If first impressions count, you might be disappointed with this place... it's not the prettiest or trendiest cafe on the block but my oh my, they do a great breaky!
Coffee today was spot on. And our smashed avo and eggs on toast were just what the doctor ordered on a rainy Sunday morning.
Service is friendly and you can tell they want to impress. Nothing was too difficult. Lots of staff members so I'd imagine peak periods would be okay although we were there really early and one of only two tables. Highly recommend!
This place doesn't just do coffee well, they also do a lot of yummy food during lunchtime.
The eggs Benedict was amazing here. Huge generous portions of ham hock meat and poached eggs drizzled with hollandaise sauce. Super filling.
Been going here for 6+ years and have never been disappointed. Delicious food, and coffee that I will go out of my way for. Music isn’t blaring, so it’s the perfect place to chat with friends. Owner and the staff are friendly and professional.
Breakfast Japanese pancakes and a magic that's a coffee
Owner's r always happy very positive minded and happy to serve U .. service is Top rated. Staff r freindly all foods served fresh at all times .now the Japanese pancakes r served with pork belly and a poached egg yummy yummy yummy
Rates ....
Food 9
Staff. 9
Service 10
Shop 8
Positive food's any shd will be back
Great coffees. We ordered a latte and cappuccino. Both were strong and the milk was well frothed. Fast service and convenient location near parliament station.
A beautiful brunch! Absolutely loved it! Great service and very yummy and generous with servings. Well priced. If I lived in Melbourne I’d be a regular!
Delicious hipster dish. The salmon, aioli and haloumi was an amazing combination. Poached eggs were done beautifully. Generous serving. Friendly service, would definitely return.
Consistently punches about its weight. A sound option if you’re in this area. I’ve been coming here for years for coffee and meals and have never been let down. I’ve never been overly inspired either but nonetheless a place that offers good consistency like this one does deserves admiration and support. My cappuccino here this morning was lovely. Expertly made with a deep satisfying flavour. The young woman in the Nike trainers serving here is a superstar as well. Efficient, competent and pleasant and nice to regulars and irregulars.
The Coffee Exchange offered a myriad of options for breakfast, all so scrumptious! With a stack of reading material at the door, this cafe blends the traditional hospitality with a modern ambience.
However, my party had a bad experience with poor service.
Slow & Ignorant.
We did have to send a plate back as they replicated one of our orders, when we all ordered something different...
Very friendly staff and great service along with delicious food. Quiet and clean surroundings and the food was served promptly. Everything was fresh and of excellent quality. We went there for lunch before catching the Aladdin musical at Her Majesty's Theater. Very close and convenient.
Popped in here for food and coffee pre matinee show. So glad we did. Breakfast of eggs, ham hock and apple cider hollandaise was just the ticket! Yummy flavours without being heavy and overly salted, would come back for that ahain!
Very prompt and friendly service early Wednesday morning for breakfast. Large serving for smashed avo but only 1 poached egg. Odd. Efficient ordering system for coffee orders only vs breakfast. Good set up
really nice place. The coffee is soooooo good and staff are very friendly. i ordered egg exchange, a little bit heavy but super delicious! will definitely recommend to my friends !
Have been here with friends on few occasions, and we like this place. Besides coffee that really nice, we've also tried:
- Brocollini salad (poached egg, fresh herbs, grilled haloumi, dukkah and chilli dressing): delicious. Will be back for this.
- The Eggxchange (poached eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, roast tomatoes & relish on toast): the only tiny criticism my friend had was the over-toasted bread.
- Okonomiyaki: hmmm I think this is their style but to me, the pancake was quite thick so my friend was only able to finish 1/4 of the pancake. Also, from what they described and explained, I got it as the pork belly was not tender enough and the pancake was under-seasoned.
Stumbled across this place and I was blown away by how good the coffee was. The staff were friendly and approachable. The cafe is also opened on weekends, when most cafes are closed. This place deserves more recognition.
Great coffee and amazing smashed avocados. Even with highly competitive Melbourne coffee standards, this place still shines. Staff is always pleasant and friendly as well.
This place is near where I live.
It provide Really really good breakfast and coffee!
Have been there several times and never get disappointed.
Recommend this place!
A work colleague shared a little coffee gem with me this morning. Staff were friendly, the coffee tasted fantastic. I'll be going back to check out the food.
I come here all the time before work. Their fruit toast is excellent! Staff are super friendly, service is fast and their sit down menu is delicious with generous serves. Their coffee blend is an acquired taste but always made well. Best weekday breakfast spot down this end of the city!
