There’s such a strong cafe culture in Melbourne that it’s often a bit ‘too cool for school’, so it’s satisfying to find good coffee without the attitude and a simple, friendly smile.
While there are new places popping up in the west quicker than you can order your skinny latte, Fix Espresso in Moonee Ponds has been blending and brewing very good coffee for the past few years quietly on the corner of Hall and Everage streets.
Fix is a hub of activity and organised clutter with racks of magazines around the room, shelves stocked with bags of coffee beans and vintage posters and signs from old construction sites.
There’s an easy vibe in this corner cafe. Order at the counter from the menu on the blackboard and the waiters will bring your food and drink to you.
This is reliable cafe food. There are eggs, fried, poached or scrambled on toast (all $10) and lots of sides such as avocado, feta, bacon and tomato ($3.50 each).
The open sandwiches include bacon and egg ($9) or spinach, tomato and feta ($9.50). The latter is a generous slab of good sourdough bread that’s toasted and topped with fat slices of ripe tomato, fresh spinach leaves and delicious Yarra Valley feta cheese that’s salty and creamy.
The menu is incredibly flexible to the point that we choose smashed avocado, bacon and a poached egg (it’s not too much trouble at all) and it arrives as a generous serving of well-cooked bacon on top of sourdough smeared with avocado, all finished with a runny, unctuous poached egg.
Desserts include cakes and biscuits and the coffee is a standout. Owner Darren Scoble changes his blends and sources every three months as he likes to support people roasting good beans.
This is a community hub for brekkie and lunch. Regulars wave to the staff behind the counter and stop and chat, and the staff know how they like their coffee.
It’s what you could easily call a great, approachable cafe culture.
