Five To Try: New Coffee Shops for Specialty Drinks, House-Made Bagels and Small-Batch Gelato

There’s no shortage of good coffee in Melbourne, but every so often a new opening cuts through the noise. From stacked deli sangas to Viet coffee with a creative twist, here are five new cafes for autumn. 

The Midday Workspace, Carlton

The Midday Workspace is the new offering from Sutinee Suntivatana, the chef otherwise known as Tinee Su, whose Melbourne food empire now includes Carlton cafe Humble Rays, vegan gelateria Suga Rays, and two locations for the Hot Listed Tori’s, which might just be Melbourne’s favourite bakery and matcha shop. Midday takes over the same corner of the 1890s-built Carlton United Brewery building that houses Su’s 150-seat bistro Regale, turning the space into a daytime cafe and student-oriented workspace before the restaurant opens. 

Su’s behind what might be Melbourne’s favourite bakery and matcha spot, and says Midday Workspace is “the exact same quality, just in a bigger space with a different offering”.

The menu here centres on bagels. Su is in the kitchen from 4am shaping dough before service, so by the time doors open the cabinet is already filled. On any given day, the options might include the Seoul Piggy Bomb (BBQ pulled pork, Korean spicy sauce, cheese, nori cream cheese and sesame), the Beef Boss (roast beef, wholegrain mustard cream cheese, onion chutney, brie and rocket) or a charcoal bagel with matcha cream cheese. There are also house-made madeleines, canelés, pandan scrolls and more. 

“I’m having so much fun exploring new recipes every day,” says Su. “So if you come by, make sure to try the one that catches your eye, as it might be gone by your next visit.” 

She’s also doing an array of Instagram-ready specialty drinks, including the dessert-inspired Mango Sticky Rice, with honeydew green tea, mango puree and coconut cream; the Thai-style Nom Yen Cloud, with a pink foam of sala syrup, milk and condensed milk floating atop clear coconut juice; and the group’s signature dirty matcha, coffee and hojicha with house-infused vanilla-bean milk. A selection of drinks from Su’s other venues, such as the Bangkok Fog (citrus cold brew topped with Thai tea cream) from Regale and the Trio Pecan (espresso, hazelnut milk, cold foam and pecan crumble) from Tori’s, are available here too.

553 Swanston St, Carlton

Be Oi, Mount Waverley

“Be oi” is a Vietnamese greeting for the youngest in a family. Diane Nguyen, who’s behind this neighbourhood spot in Melbourne’s south-east, is still known as “be” to her siblings (she’s one of nine). Her cafe is a family affair, run alongside her daughter, Jen Nguyen. Together, they’re bringing French Vietnamese-style food, and Viet and East Asian drinks with creative tweaks to a bright corner shop in Mount Waverley. 

Ca phe sua da (Vietnamese iced coffee) is brewed with a slow-drip Phin filter and topped with cream-cheese cold foam. The beans are a house blend sourced from Vietnam, while Zest Specialty Coffee covers espresso. Be Oi sources two different matcha cultivars from small farms in Uji, Japan’s matcha capital; try them in the yuzu-jasmine, black sesame, banana or tiramisu matcha serves. 

Pastries include a lemongrass chicken croissant and garlic cheese bun. There’s also pho, caramelised pork toasties, fried chicken on coconut sticky rice, and xiu mai banh mi (pork meatballs in tomato sauce served with a Vietnamese baguette).

1 Barlyn Road, Mount Waverley

Bobby Stop Stealing Our Camping Chairs, Docklands

When you enter Bobby Stop Stealing Our Camping Chairs – Bobby, for short – you could be greeted by a live band, art installation or DJ. Or even co-owners Michael Teng and Young Lee walking around the counter to dap you up like an old friend. 

“We think people should get their energy in the morning not just from caffeine, but from their environment,” Teng says. “So we wanted to create a space where you might get jolted awake at first – you never really know what will happen when you visit us, and that’s an exciting way to start your day.”

The concept was also shaped by necessity: Bobby sits in a tiny space wedged into a corner of Southern Cross Station with space for one bench inside and a handful of camping chairs on the footpath. “It keeps things really cheap for us and allows us to pass savings onto the customer,” says Teng. The savings are significant – Bobby sells $4 St Ali coffee and $4 ceremonial-grade matcha (you can purchase the latter by the litre if you ask for “the Emily”, a serve named after the first person daring enough to order it). 

Shop 9/99 Spencer St, Docklands

Spyglass Coffee Bourke Street, CBD

Kyle Haddad opened the first Spyglass on Queen Street in 2024, following it up earlier this year with a second on Bourke Street, about an eight-minute walk away. The newer space has the same warm, deli-counter feel, with wood panelling and an old-school flipboard menu overhead.

Haddad worked closely with Code Black Coffee Roasters to develop a Spyglass blend for the espresso menu, and single origins are on rotation. You’ll also find Earl Grey lattes and cold brew with panela cream, plus Bourke Street-only concoctions like the tricolour watermelon, apple and mint with coconut milk and espresso cream. Banana and coconut cold brews, meanwhile, are on tap.

Even so, Spyglass could easily operate as a sandwich-only deli. Pillowy focaccia from Mornington’s Baker Boys comes with fillings like crisp porchetta and celeriac remoulade, and mortadella layered with stracciatella, balsamic onions and pistachio. Almond croissants from Via Porta are also available. 

Rear of 600 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Effe, Tecoma

Peggy Xu and Michael Dobson polled friends to find a name for their gelateria and coffee shop in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges. They landed on Effe, only later discovering that the first ever automated gelato machine – patented by Bologna’s Otello Cattabriga in 1927 – carried the same name. Here, Dobson (Kori Ice-Cream) makes the gelato in-house, with flavours shaped by whatever comes through the door.

“A Belgrave gardener supplies cucumbers, zucchini and beetroot, and a local lets us go into her garden for citrus,” he says. “All we have to do is remember not to let the dogs out.” Those ingredients feed into a six-strong gelato line-up that might include jasmine and raspberry, blackberry and bay leaves, or cucumber and Granny Smith, as a well as a seasonal menu of tarts and galettes. 

Barista and some-time Australian Barista Championship judge Xu handles the coffee. Proud Mary supplies a house blend and rotating single origin for batch brew and pour-over. There’s iced matcha, a dirty matcha latte with strawberry cheong (a tangy Korean syrup made with fermented fruit), a matcha cloud, and an iced hojicha latte. Ratio Cocoa Roasters chocolate is used for affogatos as well as Cherry Ripe and Solomon Islands dark chocolate gelato. 

In the cabinet, find alternating cookie flavours like macadamia, white chocolate and roasted hojicha alongside tarts such as beetroot with goat’s cheese, and almond frangipane, mandarin and fennel. 

1551 Burwood Highway, Tecoma

Additional reporting by Scott Renton.