Café Lua

Friendly comfortable & relaxed café good coffee we enjoyed a lunch of soup and salad didn’t try dessert but the dessert menu although short sounded promising

This place is positively delightful. I don’t know Carlton very well, so in my hopeless wandering I waddled through the door of Café Lua — and what a great thing I stumbled upon!
The décor is charming, with a wall full of (what I assume to be) local art, accompanied by bright tables and chairs and a playful, clean aesthetic. Originally I was just going to get a cup of tea, sit for a minute and out, but once I looked at the menu I had to stay!
I had the basic poached eggs on toast with a fresh orange juice, and it was all simple and perfect. Definitely worth a visit!

An improvement over what you used to find in Carlton!
Very much for locals, but a nice place to stop before heading for Cinema Nova…
Service is a little lackadaisical … but then they’re probably Arts students ;)

Best breakfast place in stagger distance. Loved by locals

It’s such a nice and friendly little café, the interior is simple and cute and everything is reasonably priced. The waitresses are almost mum like and the chefs are so chilled and lasted back. I ordered the coconut pancakes with lemon cream and vanilla caramel sauce. They were so nice I wondered what the recipe was. Usually a chefs recipe is a secret they take to the grave but when I asked the waitress, she took me to the chef and he told me. Both chefs were very lovely people and very kind to let me know about the recipe. Thanks Lua :)

Café Lua is a great, unpretentious little gem that is guaranteed to give you a delicious breakfast and a lovely coffee just a hair away from the heart of busy Carlton.
The space attracts such lovely morning sun both inside and out and the pace does not feel rushed at all, so it’s the perfect place to meet up with family or friends for a leisurely brunch. Featuring local artists is also a great touch.

This is a great place to sit back with a cup of coffee and people watch the day away. While you’re at it you might as well indulge in some French toast with real Canadian maple syrup because the locals here can be quite entertaining, so you’ll need to keep your energy levels up. Interestingly, Café Lua doesn’t blare music videos or daytime television on their TV set. Instead, they show slides of art from local artists. So any of you budding creatives out there should get in contact and arrange to have your work on display. And, if you happen to feel a little artistic during your visit at Café Lua, then simply make your way to the toilets. No, this isn’t going where you think it is. Lua have thoughtfully provided some markers for you in the bathrooms, so you can do a doodle while you, um, do a doody.

Hurray for toasties and milkshakes! Café Lua know how to please my sentimental stomach, and the fair trade coffee is pretty awesome too.
In keeping with Elgin Street’s theme of somewhat daggy but quality eating establishments, Café Lua is a great spot for a quite breakfast away from Lygon’s tourist bustle. At the bar along the window you’ll find the latest magazines to flick through (very handy now that Borders is gone — I was worried I’d have to start actually buying Vogue), and the outdoor tables are a good for sunning yourself and patting other people’s dogs.
I’m not a fan of giant flat screen TVs in any context other than a sports bar, so Lua do loose a few points for the eyesore on the wall (although in their defense they use it to promote the work of local artists). Still, I suppose it’s better than having to look at your loved ones after a big night.
But back to the toasties. The ham, cheese and tomato comes with a touch of mustard (what a revelation!) and, when paired with a chocolate milkshake, it’s sure to transport you back to a time when you had scabs on your knees and Mariah Carey in your discman. Who knew memory lane was so tasty?

Want a quieter but rich Café experience? Café Lua is that place.
Close to all the hustle and bustle of Lygon Street, Lua offers the less pretentious café experience with all the perks of a great one.
The breakfast at Lua is stupendous, the coffee’s just as grand.
Probably one of the highlights of Lua is (strangely enough) the bathrooms. Known Melbourne-​wide for its ‘graffiti-​walls’, you will be dazzled by the interior of the venue and bathroom.
With menu offerings like ‘Lua Atlantic’ you will leave a happy camper. Poached eggs, topped with Atlantic Salmon with multigrain toast and a side of sesame spinach & hollandaise topped w caper-​berries. Bliss.
Every time I’ve stopped in to Café Lua, theres a lovely gentlemen behind the magic of it all, always happy and cheerful!