Industry Beans Fitzroy — Restaurant in Melbourne

Update 17/5: We went back for a brunch in the middle of the week, without the kids. I liked the Green Pancakes, white sauce and the crunchy texture so much that I was hoping they replaced the rancid bits. Unfortunately, they served the same rancid crunchy bits.

However, that is not the main reason for downgrade of stars. As a brown person who lived in US for over 16yrs before moving to Mel, I have experienced bad service with racial undertones before but I would like to keep an open mind and try not to jump to quick conclusions.

This 2nd visit, I was first seated in the middle of the tiny coffee table row. These tables are very close to each other. Dude on the left was on the bench side and had few bags/stuff next to him taking up more space next to him. Dude on the right was working on his computer. After my wife joined me and sat on the bench side, we realized the space was tight and it wasn't comfortable to have a decent conversation. Right behind us were larger booth tables that can seat 4 people. 2 of these booths on the row behind us were empty. We requested the guy who seated us if we could move to a booth. He hesitated and then said he could give us the very long table (usually meant for large groups) at the very end of that row of booths. This spot is right next to the kitchen window and right behind us were the toilets. This was exactly the spot we were seated last time we came here. We walked past 2 empty booths to the end table, while wondering why we can't take one of the empty booths. 3 of the booths had 2 people each, so it wasn't like the booths are only meant for 4 people. A little while later we saw the same guy seated a white couple in one of the 2 empty booths.

At the time of paying, I asked the guy why we had to sit in the table next to the toilets at the very end while there were empty booths in the middle. He was talking some nonsense about when its busy during the weekends the booths in the center are usually reserved and we seat large parties at the very end table, none of which were relevant - it was a Wednesday, we were just 2 ppl and not a large group, there were multiple booths with just 2 ppl.

We also noticed they do revisit tables asking how everything is a little while after serving the food. They never came back to our table on both occasions.

The only way for me to interpret this service after 2 visits is that it is racially motivated.

Atmosphere & interiors - 5 starts Food presentation - 5 stars Portion sizes - 4 stars Bubble waffle was good. Coffee was great. Avo toast was good.

Overall food & service could be better. Let me explain: Green Pancakes & white cream sauce topping were delish but the granola or whatever crumbles under it were not good, I am afraid they were rancid. Couple of the raspberries have mold/fungus on them.

Croissant was dry & flaky. For the ambiance & $, expecting a bit more buttery & soft.

The lady who took our order was pleasant & even offered butter & jam with our croissant, without us asking for them, that was nice, however, we never saw her after serving our food. She never stopped by to ask how things were, I wanted to tell her the granola was rancid & berries needed to be cleaned.

She walked over few times but did not make eye contact, I tried raising my hand gently to not be rude trying to get her attention but she was busy serving other customers, the place was definitely busy, so probably not deliberate but would have liked for her to stop & ask how things were.

We will drop by for coffee but probably not go...

What makes the Melbourne specialty coffee scene so special? Is it the specialty coffee, or is it the delicious food? It could also be the stylish presentation of the food and beverage offer as well as the hyper sleek architecture and interior design of the specialty coffee shops.

Today I had the pleasure to explore Industry Beans at their COFFEE ROASTERY & CAFE in Fitzroy, Melbourne. I received a very warm welcome from their staff: “WELCOME to INDUSTRY BEANS!” They had two espresso house blends and one single origin espresso. I decided to go for the SUMMER espresso blend as a flat white. Guess why? This blend consisted of a natural Kenya (Endebes: SL28, SL34, Batian, and Ruiru 11) and a natural Brazil (Nascer Do Sol: Catuai and Bourbon). The barista textured the milk well. There was a great harmony between the coffee and the milk. The mouthfeel was very smooth and creamy, and I liked the sweetness.

But wait for the food! I asked the friendly barista to suggest me her favorite breakfast dish. She recommended me the “PORCINI NEST”, a porcini dusted egg, potatoe nest, wild mushroom duxelles, kale, pickled mushrooms, and truffle oil. Sounds delicious? It was delicious, and the food presentation was stunning.

As a coffee lover, I went for a filter coffee as a desert, a yellow honey processed coffee from Colombia (Wilder Lazo: Pink Bourbon, 1,600 to 1,800 m). It came with beautiful notes of lychee, manuka honey, and papaya. I especially liked the high sweetness, and the cleanliness of this coffee.

Coffee connects people: it was a very romantic experience because I was surrounded by two love couples. It was cute to her both asking similar questions: “Do you have brothers or sisters?” I enjoyed my visit. I loved the architecture and interior design. The coffee menu was large, and my order tasted great. There would have been even a decaf coffee from Mexico (Bourbon, Caturra, and Typica: 900 to 1,100m, Swiss Water processed). The brunch looked and tasted fantastic, and both the staff and the guests were very nice, kind, and...

We came to this cafe mainly because of the instagram page and likes. We were sadly disappointed. We sat outside and were served by an obnoxious hipster waiter. My friend asked for a long black with some extra milk and the waiter looked puzzled and said “ohh yeh look i don’t think the baristas would be too happy about that and i don’t think they’ll be able to do it”. I couldn’t believe it, wefelt like we were in the middle of an episode of portlandia, except it was real.

We were hoping that the coffee and food would make it up anyway..we were sadly disappointed. Very disappointing coffee w a burnt taste. The food was terrible too. I ordered some poached eggs w truffle. What came out was literally the worst dish i have ever had across my travels. It was 1 poached egg on top of a mix of sweet granola, coffee type crumble, and then some weird jelly asparagus type thing on the side and some weird black stuff. The waitress (who was nicer) sprayed 1 spray of truffle oil, which was so little that there was no truffle flavour, it could have just been mixed w water.

I never usually write long reviews or intend to put a negative review of a business. I’m sure the staff work hard and produce quality food, but it definately didn’t happen this day. We travelled a long way to come to this cafe and i think people need to be aware that it doesn’t necessarily live up...