed. read more

Wonderful place located unobtrusively down an alley. I was warmly greeted and seated. Always a good sign. This is a lovely warm and partially cavernous space. It feels good and you feel special to be in its midst. The coffee is superb here. As good as I've ever had anywhere. If all coffee was as good as this the world would be a much happier place. Lunch was good without hitting it out of the park. I had the chicken burger which was recommended by two staff members. It was nice but a tad dry in parts for me. The fries on the side that I ordered were cutely cut but also just a tiny bit cool when they arrived at the table. Not to matter. I still throughly enjoyed the experience, particularly the overall cuteness of the place and the excellent coffee. read more

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Simply area but nice restaurant style. This coffe is very attractive and the service is very quickly. You have different cafe's choice. The meal are very tasty and well layed out. I took the quinoa salad and my friend took the lamb. For the desert, he took the peanut butter/chocolate cookie and I took the banana bread. I preferred the cookie :) read more

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Loved this little, nondescript coffee shop. I had a dark chocolate mocha and eggs w/Toast and it was a filling meal in a place with a great vibe and good service. A nice place for a tourist to happen upon! read more

Place is great. Great modern/industrial feel. Coffee and food is phenomenal. Had been eyeing this place from America for a while and when i discovered I was coming to Melbourne, this was a must. Did not and is not disappointing to be here. read more

Pretty trendy Carlton cafe in a super out of the way location. You basically arrive at the shell petrol station and head down the adjacent alleyway thinking you are walking nowhere until you turn the corner and find the entrance to this space. A complete different vibe compared to the dirty alleyway haha Vertue of the coffee drink was rather busy for Sunday brunch when I went there to meet a friend. It was recommended by her housemate and we thought we would check it out. It's not an overly large space and can feel rather cramped when it is busy. The ceilings are really tall so it's not all bad. The coffee menu is pretty cool as they roast their own coffee beans here and have a variety of types for the choosing. If you are hardcore there is a 3 types of coffee taster on offer. The food was rather good, I had the pancakes which were sooooo good and my friend had some triple mushroom breakfast which was a little weird but edible :) The staff were friendly and the service was prompt considering how busy it was. Worth the look if you can be bothered finding it :) read more

Modern cafe hidden in an alley. Of course you'll love it! It's sooooo Melbs! You can tell they mean some pretty serious coffee business as soon as you step inside. Long glass counter with lots of different beans, coffee roaster against the back, and they even sell wholesale. Didn't try the food but the long blacks were good. Lots of seating so got a table straight away even though it looked packed. The sun roof was cool but I started roasting with the beans when the clouds moved. Would pick this place over nearby Rathdowne Village. read more

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Tucked away in an alleyway behind a service station, this place is an unexpected find. The French toast and the coffee both get the thumbs up, complete in a light and airy space. Add this one to the list! read more

This place is a 10/10. Hidden down a little side street by the petrol station. I only found this cafe because it was featured on postcards. Beautifully restored building with a touch of modern architecture. This place is just amazing. The staff are so friendly and happy to give out advice about coffee etc. we came here for a late lunch today with the baby. Good time to come because there were no cues. We were seated straight away with our coffee order. The waiter suggested to look at the burgers if we wanted food. Best advice because we ordered one fried chicken burger and the vertue salad with coffee cured salmon. WOW is all I have to say. Both so good!!! Love the dollops of cashew cream through the salad and the salmon was just beautifully cured! Great portion size. Burger was a sweet and salty. Great amount of flavour and filling. My long black coffee was the flavour was a very unique flavour and not something I have come across before. Wasn't sure if it was my fav but it was still a top notch coffee. Thank you to the barista who gave us advice on what coffee machines to purchase for home. read more

Vertue Coffee Roasters - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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Great hidden location. Staff friendly, great coffee and food all in a light filled venue with great atmosphere. Hotcake is awesome, and when the poached eggs had an under cooked tomato it was the waiter that noticed and immediately had the kitchen cook a new one - great service. Great place to start a Sunday. read more

Loud house music, a slightly confused menu... great coffee though and a lovely open setting.