Bespoke and Grind

Very cute café. The corn frittatas are nice and so is the coffee. The Staff are friendly.

Not my favourite café in the neighbourhood. A-​OK coffee. Ambiance is very shabby hipster, bicycles and newspapers everywhere. I say give it go and if the coffee floats your boat then great. I love the coffee more at other places nearby *shrug* :)

Small, hot and crowded. I know, classic café atmosphere. I’ve been here once for coffee and was pleased another Marrickville café has joined others in the area with some experienced baristas and some smiley faces. We normally go to double roasters, but I reckon we’ll be back for coffee here on a bike ride.

Keep walking down Marrickville Road, past the churches and the Illawarra and Victoria Road turn-​offs, and you’ll eventually come to Bespoke and Grind, a quaint café that opened in early 2011. They sell some nice old restored bikes or will service your old one, but most punters come here for the good coffee. They do some yummy home-​baked treats and a few excellent sandwiches (try the BLT). They’ve decked the space out really nicely, with a haphazard assortment of furniture and bikes that gives it a cosy feel. It’s in the less attractive part of M’ville, but who cares when the space inside is so lovely. And when you’re sipping on their blend of Jo Coffee, you’ll be in a world of your own anyway. Quote of the day, courtesy of Bespoke and Grind: «You are not stuck in traffic, you ARE traffic. Get a bike. Break free!» Aww.

Finding Bespoke and Grind was an act of serendipity. After two painfully bad coffees earlier in the day, we were driving through Marrickville agitated and unsatisfied when we saw a couple of people milling about an unsigned shop with bicycles out the front. Desperate and searching for any sign of a good coffee (apparently these days, those signs include hessian-​bag upholstering and bicycles) we frantically pulled up and headed in.
The little corner shop was filled with recycled furniture, including orange vinyl stools, timber chairs, kids chairs and a ramshackle of different tables. Greeted as we entered by Stacey, the café’s owner, he took our order before having a chat with us about how we found him. He told us how they’ve just opened, explained that he roasts his own beans (‘Jo Coffee’) and modestly admitted that he’s a beginner on the barista scene. At this, my friend glanced at me sideways, with a look screaming fear at another bad coffee. But as we took our first sip of our piccolos, that look was wiped right off our faces — despite having «just started» Stacey’s coffee was smooth, strong, subtle and all that we’d been searching for.
There are a few funny things about Bespoke and Grind’s décor, as they broaden the terms of eclectic-​cool with stacks of no-​frills betroot cans and tacky soccerball ashtrays. The peach-​pink walls and the whiteboard/​blue texta menu gives you the impression that you’re eating at a truck-​stop diner, an impression aided by the menu of pies and a variety of salad rolls. In saying this, the muffins and pastries are delicious («My mum makes these great pastries, d’you wana try one of them?») and the coffee is easily the best I’ve had in Marrickville/​this side of Newtown. Despite nervously treading the line between stylish and stale there is something endearing about Bespoke and Grind, from the fridge magnets spelling their name to the cheery, soft smile of the barista.