Review Church Of Secular Coffee - Clayton

Amazing service, food is great and manager was so kind and friendly to us. Would recommend for brunch with friends.

Very nice location and friendly, helpful staff. Looks like a nice selection of eat in or take away food, but most importantly, real loose leaf chai 😁. They have 2 types of loose leaf chai. A Chamellia chai, if you are drinking in, or a pre brewed down in honey and vanilla sugar loose leaf chai for drinking away. It was nice that they had the two drinks, so you could get quicker service if needed. The Chamellia chai had a slightly different flavour to the usual loose leaf chai, but was still very nice. 😁

Flat white medium $4, great coffee

Coffee is OK. As a staff member I have been going to 'Church' (don't tell my family) for many years. The staff have been great and incredibly friendly. Then 2021 rolled-up. The staff have changed and so has the attitude. The two people who are typically at the front counter are rude, dismissive and obviously don't realise that word spreads quickly around a university campus - for students and staff. I found it ironic recently when I saw the Cafe praise one of them on Instagram. Other staff have mentioned the same to me and we now head across to Artichoke and Whitebait (good coffee and service). It's a shame as this once was a great place for meetings; now it just has the attitude of inner-city cafes where the staff believe they are doing a favour for the customer by simply existing. The reviewer below, 'harry potter', accurately describes the attitude of the new staff. Food is now overpriced and bland - nothing exciting there.

It was our first time coming to this place and we had two negative experiences. First, when we were ordering, the girl at the counter asked us if she could take the order if the guy waiting in line behind us first???? Maybe it was because the guy was wearing a suit and looked more important, I don't know, but we just let it slide and agreed anyway. After, we ordered takeaway coffee and decided to sit at one of the tables inside while waiting. Note that the girl did not mention anything to us about where we should wait. We were really enjoying the place when that same employee came to us and told us to wait outside instead. She said it very indifferently and also did not provide any additional explanation. I understand you have processes to operate more efficiently but I, as a customer, did not have a positive experience because of that. The lady sitting at the table next to us was looking the entire time, also probably confused. We were also customers of the place and we ordered items on your menu just like the people who are sitting inside the cafe did. If we were in a rush and decided to wait outside then great, if we decided to sit inside while waiting, is it really necessary to make us leave the table??? Please train your staff to be more mindful and to read the situation before imposing all these rules that, in turn, make the customers feel very uncomfortable.

The food is quite good and we'll prices. Certainly better than you'd expect for a university campus. The daily special is usually good and the burgers are great. Really nice coffee as well.

Food and service is really great. The ingredients are of a good standard with free range eggs (cooked to the perfect temperature), really good milks (e.g. Bonsoy). Their drinks are really great as well, my partner got a coffee while I got a hot choc, she thought the coffee was amongst some of the better she's had and I agreed for the hot chocolate (often hot chocolates are a bit too sweet whereas this was a bit darker, not bitter just avoiding issues of too sweet hot chocolates)

Only decent coffee on campus, nice to sit at. Typical fare for outside suburban cafe, but only one on campus. Coffee favours oils and crema is decent. Menu may be a bit pricey for the area but still cheaper than Papa Rich. Sometimes stoooopid busy.

Quick takeaway coffee at Monash Uni here.<br/><br/>The interior is simple & I like the atmosphere of the place.<br/><br/>DRINKS<br/>Iced Latte with Almond Milk: A nice coffee but a bit expensive for the serving size<br/><br/>The server was a bit disinterested & not engaging while taking my order. In contrast, the barrister was friendly & brought my coffee over to where I was waiting which was very nice of him!

Food: 2.5/5<br/>Service: 4.5/5<br/>Ambience: 3/5<br/><br/>Reputable coffee brunch place on Clayton campus.<br/><br/>Ordered:<br/>- Corn fritters, poach eggs, Halloumi, corn, salsa $18<br/>- Eggs your way $12<br/>- Mocha $4<br/><br/>I guess people come here for the good coffee, however food was very average, definitely room for a lot of improvement. But then again, coffee is their speciality.<br/><br/>Corn fritters were nice, "poached" eggs were not poached - semi boiled. Overall dish presentation was poor in comparison to many other brunch places. It is maybe $5 too expensive.<br/><br/>Eggs your way was again, not the best. Would be nice if they added mushroom to assist with the egg and moisten the sourdough a little. My friends found it hard to cut the sourdough with the blunt knives - twas a workout.<br/><br/>Overall, great place for coffee. Probably go elsewhere for better food at lower prices.<br/><br/>

FAST Food Review<br/><br/>Food: Bagels are tasty if you after a Light snack, otherwise all the menu items are always delicious - 4/5<br/><br/>Ambience: Great atmosphere, perfect for a conversation over breakfast, brunch or lunch - 4/5<br/><br/>Service: All staff are always very friendly at every visit - 4/5<br/><br/>Total: St Ali dishes in the suburbs and at a cheaper price. Sounds like a good deal - 12/15

The best coffee and hot chocolate on campus<br/>Although most of the times its a long que to place order but it is definitely the wait.<br/>The ambience of the cafe is very relaxing and calm.

