St Ali

12/18 Yarra Pl
South Melbourne, 3205

(03) 9686 2990

St Ali has been called a coffee Mecca and is a must go for all those who truly like and appreciate their daily grind. Now, I love a good cup of coffee, but the truth is I'll easily drink a bad cup of coffee if that's all that's available. In other words I'm not an expert nor am I precious about my caffeine hits. On this day however, I was feeling a little sassy and thought I'd leave the nescafe at home, untouched, and headed to South Melbourne.

I was expecting a wait or at least a share table, but it turns out that just before lunchtime on Monday is the best time to go. We were quickly greeted, seated, given menus and coffee orders taken. Sweet. Approximately 45 seconds later the waiter returns to take our order. At this stage we hadn't even looked at the menus. We were told not to 'sweat it' and then proceeded to forget us. After about 20 minutes of endeavouring to make eye contact, I managed to get the attention of a cute little thing that was in a rush to avoid us.

 Coffee, it's what they are famous for. Here and now in London. Very well done in deed.

Ali Baa Baa Pizza     $18.50

Dutch Oven     $16.50

My Mexican Cousin     $17

I didn't get to do too much of my beloved people watching as our food arrived quickly. Maybe it was the universe's way of making it up to us for having to wait so long at the start. Whatever the reason, I was relieved and starving. The coffee was as expected, fantastic. Now it was time to check out the talent in the kitchen.

I've already admitted that I am not a Coffee expert, well I'm not a pizza expert either. I am pretty sure however that the Ali Baa Baa Pizza is not a pizza. And if walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's not a pizza it's a piadina. Now that I have renamed their Ali Baa Baa Piadina for them I will go on to tell you that it was really tasty and the yogurt dressing was tangy and a hit in my eyes. 

The Dutch Oven was a definite choice. 1- I like beans and 2- It's called the Dutch Oven, and fart jokes are always funny. Unfortunately the beans were a bit hard, so we didn't even finish it.

My Mexican Cousin was next up and it was OK. I think that I may have been expecting too much from this particular dish as I was overcome with Latina pride. I chose it because I felt that it was a nod to my Hispanic brothers and sisters, but also because I like corn and haloumi. So I figured the combination would be a winner. The fritters were nice, as were the eggs, but the haloumi was tasteless. Truth is it wasn't very mexicany at all, at least like nothing I tasted in Mexico anyway. Shame.

I realise the focus of St Ali is the Coffee, with it's menu of blends and methods. But for those of us who are more food based and who would never utter the words 'Syphoned Honduras', it would be nice to have a food menu that had the same passion and pride for it's ingredients that the coffee menu does.  It was varied however, so pick a region or a quirky name and see where the food takes you.

Don't feel threatened by the obscenely hip staff or the stereo typical overuse of the milk crate design features, all are welcomed here at St Ali, unless you have a pram. In which case there is a possibility you may not fit through the door way, so keep wheeling. This is from personal experience when I attempted to lunch there a few months prior(damn 3 wheeler).

Ratings out of 10
Food 4.5/10
Service 4/10

Atmosphere 7/10

Value 6.5/10

St Ali  5.5/10

Would I return? No