Monday: Often have I walked past Urban Bites on King Street and questioned why is this place so successful, it’s in between everything, not close to the university, train station or most of the shops. Who even lives here, apart from the complex above. But yet this café is eternally busy, from early in the morning to late at night, so was a must in my inner west café stops

Filled with a mix of people, from uni students, bashing out the last of their essays, to urban hipsters thinking up the next item of clothing to rip-up to grand-parents with their kids, children. You’re not going to feel out of place here at all.

I sat down inside, and am am quickly approached by a girl who tells me to sit ‘where evs’, I chose a seat close to the counter to get a feel of the action (also writing out a marketing report). It’s a hot day and she comes over with a bottle of water and a cup which is nice. I order a flat white, she leaves with a smile and a joke.

Looking at the café itself. I had a few issues, while it’s nice to have an inside outside café, I found I was constantly exposed to cigarette smoke here, wafting in from outside. There was also no one really confortable place to sit and chill, seats are all plastic and tables kinda wobbly though over use. The floor was a little dirty and I somehow ended up with some tomato on my foot when I took my food out of my thong (flip flop Americans!).

My coffee comes out quickly from a relaxed looking barista, it’s served in a white china cup and the waitress ensures the teaspoon is behind me when she puts it down. Just looking at the barista, you could tell it was going to be interesting drink. Just in the space of the time I was sitting there he changed the grid a few times, given the changing humidity of the day. The coffee is marvellously presented it (as you would hope form coffee made only seconds earlier) has that lovely silky look to it, fantastic bit of art, I really like the simple effort which has gone into this drink.

I was really excited to try such a fanatic looking masterpiece. First impressions went well, with a great balance of milk to foam on my flatwhite, however, it was here where thing took a turn. I am

not saying this drink did not have some great things going for it. It was hot and had a pleasant aroma. However, it was Vittoria, and you have to be a true master to get something amazing from this bean.

The coffee all up had a smooth, non-bitter taste to it, but in total it was rather bland and not as much as an exciting taste sensation as I would have hoped, considering the effort which had gone into the drinks creation. When left to sit for a while, the coffee did infuse a little better with the milk, however that bland coffee taste remained. Very sad.

I have no idea whether or not I got lucky here as to the quality of my coffee, but nice one Urban Bites if this is your usual standard.

Scoring
Coffee: 7/10
Style: 8/10
Coffee:15/20

Café:
Urban oasis/ hang out joint
Cool?: 6/10
Service: 8/10
15/20
————-
total: 30/40

Likes: wow the coffee presentation was great, nice call between sitting inside and outside
Dislikes: no choice chilling areas, cigarette smoke inside is annoying, bean sucks.