Paramount Coffee Project — Restaurant in Sydney

According to an article published by the Financial Times in February this year, the Paramount Coffee Project in Sydney is one of the best independent coffee shops in the world. That is a good reason to pay them a visit.

The café is in a heritage-listed building formerly home to Paramount Pictures in the inner-city district of Surry Hills. On my way from the CBD to Surry Hills I literally passed hundreds of cafés, as stated in the FT article. Of course, I had very high expectations, as I do not visit one of the best cafés in the world. So, how good was my experience?

I truly enjoyed the building itself, the architecture, and the interior design. I especially liked the exposed concrete in combination with the untreated bricks in the walls, the white tiles and the simple metal chairs and wooden tables inside and the concrete table on the outside. Sleek, simple, and giving space to the coffee and food offering. Yet, the coolest object was the vending machine in the lobby, called the lobby boy.

I ordered their single origin espresso as a double from Honduras and a batch brew from Colombia. I started with the tasty looking espresso: it was well balanced with flavors of blood oranges, dark stone fruits and spices in the finish. The body was bold, the texture dense and the finish long-lasting sweet like nectarines. The filter coffee from Colombia came with a crisp, citric acidity, the cup was clean and sweet, with citrus flavors of orange and grapefruits and a lingering aftertaste. The cup and the range server were very cute. I liked the 4x4 truck with the gigantic banana in the back. It would have been great to taste a coffee with a banana flavour. That would have been a great match to elevate the multi-sensory experience. The vessel worked perfectly with the concrete table. I could not resist and ordered scrambled eggs on sourdough bread. That is a very Aussie thing, and filter coffee works very well with warm scrambled eggs and crispy bread.

Thank you for the nice tip FT! It was a great experience. When you go an visit this place, also look out for the great wall paintings (e.g. “Return to Sender” and enjoy the Vanessa Megan Blood Orange Foaming Soap when you wash your hands in the toilet. It is all about the details, and it is definitely not only about coffee. And maybe you find my signed book, that I have been hiding in the café. Live is too short to not...

Dropped by this café on a public holiday — it was packed, so the weekend-level crowd was expected. Food-wise, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5.

We had the chicken and waffles, but the balance was off. The waffle was quite sweet, and with the sweet sauce on top, it overpowered the fried chicken. The baked eggs, though, were a highlight — especially with the pork sausage. Solid, comforting, and well-cooked.

Service, unfortunately, was a real letdown. I’d rate it 1 out of 5. Yes, we got seated, ordered without hassle, and the food came out relatively quickly. But the atmosphere lacked warmth. Staff didn’t smile, didn’t seem engaged, and when I asked if the table next to us could be cleaned, the response was flat — no “sorry,” no friendly acknowledgment, just… indifference.

We weren’t the only ones who noticed. A family nearby asked for hot water, and the husband actually commented on how unenthusiastic the waiter’s expression was. It kind of summed up the overall vibe — like the staff just didn’t want to be there.

Maybe it’s become such a tourist spot that regular service and return customers don’t matter much anymore? I’m sure the owner would care, but it felt like the staff had checked out. A little warmth and friendliness would’ve made a big difference.

Although I love the fit out and location, there are many other great cafes around Surry Hills to try so won’t be in a hurry to return unless there’s something extraordinary...

Went for brunch with friends. When we arrived we were told to sit just anywhere. After finding an open space and sitting there for 5-10 minutes we were told by a waitstaff that they could not serve food where we were seated because it wasn't part of their establishment, which is fair, but they should have informed us what seating was acceptable or not to dine in. We ordered the: Maple iced coffee (very watered down coffee with a slight sweetness that did not taste like maple syrup. Genuine maple syrup has a distinctive flavour) Shaken iced almond latte (very watered down, although there was a slight nutty aftertaste and richness of the almond. Again, very slight though) Watermelon, lime and coconut crush (weirdly creamy and tangy in a way that didn't mix well. Creamy and tangy flavours can mix very well together when executed well, but this was not the case here) PCP Bibi (hipster style bimbimbap. Interesting. Flavours were still very Korean due to the sauce provided) Soft baked eggs with the housemade labneh option (pretty good flavours although the serving bowl was quite shallow and didn't actually contain much) Peanut butter jelly time sago (raspberry sago itself was very very sweet. The peanut milk was a nice touch and helped combat the sweetness of the sago somewhat, although not very successfully) Overall, the food was meh and not worth the price...