Freestyle Espresso, South Melbourne

Black walls, '60s armchairs, cool tunes and a hideaway lane way location - Freestyle Espresso is another gem in Melbourne's cafe scene.

It's another one to wander into to escape the throng of the Saturday morning market. There's a big communal table loaded up with newspapers and magazines, and a few smaller tables inside or outdoor seating to catch the morning sun. But it's quiet and cruisy - totally freestylin'.

The brew here is good - quite heavy on the crema but strong, rich and full bodied. The all day brunch menu includes things like smashed avocado on toast and corn fritters with bacon and relish, while the front counter is stacked with thick sourdough sandwiches, tarts, salads and cakes.

Go for the coffee if nothing else. Open 7 days.

www.freestyle-espresso.com.au

Chez Dre, South Melbourne

Crunchy baguette with brie, walnuts, witlof and chutney

 On my wanderings between Gas and the South Melbourne market, I must have walked past Chez Dre a dozen times over the past few weeks without noticing it. Typically for Melbourne's cafes, it's tucked away discretely from the throng in a cobbled lane way with just a small sign above the door opening the way to a spacious patisserie/boulangerie/cafe.

The flat whites are true to Melbourne form ($3.50), and my crunchy half baguette with lashings of brie, walnuts, witlof, fruit chutney and a side of sweet shredded carrot are terrific ($7 half, $12 full).

The croissants and cakes are gorgeous - look out for the passionfruit tart topped with a mini macaron. I also love that there's a "Mac attack" - a coffee and macaroni tasting board consisting of short black, macaroni and a short macciato. There's lots of all day breakfast and lunch options for something heartier.

The space is fantastic - curved open kitchen, velvet booths, big wooden communal tables with colourful vases of flowers, or little round French style cafe tables opening onto the sunny outdoor courtyard. A lovely place to sit back and read the daily papers on route to the market - it's almost close enough to smell the sweet aroma of dim sims in the air.

Emporio Sao Paulo, Parsons Green

Parsons Green. Who knew? I stepped off the tube on my way to Emporio Sao Paulo on a summery, very Brazilian-esque evening in London and there before me was a thriving, village of cafes, shops, beer gardens, and after work picnics and kick to kickers on the leafy green itself.

So this is how the other half live, eh?

Amongst all this is Emporio Sao Paulo, a little cafe cum deli established by Brazilian manager, Carminha. It's not strictly a Brazilian cafe, but the flourishes are there - little savoury meat pies ("empadas") filled with chicken, prawns, palm heart or cheese and, my favourites, fried "coxinha" - bite sized drumstick shaped bundles of shredded chicken and spices, both on the counter. But really it's about a relaxing place to enjoy good coffee and good food from around the world.

I attended a Brazilian themed event with fellow bloggers, The London Foodie, Gourmet Chick, Tamarind and Thyme and Hot & Chilli, and tasted the feijoada (a comforting blackbean stew served with rice, spring greens and farofa (manioc flour)), comfort food normally served on Wednesdays and Saturdays in Brazil which has the same standing for the Brazilians as the Sunday roast holds for the English. 

We also tried the Moqueca de Peixe e Camarao, a seafood stew cooked with a light tomato based sauce, peppers and in this case olive oil - although the Mooqueca Capixaba version from Spirito Santo state is more influenced by African flavours and made with palm oil and coconut milk.

Finally, sweet little brigadeiros de frutas - condensed milk with chocolate, passionfruit, grape or pistachio. Heavenly!

The food is home made by various off site suppliers. It's not all Brazilian, and the deli at the back is stocked with all sorts of supplies, Italian, French and other. But I have a feeling that part of the draw for the customers of Emporio Sao Paulo is that touch of Brazialian sunshine that manager, Carminha's, personality brings to the floor.

Having never been to Brazil, I was happy to continue my education with some more of the national culture - caipirnhas and Brazilian wine. I'll drink to that.

