St Ali, South Melbourne

Post image for St Ali, South Melbourne

St ALi is passionate about sourcing and roasting the best green beans to bring fine specialty coffee to life. It’s a combined effort to properly cultivate, roast and brew the perfect cup of coffee. St ALi has been roasting coffee for a decade, so they know what they’re doing. People, they take their coffee seriously here. Whether you’re after a latte or a cold drip, they’ve got it. There’s even coffee served in a frozen espresso cup. And iced coffees are made with Jock’s ice cream. Yes please.

St ALi has become a cult destination in South Melbourne. The warehouse-style cafe sports a worn-in look. Steering away from pretentious decor, this is the kind of cafe that’s comfortable, hospitable and focuses on quality food. Andy Gale (of Duchess of Spotswood) has now been head chef of St ALi South for almost a year. Andy prepares The Winston Wolfe Burger for us. It’s a glorious 180g patty of wagyu beef with iceberg lettuce, tomato, cheese and special sauce on Brasserie Bread Plaza roll, served with a side of fried potatoes. The potatoes are soft and delicious. I could eat them all day long. And I’m really into the spicy special sauce, which Andy reveals contains St ALi’s bastard hot sauce. Bastardly awesome. You can even buy the bastard hot sauce in a bottle.

We also polish off a plate of Brasserie quinoa & soya sourdough toast with two impeccably poached eggs and avocado. It’s an unadulterated dish that’s healthy yet delicious. This is the kind of food that you get at St ALi. Quality produce sourced from farmers is what St ALi is disciplined about. This way they’re eliminating the middleman and reducing their carbon footprint. Andy is passionate about using artisan products like Brasserie Bread and Pepe Saya – where a lot of love and care have gone into making a loaf of sourdough or a wheel of cultured butter.

Brasserie Bread toast is served with Pepe Saya butter and your choice of spreads including homemade jams, peanut butter or Vegemite.  Brasserie Bread slathered with Pepe’s butter is pretty much the best thing ever. Speaking of Pepe – there’s also the Holy Crepe on the menu. They’re pancakes made with Pepe’s buttermilk, topped with Pepe’s creme fraiche teamed with lemon curd, then served with fresh blueberries and blueberry gel. Wowza. Who’s hungry?

Order a Bloody Mary to cure your hangover. More alcoholic beverages like beer, cider and wine are also readily available. Don’t forget you can order their Sensory Lab coffee online.

St Ali burger with handcut chips

Burger with handcut chips

st ali bastard sauce

St Ali bastard hot sauce, that goes into the tasty sauce in the burger!

st ali quinoa toast with poached eggs avocado

Quinoa & soya toast with poached eggs and avocado

st ali barista

Baristas in action

st ali menu

St Ali menu

st ali loves you

St Ali loves you

Buttermilk pancakes with lemon curd creme fraiche

Buttermilk pancakes with lemon curd creme fraiche

St ALi South
12-18 Yarra Place
South Melbourne

Opening Hours
Daily 7am to 6pm

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