Brother Baba Budan — Restaurant in Melbourne

Brother Baba Budan is the kind of espresso bar that makes you grin the second you walk in. The room is tiny, the ceiling is famously hung with chairs, and there is a pleasant buzz of grinders humming while the queue shuffles forward. It feels like a pocket of pure coffee focus right off Little Bourke Street. Baristas work shoulder to shoulder behind a compact bar, calling out names, wiping the portafilter clean, and dropping shots with that calm, practiced rhythm that says they do this all day and still enjoy it.

Coffee is the headline and it shows in the cup. The house espresso runs rich and syrupy with chocolate and hazelnut notes, the kind of blend that holds its shape in a flat white without turning heavy. If you like things brighter, the rotating single origin brings a citrus or stone fruit lift that really sings as a straight espresso or long black. Milk is textured properly, glossy and fine, and alternative milks are treated with the same care. There is usually a filter option on hand for people who prefer something lighter and it is poured cleanly with no bitterness.

Food is a supporting act, small but thoughtful. The pastry cabinet tends to carry buttery croissants, fruit danishes and a couple of sturdy cookies that pair neatly with a second coffee. Seating is scarce, mostly a central communal table and a few stools, so be ready to perch for ten minutes or take your keep cup and wander back into the city. Staff keep things moving without rushing anyone, answer questions about beans and gear, and have tap payment ready so the line never stalls.

If your idea of a good morning is a dialled-in espresso and ten minutes of people-watching, Brother Baba Budan delivers exactly...

I probably had a one-off bad customer service experience. Apart from that it was excellent.

I came in with wife and child in tow, looking a bit scruffy. I ordered a single origin and was challenged by the server. He explained that the option was a single origin or a blend and asked whether I wanted the blend instead, he then asked me whether I knew what the single origin was. When I asked him what the MASL of the coffee was, he didn't understand what I meant and just told me the bean variety. A top coffee shop should know the altitude of the Single O beans it uses for filter coffee. His question made me feel small - and whilst probably not his intent, dented my experience a bit. Coffee was delicious though, good extraction, the pastry was good. The milk drink my wife had was well extracted and the microfoam was well stretched and incorporated. My daughter liked her babychino, she was keen to point out that it didn't come with a marshmallow, but as a parent, it was nice to have a reprieve from this. Notwithstanding what was probably an unfortunate one-off, I'd detour when visiting Melbourne next time, to have a...

It's one of the top rated cafes for a reason. They know how to do good... Great coffee. My lattes on both occasions were great. The best time I found was in the morning. You can get a seat and sit and enjoy the ambience of the place. Loved that melancholic music (Suki Waterhouse). You can be happy and content and listen to music like that. Good stuff.

Chairs in the sky? You must be at Brother Baba Budan. They use Seven Seeds coffee here (which is the bees knees). Staff on both occasions were friendly too.

They also have some light food as well (just so you don't have your coffee on an empty stomach in the morning).

Be quick as when you come here later in the day, it is full inside and out (which speaks to the popularity of this place). One of my first cafes I visited on this trip and it was my last cafe out.

Getting here is easy as there is a tram nearby on Elizabeth Street / Little Bourke Street.

And again, you know a cafe is confident in their abilities and success when they can recommend other places too. You have been wonderful and keep doing you. Wishing you all the best. Until next time...