A true caipirinha should be made with cachaca, a type of rum produced in Sao Paulo and made from crushed cane sugar. We drank caiprinhas with Salto cachaca and they were summery perfection. A good cachaca should be enjoyed neat, like a whiskey, or for a twist we drank the Salto blended with lime, which is dangerously easy to drink. 

Nick from Go Brazil Wines introduced us to some Brazilian wines which he sources directly from Brazil - a crisp, citrussey sparkling (the Casa Valduga Gran Reserva Brut 130) that would rival any fizz in its £18 price range (a good party wine) and an unoaked chardonnay (the Casa Valduga Premium Chardonnay 2009) which made for inoffensive easy drinking in the hot weather.

That's it. I'm heading to Brazil.

Emporia Sao Paulo, 197 New King's Road, Parson's Green, London SQ6 4SR (Tel: 020 7736 5188)

Greedy Diva was a guest of the Emporio Sao Paulo

Alimentari Cocorino, Marylebone

Chiltern Street is quaint little street near Marylebone High Street where people go for extra large sized shoes, bridal boutiques or whiskey specialists. So don't ask my why I stumbled across Ailmentari Cocorino.

Cocorino is cute and stylish in a Marylebone/Notting Hill kind of way. Its white walls are well stocked with high end Italian biscotti, sauces, salamis, hams and fresh pastas sourced from artisan suppliers in Italy. It's a "boutique Italian delicatessan and espresso room" - the coffee is good, and you can have them make you up a fresh foccaccia or nibble on some of the gorgeous little cannoli and Italian cakes or biscuits.

It's owned by Linda Yau, sister of Alan Yau (restauranteur behind Princi, Hakkasan etc). Apparently there's also a Cocorino Focaccia and Gelato bar around the corner. Very sweet. One to try if you're in the neighbourhood.

Cocorino, 18 Chiltern Street, Marylebone, London W1U 7QA (Tel: 020 7935 0860)

The Riding House Cafe, Fitzrovia

Chorizo hash cakes

I thought it might be love at first sight when I first walked into the dapper Riding House Cafe in Ftizrovia. But the love slowly waned, and now I think we might just be distant friends.

It's a great set up, with super potential. But it doesn't quite hit the mark - yet, anyway.

The Riding House cafe has recently come to Fitzrovia from the team behind Village East and The Garrison (a pub in Bermondsey which I love). It's an all day brasserie with a very funky, smart, yet comfy fit out - a restaurant area with big yellow light fittings and orange banquettes (which its own website accurately describes as Heinz Tomato Soup colour), a lovely long bar with high turquoise stools, bunches of lavendar are scattered along a big communal wooden table where groups of girlfriends meet for brunch time Bellinis, spacious round tables by the window and a loungey area for browsing through the papers over your coffee. So far so great.

The menu reads well too - breakfast includes buttermilk pancakes with berries, vanilla clotted cream and maple syrup, chilled grapefruit with ginger, sugar and mint (which is a staple of all our New York brunch favourites), or a peanut butter, banana, strawberry and apple juice smoothie. Lunch and dinner includes a lovely list of small plates (piperade, anchovy, basil; baby squid, chorizo, smoked paprika, chilli olives; slow roasted pork belly, cumin, salt; or lamb cutlets with smoked aubergine - from £3 to £5 each) and mains such as the Titchfield Burger with foie gras and fries (£13.90 or sweet potato and chickpea cake with halloumi and tomato jam (£12).

They only opened in April, so let me preface this post with a disclaimer on their behalf that they are still (obviously) settling in. But things were not running smoothly over Sunday brunch as we waited an age, as did surrounding tables, for some just alright fare to arrive. At least it did, which is more than I can say for my flat white (so, sadly I can't report back on the Caravan coffee). If there's one thing not to forget, it should be a patron's first coffee of the day (fortunately, I had already had one earlier and could see they were struggling so I didn't bother them with a reminder). I believe this was their first Sunday brunch opening, so it would be unfair not to put this down to some teething problems, but after 2 visits, I'm not overly inspired.

