4 Kings Anglesea — Restaurant in Anglesea

How to guarantee a consistent quality from the roastery straight into the cup of the end consumer at any café?

To assure a consistent quality from café to café and from cup to cup can be very challenging. When I visited Padre Coffee in East Brunswick I was amazed by their beautiful roastery, training room, bean shop, and café itself. They offered a vast range of espresso beans, milk beverages and several filter coffees. Everything was perfectly prepared and served with a great smile - great hospitality.

But how can a roaster guarantee such high quality standards outside their own cafés?

This weekend I enjoyed a great Australian brunch at 4 KINGS COFFEE & FOOD in Angelsea. As usual, I asked for a flat white, a filter coffee and their brunch recommendation. The friendly barista informed me that there is no filter coffee nor batch brew, but she could prepare a long black or a long black on ice 🧊, if I want. Hence, the choice of coffee was limited, but they had an outstanding decaf coffee to my big surprise: El Tucan 😍.

I went for my flat white, a long black, and Egg Florentine: the food presentation was beautiful and after my first visual “inspection” I truly enjoyed the buttery toast with the juicy egg and the healthy and tasty greens 🥬. Just delicious and the view was also breathtaking from the balcony, and the sun ☀️ was bright too.

The flat white was very creamy, and the coffee itself cut well through the sweet milk. There was a little help from the automatic milk texturing equipment. So that can help the less experienced baristas to deliver high end milk beverages in Australia 🇦🇺. The long black came with a full body and notes of caramel, Swiss milk chocolate 🍫 and lots of sweetness.

That was a perfect start into the weekend. I just had to make sure I stayed in the right side of...

February 2023: We visited here for a Sunday morning late breakfast / brunch. It’s been a few years since we stopped in Anglesea for food. This was the only café in Anglesea that I could find in advance online that offered menu options that suited my family’s assorted dietary requirements (including vegan, vegetarian and dairy allergy).

Overall it was a decent breakfast and I’m grateful that it’s getting easier to find vegan friendly menus outside of Melbourne. The café was busy (but not full) and it felt that staff were struggling to keep up with the volume of customers, but they were polite and friendly. Once we had ordered the drinks came out very quickly, and the food was not far behind.

We used the order online option, scanning the table number link to access the menu and pay in advance. It offered a variety of ways to modify the meals we chose and highlight our specific dietary requirements. And it meant that we did not have to wait for the waitress/waiter to be available to take our order.

The long black coffee was very good - much better, than I would normally expect in regional Victoria, so that was a pleasant surprise.

I must confess that the price was a little bit higher than I would have expected for the amount of food...

4 Kings, located along the stunning Great Ocean Road, is a visually impressive venue with excellent seating arrangements, great music, and atmospheric lighting. While the menu could use more variety, the overall setting creates a pleasant dining experience. One thing to note is that while the service was efficient, it lacked a personal touch during my visit. I sensed a degree of racial indifference in the interaction, which can make certain guests feel less welcomed. As someone with a darker complexion, I experienced noticeably less warmth compared to others around me, even though my wife, who is white, was standing beside me. While it wasn’t an overt issue, it’s something to keep in mind for individuals sensitive to such experiences. That said, the restaurant still has much to offer, and I believe addressing inclusivity and improving the consistency of customer engagement would significantly enhance the overall experience. For those looking to visit, the venue’s ambiance and location make it worth considering, but I hope my feedback helps others approach it with balanced...