The Refinery Espresso

Dropped into this place on the way to work this morning. It’s a popular café with a stream of takeaways being snapped up as well as quite a few occupied tables.
The coffee was full bodied and the perfect temperature. I had the Italian scrambled eggs which were cooked well and full of flavour.
With friendly service too boot, it’s worth a stop!

The refinery has changed hands, and as a result I believe the service and quality has dropped off. Friends that used to call this place a regular stop, no longer come here.
First impressions for me was that it’s a little confusing — you walk up and there’s a slight disconnect between service and seating before you read the sign «take a seat we have table service». Cool! So I took my seat… and waited… and waited… and then someone came.
Since it was only mildly busy I felt like I should’ve been served almost immediately. It was however 2pm on a Friday, and this is Australia so that sort of wait is kinda expected.
That aside, once served my double mac came out quick, and it was damn good. I ordered a basic sandwich and it came out golden and toasted, also fairly quickly. For $ 11.50 (total) it’s a suitably priced meal for what it was.
I’d definitely come here again, but some feedback for the owners is, keep a hawks eye out for people sitting down, because if you offer table service, then you need to be all over it. Secondly, the lunch options are on a whiteboard, a blackboard and a table menu. Combine them all at the table (ok to have the blackboard at the front) because having to ask, and have the waitress go back and forth is pure time wasting.

This place was ranked one of the top 10 cafés in Sydney. So I decided to check it out. Coffee was fantastic for the North. They brew their own coffee here, so stop and have a chat — they love talking about their coffee. And it is good.
The café was small and the staff was extremely friendly. They have all day breakfast which a serious plus sometimes. The food here is good. Honestly probably not as good as the coffee, but I can’t point out anything bad about it.
They have a specials board which changes weekly. And also they have dessert, sandwiches and pastries if you just want a quick bite to eat and not willing to sit down.
Worth coming to if you are in the area.

A short walk from main town center, unveils a delightful little joint with a more delightful host.
Not looking much from street level, in fact you could miss it if blinked. Sported a bright yellow sporty theme (Italian race car), I was more than happy to stay after a glance at the menu.
A hand made tea of chai was no simple thing. Both in taste and presentation, I thought I would be convinced this was a tea house and not a coffee joint. Warm milk, honey and good pot of light loose chai tea leafs left me happy. Took me forever trying to savor all the flavours out of this. Though the pot will never end.
Huevos Rancheros is the item that catch my eye and enticed me to sit down but as well the physical presentation of it was simple and cute all together. A proper bake of real beans, chorizo slices and perfect egg literally rape and devoured with each penetrating thrust of my bread. Oh man. A perfect dish for this lack of sleep and somewhat cold morning to start the opening of businesses into the new year. I was edged to try the coffee and didn’t need much convincing there.
Upon a doppio order and consumption, I was pleasantly told my host had just roasted the coffee beans last night. It just added to the experience of a happy ending to a full body café pleasure.
At a solid $ 20 I walked away happy with business card in hand. I’m also happy to know of a place like this in Hornsby and will show off this little joint being between a Japanese restaurant and adult store. Brilliant!
Mark My Words

Coffee: Refinery Espresso
Passion: ⁸⁄₁₀
Crema: ⁷⁄₁₀
Finding great coffee up north has been a challenge for some time. Sure there are a couple of cafes that make a passable coffee, but I am more likely to drive 30min south to find something enjoyable. So you can imagine how happy I was a couple of months ago to find a café in Hornsby that is roasting their own beans.
While the first couple of months has seen a refining of the blend of beans, now the mix is much more to my liking (not overly dark). Better still, one the occasion (like today) they are even starting to offer single origin coffees.
Today I had a Brazilian single origin from the Dattera Estate which (after getting the espresso shot pulled over a small dash of hot water) opened up brilliantly. While straight up the espresso had a tinge of something dark in the after taste, with the water it was smooth and a little floral. Very enjoyable.
So while I will still travel far and wide for a great cup of coffee, it is great to know that I have at least on café I can count on closer to home.
N.B.
No public WiFi is available
No #powerwhoring is available
Decent breakfast menu available
(Via
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