TPG's poached eggs on a very lightly, toasted-no-further-than-albino muffin, were fairly plain Jane - the eggs were oddly flavourless if poached to perfect gooeyness (£4). Same goes for those on my more exciting chorizo hash browns with spinach leaves, mushroom and 2 poached eggs (£8.50), which would otherwise have been good.

A Bloody Mary was a little light on the vodka and a little heavy on the Worcester, and the apple, beetroot, carrot and ginger juice (£4) was oddly super sweet as though there might have been some packaged rather than fresh apple juice in there.

The day before, I'd been for a light lunch with girlfriends. The small plates of bitter chicory, sweet pear, fine shavings of radish and lovely, creamy gorgonzola (tiny, but only £3) and cured sea trout with jalapeno and creme fraiche (£4) were gorgeous. You would need at least 3 or 4 small plates for a complete lunch if you're not having a main. The heritage tomato and pesto tart with buffalo mozzarella (£12.80) looked nice, but was the one thing I thought overpriced on an otherwise reasonably priced menu. Most of the girls went for the large chopped salad, with lettuce, avocado, palm heart, radish, Dijon mustard and grilled poussin (£13) which doesn't look special but was a taste hit with them all.

The front of house staff greeting you on entry are absolutely lovely, although service can be a little over attentive in areas where you don't need it - waiters filling up your water glass after each sip and explaining how a rather self explanatory menu works (it's pretty clear what small plates are - it's our first time in the restaurant, not our first day on earth). And while I'm very forgiving on hiccups to a newbie restaurant, and particularly one I walked in with such a soft spot for (even the tone of the website makes you want to love them), I can't help but think that some extra care and rapport developed between waiters and tables might help to hook people in to return just a little bit more.

At the moment, I'm putting this one down as one I thought I'd love, I'm disappointed not to, I hope they do well, but for now I'd rather grab my brunch from Kaffeine across the road. The earth didn't move.

The Riding House Cafe, 43-51 Great Titchfield St, London, W1W 7PQ (Tel: 020 7927 0840)

Nopi, Soho

Beef brisket croquettes with Asian 'slaw

I'm a big fan of Ottolenghi - both the cafes and the cookbooks. With such bright and bold flavours and colours, a table full of Ottolenghi salads is like an exotic, glistening jewellery box appealing to the eye as much as the palate.

The Ottolenghi team have now opened Nopi in Soho. It's an all day dining brasserie with small sharing plates, brimming with Middle Eastern and Asian flavours.

Kingfish carpaccio

After an enthusiastic days shopping, TPG and I dropped in for a pitstop at the bar for some shared plates and a glass of wine (or two). (Although other reports suggest it's best to book ahead).

Beef brisket croquettes with Asian 'slaw are sublimely rich, meaty and moist - the tangy slaw cuts through them perfectly. A must, I'd say.

Pan fried sea bream with turmeric potatoes and rasam is excellent, so plump and juicy, while a spicy kingfish carpaccio with pickled cauliflower is light and lovely.

Creamy burrato oozes onto a salad of bright blood orange and coriander seeds.

The wine list is interesting and our servers at the bar are fantastic - they do a great job of suggesting wines to match our meal, which really hit the spot.

The atmosphere is lacking something (might it be different in the evening?), and its quite a dark spot on a sunny day - but I do love the funky light fittings. It's smarter than the Ottolenghi cafes, but it's still fairly relaxed and people seem to be enjoying themselves. The downstairs canteen area has a big communal table overlooking the open kitchen, and is more in the Ottolenghi cafe style. Special mention must go to the room of angled mirrors that is the bathroom - try to find your way out in under 5 seconds (it's totally worth a visit while you're there).

Prices are in the mid-high range and can stack up - our bill came in at just over £70 for two people, including 3 glasses of wine and service.

