A shot of Brazilian from Alfresco Coffee Roasters will get you started on your coastal sojourn. Photo: Lisa Herbert.
It’s been over two years since we last visited the wonderful cafes of the South Coast. The weather may be cooler, and the world a little stranger, but the pristine nature and glorious turquoise waters beckon, and soothe. Here is a selection of excellent coffeehouses after a recent trip to the coast.
Please contact individual businesses for summer hours as staffing issues on the coast are still affecting some offerings and opening times. Be kind and enjoy the vibe of our fabulous coffee culture from Mogo to Narooma.
Set back from the highway, a contemporary space with shady courtyard, Grumpy & Sweethearts. Photo: Lisa Herbert.
Grumpy and Sweetheart’s
Address: 36 Sydney Street, Mogo
@grumpyandsweethertscafe
Set back off the highway in the cute village of Mogo, Grumpy and Sweethearts has an extensive beverage list and all day menu, plus a green, shady courtyard. Staff are friendly and the coffee is offered with a wide selection of milks, plus iced lattes, a range of teas, Byron Chais, milkshakes, spiders and smoothies. Coffee is an Alfresco blend created specially for this very inviting eatery which feels contemporary and comfy. The cafe is licensed so you can also sneak in an elderflower mimosa should you feel the urge. All day menu covers BLTs, B&E rolls, toasties and an excellent kids menu. There’s a breakfast menu until 11.30 am and lunch offers burgers, sandwiches, Thai noodle salad, Buddha bowls and fritters. Don’t know where the grumpy is, they were all sweethearts as far as we could tell.
Moruya’s Alfresco Coffee Roasters have everything you need to create perfect caffeinated beverages. Photo: Lisa Herbert.
Alfresco Coffee Roasters
Address: 15b Church Street, Moruya
@alfrescocoffeeroasters
This cafe is a bit of a coffee mecca. Inside you are surrounded by an impressive range of paraphernalia: machines, filters, plungers, presses, drinking vessels, and an extensive choice of beans. Our fave is the Black Cyclist blend. It’s strong, sweet, dark and served at the perfect temperature. Alfresco is a lovely space decked out with dark walls that highlight the shiny chrome state-of-the-art equipment, with a view into the roasting room. A big serving window opens out onto the street where locals lean and chat after ordering their selected blend, or snack, and a good range of tea sits on the shelves next to teapots and state-of-the-art kettles. Consistently good coffee and a range of house-roasted beans, many of which are supplied to other cafes along the coast. We just have to mention the pure white drinking chocolate … you’re welcome!
A hole in the wall as well as a serene green space at Grounded in Moruya. Photo: Lisa Herbert.
Grounded Moruya
Address: 74 Vulcan St, Moruya
@grounded_moruya
On the main drag of Moruya is a window in the wall, a coffee spot which also offers a serene teal and plant laden space inside, away from the traffic. All morning, locals on the go queue for their coffee, which is brewed with Grounded’s own full-bodied blend provided by neighbours Alfresco Coffee Roasters. Opened two years ago by the lovely Inga, Grounded serves a very good cup and is a lovely place to sit and sup, with a few delicious snacks and slices available, very decent tunes and friendly service. There are loads of plants from Little Green Studio gracing the interior and all are available to purchase along with craft pieces. They also sell a range of insulated coffee mugs from Cheeki.
Great coffee at Bodalla Dairy, but can you escape without an ice cream? Photo: Lisa Herbert.
Bodalla Dairy
Address: 52 Princes Highway, Bodalla
@bodalladairy
Good luck if you think you can escape this gorgeous old-style ice creamery without an actual ice cream … everything’s made with Bodalla non-homogenised milk (or any alt. milk you desire) and there are glass-doored freezers showcasing red-striped buckets of delight, such as wild strawberry, chia and almond, lemon myrtle, or wattleseed and coffee … and of course there’s cheese.
Open seven days, the light-filled store is a rambling, inviting space with many areas from the inviting lawn, big tin shed, fireside and retro table nooks, so settle the kids in with a scoop or a milkshake. Coffee is delicious, to go or dine in, made with Alfresco’s Church Street blend, which is pretty fabulous over a scoop of vanilla ice cream just saying, or of course you can have that long black with real cream on the side.
Pistachio’s coffee is great, and so are the bakes. Photo: Lisa Herbert.
Pistachio Narooma
Address: 1A 4 Hopkins Place, Narooma
@pistachio_narooma
We love coffee nerds. It’s because we love coffee so much, and a coffee obsessed person can be thoroughly relied on to produce a perfect cup, and here with a choice of brewing techniques to boot. Pistachio is worth seeking out in the industrial precinct south of Narooma, for the excellent coffee and also creative bakes from the young couple in residence. Serving the Heavyweight Espresso Blend from Axil Coffee, made from Brazilian Esperanca and a Colombian Popayan Reserve. Sounds serious right? So order your milked or black coffee and an extremely good gluten-free cake or pastry and settle into this big warehouse-style cafe, or find a spot on the grass outside with your perfect 6oz latte and a generous slice. On the day we visited the cake choices were lime, lemon and lavender, chocolate and pear, a burnt basque cheesecake – and Daisy also bakes her own sourdough bread on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is experimenting with gluten-free pastry as we speak!
What you are seeking. A quiet coffee surrounded by calm water and birdsong. Photo: Lisa Herbert.
Salt, South Coast
Address: 30 Riverside Drive, Narooma
@salt_ofthecoast
From a big, unpretentious marina deck over the calm waters of Wagonga, you can see fish in the seagrasses on the bottom and watch and hear dozens of birds: butcher birds and lorikeets, swallows and gulls, lapwings, pelicans, herons. In this spectacular and calming environment we enjoyed a perfect small latte while sitting at a bar over the inlet, and perhaps the best egg and bacon roll that we’ve had on the entire coast. Coffee is the Coast Blend from Guerrilla Roasters, and consistently, beautifully made. Staff and service? Swift and smiling. Loads of good lunch options. It’s worth turning off the highway and spending some time here to revivify for sure, a quintessential South Coast spot.
Thoughtful, mindful, and a cup full … Bound to Earth Vintage Espresso. Photo: Lisa Herbert.
Bound to Earth Vintage Espresso Bar
Address: Shop 6/4/6 Narooma Cres., Narooma
@bound_to_earth
A little side street cafe, very welcoming and with an air of local sustainability, Bound to Earth has an early morning coastal coffee vibe going on. Together with delicious coffee from Moruya’s Alfresco, you can also enjoy seasonal eating with low food miles and minimal packaging. They encourage their customers to choose reusable, offering a discount to those remembering their reusable cups. The small daily menu consists of bread and muffin goodies from Wild Ryes, croissants, gorgeous chia puddings, locally made cakes and freshly made Turkish breads, bagels and some healthy salads and soups. Our coffee with soy was absolutely delicious, creamy and strong. A mindful little enterprise.
If you are a coffee nerd, Montague Coffee will satisfy. Photo: Facebook.
Montague Coffee
2/40 Princes Highway, Narooma
Takeaway Coffee: 0481 706 881
@montaguecoffeecafe
So many coffee blends and so little time! Montague Coffee is a small boutique roastery located nearby the beautiful turquoise waters of Narooma. You will also find the Montague Coffee van at Moruya Markets most weekends. These guys provide freshly roasted, specialty coffees sourced from around the world. And they do this very well. Popular with travellers (thanks to its convenient location on the coast highway) and locals alike, the lattes and frappes are delicious. You can purchase a range of beans freshly roasted to take on the road with you, including one of their blends: Whale blend, Lighthouse blend, Bar blend and a Nicaraguan Organic.
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