Review North Island Cafe - North Fitzroy

I’ve tried 8 cafés between Saint George and Nicholson in Fitzroy North and if it just coffee that you want, this one tops them all. no question. Runner up: Smiley’s on Nicolson, which is open Sundays unlike North Island.

The coffee is always beautiful, I've never had a bad or even sub-par one! The muffins are delicious too :)

Best coffee in town hands down! And best blueberry muffins ever!

Always consistently the best coffee in Fitzroy North and there are indeed a lot of options to choose from. Great service, awesome coffee, why not grab one of those muffins while you’re at it, eh?

Best coffee in Melbourne, consistently hot and strong. Been coming here years

Yup it's true, best coffees outside of NZ, in Melbourne, actually anywhere. You get what you ask for here, cappuccino is the real deal, and with friendly service. Not to mention the great tunes

Despite the decent coffee, Not a hospitable environment, subtle racist vibes.

LOVE the coffee here! Nice strong taste, consistently delicious, I live around the corner & we're so lucky to have North Island so close! When I was house sitting in Flemington I still made a few special trips back to Nth Fitzroy for Matt's coffee...Thank you for always providing such great service! 🙏🏽😊

This place is all about the coffee. There is a limited range of food available, but the coffee is best in area. Calm atmosphere, wonderful tunes, and first-class service from owner. Definitely my local favourite.

North Island probably has the best-quality coffee in the neighbourhood – the owner and barista really cares about what he does, and clearly knows his stuff. Maybe don't go here for food unless you're looking for simple (but good) cafe fare, and take cash as (nigglingly) there's no eftpos available.

Terrible attitude from staff.<br/>I was sitting out the front of North Island this morning with my dogs (on leads), waiting for a friend. The man walks out holding a latte and tells me to move as I'm supposedly sitting in someone's seat, I stand up and move, but instead of a customer appearing from inside behind him, he picks up the coffee and returns inside. <br/><br/>So in actual FACT no ones seat was being occupied, when I was asked to move. <br/><br/>Last time I checked it's a good idea to greet potential customers with a "hello, can I get you a coffee, water?" As who knows maybe I might have bought one.<br/><br/>Good luck getting any business with Dench Bakers next door and unnecessarily RUDE staff.<br/><br/>

Went in hoping to get a coffee and breakfast, stood there for a few minutes being absolutely ignored by all of the staff members who were just chatting to each other as it wasn't very busy. I went next door.

What a perfect brunch this was! The lightly toasted bagels were perfectly crisp on the outside and super soft in the middle, and avocado with a fresh squeeze of lemon is one of my favourite combos, so that was a winner too.

Amazing coffee. Serioulsy great coffee<br/>friendly staff<br/>fresh tasty lunch

The best coffee in north fitzroy. Great pides too especially the salami with artichokes. Have been going here for years before we moved. Still pop on in Saturdays for the coffee because it is that good.

Consistently good food. Minimalist. Best coffee in NF!!

I liked the Bombay Toast and they do a nice coffee so I gave it a like because both were lovely. However I'm not entirely convince I should be paying $25 for that...

Nice quick easy coffee. Always get our Saturday morning coffee here when on the go. Friendly staff and never too busy that you have to wait too long. Defo a fan. Havent tried the breakfasts but they look pretty good.

Best coffee in North Fitzroy. I started coming to North Island when I first moved into the suburb - and I just adore it. It is is the perfect local. The breakfast menu is small - but the bagels and sandwiches are always delicious. <br/><br/>The coffee is fantastic - the best in North Fitzroy - and probably best in Melbourne. Every coffee goes through the owner - who is a absolutely lovely guy. <br/><br/>North Island might be beside the Melbourne food behemoth that is Dench - but it delivers a much better coffee and is a more authentic North Fitzroy experience. <br/><br/><br/>Highly recommended.