Thinking about Ottolenghi's lusty cake selection, I'm tempted to go back to Nopi to try the cardamom rice pudding with rose syrup and pistachio. I'll keep you posted.

 Nopi,  22 Warwick Street, Soho, London, W1B 5NE (Tel: 020 7494 9584)

Proud Mary, Collingwood - Australia (Greedy Diva's Gluttonous Travels)

Avocado on toast - oh yeah

I've been completely out of the online loop. Beaching rather than blogging, Twisties over Tweets. More specifically, I've been on holiday in Australia, soaking up the warm weather and an endless supply of flat whites good enough to bring a tear to the eye.

It is, apparently, impossible to have a bad coffee in Melbourne now. I can't believe how easy it is, even in the most random, untrendy, tucked away neighbourhood place, to order a coffee and be blown away by the fact that they actually know how to make one good enough to make you weep. The cafe culture is thriving. People are smiling. The waitresses are friendly. Melbourne is a coffee mecca.

One of my favourite coffee and brunch places from this most recent trip is housed in what looks like a converted factory in the back streets of Collingwood - Proud Mary.

Avocado and corn chilli salsa on toast had me at hello. A whole avocado is mushed and piled onto a thick wedge of toast with grilled chunks of corn fresh from the cob, sweet roasted tomatoes and a spicy chilli salsa with a splash of lime. It's huge, it's fabulous.

Ricotta hotcakes

Ricotta hotcakes with poached pear and vanilla ice cream are good enough to snuggle up to. TPG informs me that the potato hash will make me want to move in.

And then there's the coffee. Aaah, the coffee. It's rich, it's smooth, it's comforting, it's joyous. Perfect. They do a range of whizz bang coffee stuff like siphoned coffee and have both a Synesso and Clover coffee machines and high end teas. But give me my flat white and avo on toast in a seat by the window, and let me sit back and worship Melbourne in all its glory. I can feel a surge of proud patriotism pumping through my blood with every sip. We may not have won the cricket, but we know how to make a coffee.

Proud Mary, 170 Oxford Street, Collingwood, Australia, Phone: (613) 9417 5930

Tapped & Packed, Fitzrovia

While we're on the subject of coffee, it doesn't come much better than at Tapped & Packed, where the cool kids hang in Fitzrovia.

The coffee is seriously good - the house blend espresso comes from Climpson & Sons, but there's a range of blends available from trusted roasters such as Square Mile and Union. Different single origin blends are on offer daily. Tapped & Packed are particularly known for their filter brews and have coffee brewed by siphon, aeropress, pour over and cafetiere. It is the kind of place, I suspect, that will be right on top of whatever else emerges as the latest thing in the coffee universe.

There's also an excellent array of hearty sandwiches, cakes and salads available at lunch. I love the salt beef baguette with cream cheese, salad and a hint of gherkin in there somewhere - I now crave it regularly. The crayfish on granary bread is also a favourite. Sandwiches are generally priced at around £3.50-£4.50, while a flat white or latte will set you back £2.20. There are pastries, fruit salads and sandwiches at breakfast - although I've never made it that early, TPG texts me in glee to announce he just paid 50p for 2 slices of toast "with jam, lots of jam" on his way to work.

The mood is casual, with a media/office-y crowd. Big wooden tables are laden with those mysterious types who seem able to conduct their business meetings with laptops in cool cafes all day long (just what do they do, and how can I join?). Or, you can sit up at the bar with a paper and watch the coffee machine work its magic.

Tapped & Packed was a runner up in Time Out London's Best New Coffee 2010 category.

Another fine London coffee haunt to add to the list.

Tapped & Packed, 26 Rathbone Place, Fitzrovia, London, W1T 1JD (Tel: 0207 580 2163)

Towpath - canal side cafe in Shoreditch(ish)

I'm so glad there's not a camera positioned on my handle bars, filming my facial expressions as I ride around London.

