Tag Archives: brisbane

Black coffee, Cafe Review, Reviews

Coffee from Cibo espresso, Chermside

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Cibo Coffee
Cibo Coffee

Cibo Espresso is a small Adelaide-based cafe franchise with a number of stores around Brisbane. One of them is in Westfield Chermside, in the northern foodcourt near Woolworths. They do coffee and a variety of Italian pastries and gelati. As a cafe the coffee is OK, but for food court coffee it is exceptional – it all depends on your frame of reference.

There is nothing extrordinary about the price, so I can’t even recall it. I think it is fair to say that unless it is either very cheap or really expensive, it is hardly a factor like taste and location. It is the location that I like with Cibo Espresso. There are two food courts in Chermside currently – the large one with McDonalds, KFC and a dozen or so more shops, and this smaller one without the fast food giants.  Coffee-wise, the larger foodcourt has a Gloria Jeans and a Muffin Break, while the smaller one is where Cibo Espresso and a Starbucks is located.

Why a Cibo Espresso long black?

So if you’re stuck in a shopping centre and looking for a coffee Cibo Espresso works out fine, though the food is overpriced for what it is. But compared with the other foodcourt coffee options, it comes out on top.

Black coffee, Cafe Review, Reviews

Long black from the new machine

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Xpresso Delight Pod Machine
Xpresso Delight Pod Machine

At work we have just gotten a new coffee machine from Delight Xpresso. Due to the relatively low demand for coffee, the office has swapped the old machine for a new one. The New Pod machine uses satchels of pre-ground coffee instead of fresh beans, and requires a little more effort.

More flexibility, fewer buttons

Gone is the one button cappuccino and flat white. Now the coffee you end up with is determined by the length of the shot (pre-set or otherwise), and how frothy you want the milk.

I have actually found that the coffee tastes better with this one. This could be due to more control over the quantity of coffee, higher pressure, sealed coffee rather then what ever had been in the hopper for a week, or just because the older one needed to be descaled. Whatever the reason, or reasons, I do prefer the coffee.

So whats the point in all this?

I would choose this machine first knowing what I know now, but there is a learning curve, more of a gentle slope, but there is always someone who won’t bother getting the hang of it.

Black coffee, Cafe Review, Reviews

Long black at Platform 6

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Platform 6 breakfast
Platform 6 breakfast

So a series of events involving an early Saturday, a slip in technique at the gym the previous week and misjudged travel time left me in the trendy suburb of Teneriffe with over an hour to kill. Fortunately, I was able to find a cafe. After walking past one that had too many cyclists and cbd products that did not have comfortable looking seats, I found Platform 6, a small restaurant on Vernon Terrace.

And a toasted sandwich

It was a nice cafe, with inviting seating and convenient location. $3.50 for a long black did not seem that bad, and I went as far as ordering a toasted sandwich too. It eventually arrived sometime after the coffee. I did not pay attention to how long after, I was too busy reading.

And the point

It was nice, and all up, it came to $10 in total. They have their own 100% Arabic blend that has a strong flavor. Platform 6 is not just a cafe; it is more of a food and wine bar that just happens to be open in the morning too. For a weekend coffee in the morning, it does the job, and is a nice place to sit and kill time.

Black coffee, Cafe Review, Reviews

Long Black at Greyhound Australia

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Xpresso Delight coffee machine
Xpresso Delight coffee machine

There is not a lot you can say about a $1 coffee. The price point serves to both set expectations and define user experience, at least if “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely is spot on. I am sure that this was not the idea when Xpresso Delight were asked to bring the machine in. The price point was set to cover costs.

The coffee machine is very straight forward. It can produce a coffee without milk, and a coffee with milk. The milk will be hot when it comes out. I could not spot the difference between pushing the flat white button and the cappuccino button. To be fair I never actually tried them either.

The coffee is drawn long and drunk without sugar or milk. It does the job, and for a $1 coffee, it sure beats what I used to get out of a plunger.

What should you care?

If you work somewhere without a cafe in walking distance, there are options. If a coffee machine is too much of an expense, get one in like Xpresso Delight.

Black coffee, Cafe Review, Reviews

Sirianni’s for coffee & breakfast

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Sirianni's for breakfast
Sirianni's for breakfast

A few blocks away from Brunswick street there is a shopping and apartment complex called Emporium. According to their website, there are “…over 35 specialty retailers, restaurants and cafes and parking…”. They might be lying about the parking though.

I end up going to a cafe called Sirianni’s there most sundays to meet up with one of my sisters. It is actually a rather large deli with a wide range of stuff, but mostly, I am there for breakfast, specifically, the Emporium breakfast. For not too much, you get a pile of bacon, tomato, hash browns, eggs, sausages, mushrooms and some toast. For the area it is fairly well priced for the quality and the quantity. The coffee is good too, though for me, I am mainly there for the breakfast.