Probably the best option for coffee on campus, this café is an offshoot of coffee mogul Salvatore Malatesta’s St Ali.<br/>The milk was steamed really well with a nice microfoam on top, and the coffee shots were strong and robust.<br/>I couldn’t resist the in-house made scrolls – the dough was soft and the icing was not too sweet.<br/>Atmosphere in the café is quite good with bright open windows and a range of comfortable seating configurations.

I came here for a coffee in the morning. It was still very busy at around 9 am and I had to wait for about 10 minutes before even being served. The coffee was decent enough but no more than what you'd expect and it was reasonably priced especially if you have an MSA card - but is it worth the wait? Probably not.

Great coffee, great staff (always smiling and friendly) and let's face it, it's probably the best sit down cafe at Monash - so for that I'm rating them 4.5.  When it's busy, the setup of lining up out the door and then waiting next to the machine isn't the best design - would be great if they had an open window quick service option.

I really enjoyed the coffee, they do not have coconut milk (for those who might care). The service is very friendly and quite fast. The food was good, but nothing from another world. Overall it was a good experience and I will be coming back as it is the best option in Clayton.

Having St. Ali on campus has been a blessing in disguise. As amazing as the food is, I am often drawn to this place for its staff. Extremely warm and welcoming staff, very easy to talk to. Difficult to recommend one thing due to their changing menus but their 'soup of the day' has always been great! Would also recommend their coffee :)

Continuing on from the previous successful Cultural Food Academy sessions, Northland Shopping Centre recently hosted a coffee masterclass with St Ali. With the guidance of St Ali head barista and bar manager, Leon Holdsworth, we were taken on a coffee journey where we gained an understanding of how coffee was grown, picked, processed, roasted and finally brewed.

One of the first cafes that offer brunch inside Monash University. As a brunch person, the opening of St Ali was what caught my attention. I remember the very first time I visited was with a group of friends, and we easily got a table. The standard at that time was excellent for a little cafe inside a university. However, I recently returned and it seems they have gone downhill. The food was average and the coffee was bland and lukewarm. Their customer service also seems to have gotten worst. Quite disappointed as it was once a pretty good place to chill.

This place used to be so good when it first opened at Monash. But I recently returned after spending some time overseas and the standards have slipped completely. No where near as tasty as before and the prices have of course gone up.

Great coffee. However... I ordered a breakfast burger with egg, hashbrown, rocket, relish and Chorizo. The flavours were nice BUT the chorizo was honestly inedible. They put a chorizo sausage cut in half inside my burger... it was tough, dry and I couldn't bite through it at all. I had to remove it from my burger and I couldn't even eat it with a knife and fork because it was so tough. Very confused as to why you would just chuck in a chorizo sausage into a breakfast burger. are you too lazy to even slice it into edible pieces? anyhow I did enjoy my coffee I suppose and the staff were friendly etc... but due to my experiences with the food I will not be ordering any food here again.

Expensive food that's lacks in taste and inhospitable staff just make the place worse that what the customer pays for. The establishment seeks out to be a "cool brunch type" place for the Monash public to go to but is only and mainly used by professionals who can afford it.

Coffee was great and service was (surprisingly) fast. Read from previous reviews that service could potentially be slow- Perhaps it was also because I went at 2:15PM. Food wasn't all that fantastic, they were alright. I ordered the grilled cheese toasties and the Mexican corn fritters. You could probably afford to try something else instead!

Uni just got a whole lot better. Friendly, efficient and clean. This was my first coffee at Monash Clayton that didn't make my tongue want to walk off and attach itself to another more respectful life form. Caffeine and deliciousness. The people are great too. They seem to understand that they are a lifeline to sanity. Keep those oh so tasty beverages coming St Ali Church of Secular Coffee!

Opening note: this is not a diatribe.<br/><br/>Sometimes you may have heard me rag on the St Ali but this is not going to be one of those times. See, this location is intelligently located out back of the student centre Monash, a patently underused location for F&B. So there's my postitove note.<br/><br/>Anyway, you well know my gripes with St Ali coffee style, regular espresso beans too bitter to enjoy without milk and fancier Berns such as those used in pour over etc are acidic in a way that their manner of preparation renders unlovable. Melbourne get your head out of you a** and realise good coffee does not have to make you wince and have a caffeine related BM within 10 mins of consumption. Thanks for coming to Monash anyway, you're no worse than anything that's already here, but drop the attitude.

