Charlie Lovett located at South Wharf in Melbourne is a cafe offering their own coffee blend and a range of food for those wanting to take some time off and enjoy sitting in a large seating area that offers both indoor and outdoor seatings. This cafe is practically next to the South Wharf DFO and is situated alongside other cafe’s looking out the waterfront. With their own roasted coffee blend and a mix between home-made and gourmet breakfast and sandwiches Charlie Lovett provides and caters for many. Whilst on a New Year Day exploration for a cafe that was open we stumbled upon Charlie Lovett, this was our experience:
Latte
Jimmy: Well here it is the Latte made with Charlie’s single origin estate coffee beans. It becomes apparent that with the combination of the constant New Years Day flurry of customers, one barista, the expectation usually results to a lack of a quality cup when served up. I guess the pour was, well poor because I could hardly taste the flavour of the coffee as it become drowned by the obvious re-steamed milk that didn’t give me that smooth and full flavoured latte I was really hoping for. 4/10
Belgium Milk Hot Chocolate
Jessica: We did not have to wait long for our drinks which is good, I believe there was only 1 barista on the busy New Years Day and she did a good job with getting these drinks out quickly. This hot chocolate was so disappointing.. if you are looking for a good belgium hot chocolate then I would recommend The Chocolate Room at Parramatta, Sydney. The hot chocolate had the slightest hint of chocolate flavour.. the rest just tasted like milk that was heated up. Very disappointing and I would not recommend it, unless you ask them to put extra chocolate in for you. 2/10
Eggs Benedict on Turkish bread with Ham
Jessica: We waited at least 30-40 minutes for our food to come. In my opinion this Eggs Benedict was worth the wait. The texture of the hollandaise sauce was perfect and the flavouring was perfect as well! In the photo it honestly looks like a regular eggs benedict, but I think it was the quality in the hollandaise sauce and also the ham that made this above average. The only thing is, the “turkish bread” did not taste or look like turkish bread, it honestly looked and tasted like regular toast.. However, with this said, I would still recommend this! 6/10
Charlie’s Big Breakfast
Jimmy: This is what breakfast looks like. I really enjoyed the spinach and sausage. The bread tasted fresh and the mushrooms were nice. The down sides were probably the bacon that was not as crispy as expected and the wait time for the meal, though it didn’t fail to deliver a good meal to start the day! 5/10
Final Thoughts
Jessica: We went on New Years Day, and this was one of two cafes open. I think that they should have been more prepared with the rush of people. You had to wait in the queue for at least 10-15 minutes before you were served at the counter. And food took 30-40 minutes which is just way too long to wait for breakfast… we did see a couple leave and I don’t blame them. It feels a bit unfair to judge them on the time it took for their food to come out as it was New Years Day, and most places were closed. They probably did not expect it to be that busy. But they should’ve been prepared incase there was a massive rush of people anyway! The food certainly wasn’t disappointing, but the service was.
SERVICE: 5/10
ATMOSPHERE: 6/10
PRESENTATION: 6/10
Jimmy: Charlie Lovett looks really good when you walk in. You’ve got the huge counter with their own roasting machine and the decor oozes a rustic fisherman’s hut to me for some reason. Kudos to the staff that got pumped for so many hours, as it seemed busy prior and after our visit. The manager offered a smile and a quick conversation whilst taking my order, indicated to me that they were consistent with good service. The New Year’s buzz aside, food was good, coffee not so much, though this place has so much more potential, I would not mind visiting it another time, when it isn’t as busy!
SERVICE: 5.5/10
ATMOSPHERE: 5/10
PRESENTATION: 5.5/10
Charlie Lovett South Wharf
43 South Wharf Promenade
South Wharf VIC 3006
catering.sw@charlielovett.com.au
(03) 9696 6886
Winter Trading Hours
Monday – Friday: 7.00 am – 8.00 pm
Weekend: 7.00 am – Late
Our Stamp of Approval 