Snuck in behind afew other cafes just off Spring St - delightful little cafe and delicious food! I had the Hipster Brekkie and it was soooo good! Coffee was decent and service was super friendly!
Had lunch with husband and our mums. Husband and his mum had the all day breakfast while I had smoked salmon & sour dough. My mum had the broccolini, dukha and haloumi salad. Everyone enjoyed their meals. I tried some of my mum's meal and the salad dressing was devine. An extra pinch of salt that it would have scored full points for us.
We have no real complaints about the meals or service except to say that the sourdough bread was perhaps too crunchy. Make a point to ask for it less toasted unless you really like croutons. The paleo slice also very tasty. I didn't try the coffee.
I think the coffee exchange is a good, solid cafe and a decent surprise. Worthy of a revisit.
I recently had lunch at the coffee exchange, all my expectations were exceeded! I had the broccolini salad with haloumi, dukkah and poached eggs. It was absolutely delicious. I want to try make it at home it was that good, and I couldn't work out the secret! The waitress that served my friends and I was lovely too! :)
Pros
• warm, friendly service
• the broccolini salad was fantastic!
• great coffee
• open on weekends
Cons
• decor fairly sterile, atmosphere lacking
Came by after an exam to grab lunch. Great coffee, and super delicious chicken avocado sandwich. So good that I devoured it and forgot to take a photo. I also grabbed a portuguese egg tart, which was a bit of a disappointment. The pastry wasn't flaky and it was a bit chewy, and the filling was overly sweet and really eggy.
Prior to our High Tea Party experience, Auntie Spanx and I hit up a little joint up the top of Collins Street for a bite of breakfast. With a cozy interior and a carefully constructed, wholesome yet trendy menu, Coffee Exchange hit the spot nicely. Cos we're hipsters like that.
Very nice place. Friendly staff and very tasty eggs Benedict (the wilted Kale was a nice touch). Bright yoke and generous amount of fried ham. Coming back for more. Buyakasha!
Have been here for breakfast and coffee quite a bit. Really enjoy the change in coffee each day from different companies which gives me a chance to try a bunch before buying beans for home.
The staff are friendly, remember names and orders and generally make you feel welcome which is hard to come by in the CBD.
Do recommend.
I also tried the carrot cake. The Coffee Exchange boasts that all cakes are baked on premises and that the carrot cake was apparently a recipe from the hummingbird café in the UK. I love carrot cake and can sometimes be put off ordering one because of the scary thick layer of icing accompanying it. However this carrot cake only had a teensy wee bit of cream cheese and pistachio crumbs on top which suited me fine. The carrot cake was not as carroty as I had hoped but it had a nice gingerbread taste and texture.
Great coffee and pleasant staff. Worth trying.
Great food. I went here for breakfast with some work friends. Food was great and very reasonably priced.
A busy spot and one with a welcoming vibe. Plenty of seating inside and a few outside tables too. Staff are friendly and coffee is rock solid. Also had plenty of newspapers which is a positive. Happy customer
I have breakfast here every work day. Best coffee. Great service. Friendly staff
I have eaten breakfast here on several occasions whilst visiting melbourne and love this place.The service is friendly and prompt . The food and coffee are exceptional.i wish there was a place as good as this in perth !
Great start to the day!. Excellent coffee, great pastries & the cooked breakfasts were lovely too. We'll be back next time we're in Melbourne!
Great find, and it's in the CBD!. We have walked pass this cafe a few times, was looking for a good coffee and where we were headed, was closed! Thought we would give "Coffee Exchange" a go, and we were pleasantly surprised :)
Food is of a high standard, fresh and inviting, I had a Halloumi, pumpkin puree, roast beetroot and walnut salad, and it was very nice.
Coffee is good, I would have liked it a bit stronger, "but" they serve a good quality coffee and it was "hot"( not luke warm like a lot of places). With our 2nd cup we shared a slice of the Brownie, yum!
We will certainly go back again :)
Went here on grand final day for breakie before the game most amazing coffee they were busy and from what I could see the chef did a great job the food was wonderful will be returning
Stephen Go Cats Smith
+4.5
Great food coffee and Service!!!!. I stopped in today and had a fantastic lunch and great coffee. First visit. I foolishly left my bluetooth headset behind and Jerry tracked me down through my work and let me know it was there. Customer for life!
Flawless. Options for coffee blends are all fantastic, and every single coffee I've had has been brilliant. This plus friendly, helpful and all-round brilliant service is the best perk-up you can get in the morning.