Monash University is getting a revamp and one of the new eateries on the Clayton Campus is St Ali. The food wasn't that great but the coffee was good. My Mexican Cousin - $18The main ingredient i.e.  fritters were unevenly cooked. One was cooked perfectly while the other two were both under done with soggy insides. The best part of the dish was the salsa, but there wasn't much ofit.

Service was nice and quite to the point; food was very filling and tasted good. Overall I enjoyed my breakfast and coffee :) will be seeing me around again

Food and service used to be great when it first opened, frequent the place with my friends even though it is slightly pricey. Went there a week ago with delegates from an international corporate firm that just landed in Melbourne. There were a total of 8 people, with 3 students and 5 guest. Whilst we ordered 3 coffees, and my 5 guest was still having a look at the menu, we were told by one of the waiters (he seems to be the one managing the place) that '3 coffees for 8 people is not good enough, you are at a restaurant.' That was very embarrassing on me, and it had set a very bad standard for Melbourne cafes generally for my 5 guests from Malaysia. Will not return even though I once regarded it as one of the best place on campus.

It was a great day for the students and staff of Monash when this place opened, heralding the first of the good-food spring to hit Clayton.  First of all, great coffee and a lovely environment, albeit much too small for the population being served.  Unfortunately, the multiple times I have been here, I have been relatively disappointed with the inefficient service - having to waiting almost an hour for our food is not compatible to getting to lectures/tutorials!  The menu has a few great options, but is definitely over-priced.

The nicest cafe on campus! Nice & cozy decor, good quality cafe/brunch food, nice coffee, awesome crispy French fries & really friendly & efficient service! Great when you want to sit down and have a quality breakfast/lunch/coffee with friends in a much nicer environment than the horrible campus centre!

BEWARE ENTERING THIS STORE HOLDING ANY OTHER FOOD OTHER THAN THAT PURCHASED FROM ST ALI. Today I attempted to sit down with my mother and little sister for a coffee and catch up at St Alis, they had come all the way from Warrnambool for the occasion, but alas the fact that they intended to purchase coffee at St Alis wasn't enough for them to remain. The boost juice cups they held struck a deep hatred into the manager's black soul. We were told to leave as "St Alis is trying to keep up an image". I believe this loosely translates from Douchebag Barista into Spoken English as "I'm a trot that values a lost dollar above all else"<br/>

It's my favourite breakfast place at Clayton (at the moment). Their staff are always so friendly and bubbly. The food is quite pricey ($4 for a coffee and $4.50 for a shortcake slice). But great ambience inside.

Came to Monash to eat with my best friend and soy cappuccino was the bomb! Had two cups of cappuccino and I had the Mexican Cousin which was also really nice. I went there at a peak time so food came out a bit long but the waiter's services was really good. Would go back if I come back to Monash

I'm a lecturer and went with a few students one morning. One of the servers was so rude that he's put me off ever going back. Couldn't tell if he hates students or was just generally unhappy and cranky.

Have to give this establishment my award for the most expensive bowl of chips I have ever had. $9 for a plain bowl of chips (with option of aioli). Obviously students aren't as broke as they used to be. Food is okay, but a little pricey, coffee is good (but strangely tepid) and sweets a bit ho hum.

Love the interior. Funky little cafe and cool place to study. Coffee is decent and the cookies are amazing. However their large coffee is a small at nearly every other cafe on campus and are priced like they're on chapel street. What happened to student friendly coffee prices !?

The only place to get coffee on campus. Worth the extra few cents to give your mouth the party it deserves. The staff and owner are also ridiculously friendly.

The food is very good and they serve you quickly. I got the burrito and the detox juice, they were both delicious, but overpriced. The size of the burrito wasn't worth the price. I left paying just under $30 for a meal I definitely don't think was worth more than $20.

Ordered a soy chai latte. I'm hoping they just stuffed it up and accidentally just gave me a cup of steamed soy milk, because this is the blandest thing I've ever drunk.

In short, the best thing to ever happen at Monash Clayton! Prior to St ALi, there was no good coffee on campus - that's no longer a problem! Staff are great, food is yum, I've never really had a bad experience here, and in my last year of study I went for coffee daily (sometimes multiple times!)... They even have a good selection of beers 😊 it can sometimes get a bit crowded, but that's not their fault!<br/>