Favorite. This is my favorite place in the neighbourhood. Coffee is always amazing! Love the bircher muesli, soups and french toast (but everything is great). You can taste the goodness. Staff are great, prices are really reasonable, unlike some of the others in the area.

Coffee was ok and fine if your just after a bagel or pide but rest of the menu is limited and the breakfast we had was pretty average. Next door is much better in my view.

Coffee was alright. Nice staff. Pretty frickin' average breakfast.

Great consistent coffee. Good bagels too. Very nice staff

Supreme!!!. One of the best coffee places in Melbourne, cant go wrong,

Great consistent coffee. Good consistent coffee made with care. Always a great way to start the weekend!

Don't bother. I went, ex.... Don't bother. <br/><br/>I went, excited to try their lauded coffee and the doughnuts they categorise themselves under. I waited several minutes once seated, with no staff forthcoming to take a coffee order or offer a menu, in spite of being seated by a waitress and watching her stand by her colleagues behind the bar doing nothing while I tried to attract someone's attention.<br/><br/>I left and enjoyed the great service and food at Dench instead.

Best coffee in Melbourne. Hands down. By far. Well done - I have never had a bad coffee at this little gem.

Good Coffee. I agree with all the post about the coffee. I throughly enojoyed my 'two' today on my fist visit to North Island Cafe. Great taste (thanks Supreme!) and perfectly made. I went today on a Monday with my husband and it was super quiet so we got to sit and read the paper for a couple of hours without feeling as though we were taking up space. The breakfast was nice but I feel that the menu is a bit too small and could do with a few more options for eggs. Everyone seems to be doing baked eggs at the moment and honestly they are not really my thing. <br/>Can't complain about what we had though, super delicious and nice friendly service! We will return!

Amazing coffee. Best cafe in Melbourne.

How does this place survive?. Was going to eat at Dench (next door) and decided to try this Place out as Dench was busy and this place was strangely quiet for midday on a sunny Saturday. I now understand why. <br/>The service was icy, and the waiters clearly didn't care, but the food was just terrible-bread seemed unfresh, presentation poor, and lacked simple things like oil or butter. This, combined with wrong orders, a long waiting time even for coffee (even though it was very quiet) just indicates a lack of pride. <br/>I am no foody, but this place has prompted me to sign up to urban spoon and share my experience. I feel quite bad about giving a small business a negative review, but hopefully with honest feedback they will lift their game!

Good coffee. We had brunch here on a recent Sunday and it wasn't that busy. But still, the waitress managed to forget to place our orders with the kitchen! Once the food did arrive, it was ok - nothing great. But thankfully the coffee (Coffee Supreme) made the wait bearable.

Awesome coffee, friendly service, beautifully presented food and tasty brekky! Thumbs up.

Delish coffee. I get my morning takeaway coffee from here and even in a takeaway cup, without fail the coffee is perfecto.

Great coffee, lovely courtyard, somewhat frosty service. Maybe if you're regulars you are treated differently.

Simple and good breakfast. Amazing coffee :)

Only started going there recently but have been back three times for two coffees each time. It's the best execution of supreme coffee of anywhere in Melbourne. Same Barista each time and the second is always as good as the first.

Great coffee!! Even the takeaway coffee is a high standard which is usually hard to find. My favorite coffee spot

Best coffee & friendliest service in North Fitzroy. This is the best coffee in Nth Fitzroy. The toasted sandwiches, baked beans, french toast (decadant) and museli are all delicious and the service is very local and friendly. I go there everday for my caffeine fix, and a chat with the owner/barrista, Matt. Our 10-year-old son, though not yet a coffee drinker, is a bit of a cafe snob and won't go anywhere else. Well that's a bit of a fib: he can't go past Atomica's egg & bacon roll.

Great little spot. Fantastic bircher and baked eggs and Supreme coffee.

Great pide! Thin fresh bread toasted perfectly. Nice balance of quality ingredients. Coffee is nice. Staff are relaxed and friendly. Much more than just an overflow for its terribly popular neighbour Dench.