I'm not a natural born cyclist. I'm a foot on solid ground girl. (Don't even get me started on swimming. Although I like floating - especially on the salty Mediterranean where it's easy, and preferably with a cocktail waiting for me on a nearby banana lounge. But I digress). Although exploring London's hidden depths with the wind blowing through my helmet brings me much joy, I know my brow is furrowed like a maniac every time I hear a car advancing at the rear, my teeth clench over every grate and pot hole, my knuckles white with fear every time I whizz past a row of parked cars, just waiting for the day a door will open and 2 hard years of metal braces and bad school photos will come to nothing. 

I have a lot of sympathy for my friend who can't make right turns on a bike so gets around entire cities by always spiralling left. 

So any chance I get to cruise off the main drag in the name of "exploration" is always a secret relief. 

Today, it brought me to a sunny strip of Regent's Canal off Kingsland Road where The Peanut Gallery and I discovered Towpath - an open cafe right on the edge of the canal path.

It serves coffee and simple breakfast and brunch items (toast, porridge, granola, quiches, toasties, olive oil cake). The coffee's not a world beater - it's a bit watery and lacks depth and kick. But still enjoyable if it's not a Monday morning coffee on which your life depends. The toast was nice and came with some home made (slightly runny) marmalade and rhubarb jam.  

Its foodie creators - Lori De Mori (food writer) and Jason Lowe (food photographer) - suggest there might be more here to delight the palate than we discovered, as does the enticing smell of grilled cheese sandwiches wafting over to our table. But it's such a fun and friendly spot to sit outdoors in the sunshine, read the papers and watch cyclists crash into runners against a backdrop of graffiti clad warehouses and passing boats. There's also a bit of cover with a long communal table for those not so summery London moments.

Worth a look if you're cycling by, and need an excuse to rest your clenched jaw. 

Towpath, 42 De Beauvoir Cresent, (Hoxton, Shoreditch, Hackney or one of those places, London, N1 5SB

Ginger and White: Coffee in London

Ginger and White has been on my hit list for a while. And then out came the sun. The day had dawned to dust off the bike's winter coat and hit the roads to Hampstead Heath.

Gorgeous.

Finishing off our salads at Gail's on Hampstead High Street (mixed reviews from us, but the cake selection rocks), The Peanut Gallery and I decided a 2nd coffee of the day was in order. Enter Ginger and White.

A staunchly British themed coffee shop, Ginger and White is set back from the main drag in a quiet little pedestrian laneway, Perrins Court. Inside is a big, communal table with crayons (or coloured pencils?) in the middle, suggesting a child friendly attitude that will likely be a selling point for some, but a roomful of childish shrieks and me should never meet before my morning coffee. All is overseen by a large Union Jack painting and a counter laden with cakes, pastries and biscuits. There's talk of salads and sandwiches also being available (like Northfield's Farm's roast beef with horseradish mayo and watercress on onion bread - oh my...), and all ingredients are apparently British and sourced direct from the farm.

But we were there for the Square Mile coffee (currently the Spring brew - a blend from Brazil and Colombia). The flat white was smooth, caramel-y and strong, hitting all the right notes. Admittedly on the basis of only 1 visit at this stage, I have to rate the coffee right up there with that of all my favourite antipodean coffee shops of London. A freshly squeezed orange and grapefruit juice was also lovely.

As far as I know, there are not too many options for a really great coffee in North West London. I don't hang out in Hampstead all that often, but when I do, I know where I'll be sipping my flattie. Thumbs up.

Ginger and White, 4a-5a Perrins Court, London, NW3 (Tel: 0207 431 909)

Flat White, Soho

Flat White was the first decent coffee shop we visited when we first moved to London. I can still remember the tears, the kissing of the ground, the hugging of the coffee machine when its joyous brew first revealed itself.

