Melbourne has a strong cafe culture and there are many exceptional cafes, especially in the suburbs surrounding the CBD. While it’s not possible to visit them all, one thing is for sure, it’d be hard to trump Proud Mary in Collingwood. We travelled 6.5km by taxi from the Crown Metropol to Proud Mary, although it can easily be reached by tram from the CBD, just get off at Smith Street and it’s a minute walk away.
The atmosphere here is a highlight with the smell of fresh coffee, served in the bright blue coffee cups, the sound-system delivers good vibes and the friendly approach of the staff makes you feel more than welcome. Big wooden tables provide room for groups or many pairs, but if you can, get a seat on a stool at the red brick-laid bar with granite bench top, where you have front row seats as the baristas handcraft your perfect cup of coffee.
Ricotta Hotcakes – gooey mandarin caramel, honeycomb and ice cream
Proud Mary combine the best coffee (can’t beat the Guatemalan single origin) with amazing food! They do an all day breakfast menu combined with a lunch menu with a few more options. Try the Proud’s Porridge with pear, yogurt and walnut brittle or the Ricotta Hotcakes with gooey mandarin caramel, honeycomb and ice cream for a sweet and very filling breakfast option. Perfect to fuel you for a day of sightseeing or shopping in Melbourne!
Anna-Maria ordered the “Porky Pie” special which left her saying ‘wow’ before and after she ate it. Think a big ball of buttery puff pastry, that you could just fit in the palm of your hand, folded over at the top with a thick pastry lid sitting crisply on top. Taking the lid of the pie, you will see that it’s full to the top of tasty pulled pork! The Porky Pie sat on a green tomato and fennel salad with a traditional Italian dressing.
Single Origin Latte
This place can get super busy, especially on the weekends. The staff are used to it and handle it with no problems. As soon as you walk in the door, expect to be greeted and taken to a table if available or given a wait time until your likely to get one. We were lucky enough to get a table straight up at 9am on a Saturday, but it was busier as we left at 10am.
The staff are generally superb and very friendly. They were able to recommend which single origin coffee would be best for us, and they repeat your order exactly when delivering your coffee to the table. A confirmation that they took, and delivered exactly what you asked for. Expect to be asked how your meals are going as they care about your experience. Even the girl knew where we had been sitting when we went to pay at the counter, even though the place was full and she hadn’t served to our table.
For those who like filter coffee, it’s available in Syphon, V60 Pour Over, French Press, or Chemex. I tried the Costa Rica ‘Sonora’ as a pour over and to my surprise, the coffee was extremely smooth, and you could taste the flavour notes from the bean quite clearly.
The bar seats give the best view of the barista at work
We visited Proud Mary three times during our six days in Melbourne and the service was excellent on all three occasions. The coffee was consistently amazing and if they did happen to make a bad coffee, be assured it won’t make it to your table. The baristas maintain a very high standard. This is certainly not a cafe to be missed if you are in search for Melbourne’s best coffee and breakfast.
Travellers Tales 