Today I got the Morrocan lentil soup for lunch, which was nothing short of the high standards I've come to expect from The Coffee Exchange.
A great variety and lots of options, including vegan :D and gluten free.
Keep up the great work!
Been on a search for a CBD discovery & walked across these guys. Instantly attracted by the variety of qual coffee beans on the grinders and choose a Proud Mary & enjoyed it. Worth a visit most definitely!
A great little find this one...I work on Spring St and this is now my favourite cafe...top notch coffee using Proud Mary beans, homemade cakes and good quality food. Best of all though they are so friendly, no other cafe has remembered my name on the 2nd visit!
Strong decent coffee, great fresh OJ and excellent food. Very reasonable prices, would return!
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Nice quick breakfast. Popped into Coffee Exchange for breakfast after a stay at the Windsor and it proved to be a quick, easy and affordable meal for two. The staff were efficient, accommodating and friendly enough, without being overbearing. The prices were reasonable for the meals, especially considering breakfast at the hotel was well overpriced. It was a great substitute.
The coffee was decent, it was very strong and slightly too bitter, but definitely a passing cup. My companion had a cappuccino which was beautifully presented.
As for the food, I had the blueberry pancakes which were quite unlike any other buttermilk pancakes I've tried. However they were definitely tasty, nice and thick and were accompanied by a sweet cream I forgot to take more notice of, and a nice honey pot. The pancakes themselves were probably sweet and fruity enough to be enjoyed unaccompanied but, despite being somewhat unconventional I thoroughly enjoyed them. My companion had the BLAT bagel, and although finding it strange that the bagel had a sweet taste paired with its savoury fillings, it was also enjoyed.
Overall I would recommend the Coffee Exchange to people as an affordable and decent breakfast option in the East of the CBD.
Delicious coffee, lovely friendly staff, quick service. I came here with a sore throat & wanted to have their pumpkin & sweet potato soup, so they bought their lunch service forward for me. Would def recommend.
Best Breakfast in Melbourne. Staff are fantastic, very busy cafe with great coffee and chai, had pancakes for breakfast with labne they were the best I have had also the presentation on the plate 5 star. I bought one of their home made pies to go they have a great selection of beautiful food, will be highly recommending this hidden gem. Well done I will be back.
Near perfect coffee produced consistently whether it's a full house or not. Service is a pleasure to deal with and the food is nice too. My favourite place for a flat white when I'm on that side of the city.
Gerry and his crew know what they are doing. Some excellent quality coffee (ask Gerry about the variable pressure machine he uses, and how he his still tinkering with the best pressures for each stage of the shot). The food is top notch, I would highly recommend the muffins as a starter, followed by a bagel with your choice of topping. Quick, efficient and friendly, just what you want in a local.
Nice food and great service. I come here often for lunch, I've never been let down with the food and the service is excellent
The coffee here is good, amongst the best in town and they have a really friendly team. Not necessarily blogworthy in itself, however, their self proclaimed "Best Brownie in Melbourne" looks a bit like the dessert equivalent KFC bun-less burger , take the goodness of a brownie and put an Oreo cookie in it. It is good, perhaps the best in town even. Coffee Exchange - Recommended for Coffee & Cake
Excellent place for breakfast. Had the chicken avocado bagel and almond croissant. Coffee was very good aswell. We stayed at nearby Park Hyatt and the breakfast there is overpriced. Better to walk over to Coffee Exchange (2min walk) for much better brekky!
Coffee Exchange is a brilliant little Cafe, the Coffee is really nice and they also have some really nice food, the Toasties are delicious and so are the Croissants, the staff are super friendly and welcoming, there is indoor seating as well as outdoor seating, I Highly Recommend Coffee Exchange ☕️🥐🥪🍽
Excellent Artisan Bagels for Breakfast. Nice Ambience and great service. Indoor and Outdoor seating available.
It was a quiet Sunday morning and an excellent breakfast. The menu is more sophisticated than most, not overly expensive and very tasty. Broccolini salad and Japanese pancakes were our go to. Highly recommended.
First time visited Coffee Exchange at 9-11/1 Little Collins Street (near intersection with Spring Street) and for brunch had the okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) with bacon, poached egg, Kewpie mayo, and crispy shallot. Excellent! Nice clean place seating inside and out under cover. Excellent.
Great place to grab a drink and meal.staff are friendly. Tables inside and out( covered too ) menu is interesting, have tried the deconstructed paleoburger, corn fritters sweet potato rosti~ all of them have the wow factor. The humble bacon and egg sandwich is my favourite., along with a mug of cappuccino. Can't beat it!
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