One of the primary reasons for choosing our current abode was its proximity to London's premier coffee source of the time. The only other option that we knew of then was Marylebone's "The Providores", which also makes a great cup of coffee, but the place gets so packed with locals seeking solace after a morning's shopping spree at The White Company that its not uncommon to leave with bruises.

Other alternatives have sprung up near Flat White since then. It's younger bro, Milk Bar, Fernandez and Wells, Lantana, Kaffeine, Foxcroft & Ginger, Kaffe Automat and LJ Coffee House are among them. TPG is most decidedly a Fernandez man. However, when I'm feeling a little home sick for the southern hemisphere, Flat White is a little escape where I know I'll hear an Aussie accent and taste a coffee that smells like home.

I was at Flat White during the week, when it occurred to me that I'd never published a dedicated blog post about it. Those well worn, local haunts are, at times, so much like a comfy slipper that they make the easiest omissions. And it's also the case that Flat White is not news to any serious coffee drinker. But what it means to me might not be what it means to you, and with the sudden proliferation of new options you may have simply forgotten about it - so here it is anyway.

A flat white is an antipodean style coffee (let's not get into that debate about whether it was born in Australia or New Zealand - just as for the pavlova debate, as a Melbourne gal you must know what side of the fence I'm firmly planted on). It should be strong, not overly milky, and with little of the froth that goes into your capp or latte. Don't even think about ordering grande.

Flat White opened in 2005 and roasts Square Mile beans. The flatties emanating from the shiny La Marzocco machine are rich and smooth, with that caramel like hit and just the right amount of milk. FW's coffees are generally perfect every time - although TPG would counter that they're sometimes not hot enough, and my trusty friend, The Rather Unusual Chinaman, found his recent FW flat white too milky in his review this week. Gasp!

I love the Turkish toast with simple spreads or avocado. TPG goes for the toasted banana bread or the bagel with grilled haloumi, bacon and BBQ sauce which is a corker. The pastries are also fluffy and delicious, and there's a range of salad options at lunch time.

Although the music and clubby darkness may give the impression of somewhere that's too cool for school, the New Zealander baristas are friendly and chatty, and it's just a little more frenetic than the slightly more chilled out Milk Bar. I only wish they had the weekend papers in store.

Forget about throwing another shrimp on the barbie - if you really want to channel your inner antipodean, head to Flat White and "smash back a flattie, mate".

Flat White, 17 Berwick Street (among the Berwick St market), Soho, London W1F OPT

Kaffe Automat - Climpsons coffee in Soho

Kaffe Automat opened discretely just before Christmas. And they've managed to maintain such a low profile (signage only appeared last weekend), that despite the fact I must have wandered past it dozens of times, and can sniff out a coffee bean from 100 paces, I only just noticed it. Or perhaps I simply had my blinkers on for Milk Bar, which is right around the corner. Either way, cafe owners of the world, let that be a lesson to you all - get some signage, people.

Anyway, the Kaffe Automat crew know and love their coffee, so I'm immediately on board as soon as we start chatting.

The coffee beans are from Climpson & Sons on Broadway Market (big tick), and they make a lovely, rich tasting brew. My coffee was slightly too milky (coming in too large a cup - a "regular" in American coffee shops, whereas I go for "small", which is regular in Australia. Confused?). However, they explained to me later that some customers, having developed a taste for Starbucks, raise an eyebrow over the strength of their espresso. Although they don't intend to "lower the tone" to address these tastes, I wonder if that had an impact on my dose. Anyway, I'll definitely go back, but I'll be more specific about my tastes - I'm not a Starbucks girl.

They're getting in some single origin beans for the filtered coffee option soon. And there's sandwiches, cakes and simple eats which I am yet to try - it was an emergency caffeine situation.

It's small (with more seating in what I believe is a bar out the back), but a lovely, character-filled haven to sit and sip your flattie over the daily paper, away from the Soho hordes. A great little find.

Kaffe Automat, 62 Frith Street, Soho, London