Last Sunday morning, six days after they opened, I stood in line for at least 20 minutes at Three Bags Full. The place was packed. Who are these people? Where do they come from? How can they already know about this cafe tucked away in the back streets of Abbotsford? It’s mad.

After selling Liar Liar to St Ali last year, Nathan Toleman has spent his time preparing this project. Not surprisingly, it’s very much in the spirit of Liar Liar, featuring a clean, comfortable fit-out dominated by a long communal table and a couple of large, round marble-topped tables. The warm, low-key atmosphere belies the very serious coffee they’re offering, however.

Three Bags Full joins the ranks of other top Melbourne cafes, such as Seven Seeds, St Ali,Proud Mary and Market Lane, with a selection that goes well beyond espresso, to include paper filter and Clover.

The coffee offering here is every bit as considered as a good wine list. Using Five Senses coffee they’ve custom-designed two espresso blends specifically for the cafe, and have a different single origin offer for espresso, pour over and Clover.

Three Bags Full is just the first step in Nathan’s cafe plans. Within the next few months he’ll be opening an even bigger cafe complete with a small roasting facility in North Carlton. No doubt we’ll all have trouble getting a seat there too.

Where: Cnr Nicholson Street and Mollison Street, Abbotsford - (03) 9421 2732