Java

12 Ballarat St

Yarraville VIC 3013

(03) 9687 3300

Open Daily 7am-11pm

Java Java Java.

I call Java the “lucky café”! It has the best position in Yarraville Village and it has had a captive audience. Until the corner shop opened up it’s doors earlier this year, that is. It has the obvious advantage of being next door to the Sun Bookshop and then the Sun Theatre. Coffee, books and movies. What more could you ask for?

To be perfectly honest Java is not my favourite place. It just doesn’t have the ingredients that go into making a great café in my eyes. First of all the cakes are brought in (understandably, have you seen the size of the kitchen) and they are nothing out of the ordinary. Secondly, even though it is always busy it just doesn’t have the atmosphere. After thinking about it and wondering why, I may have come up with an answer. There does not seem to be a person who is consistently there and that I can identify with. In all other café’s in Sky I can identify with an owner or a waiting person, someone who I recognise who will know my name or even just my face. It is nice to walk into a café and be recognised and said a warm hello to. Having said that, I know that Rachael visits Java on a more regular basis and she assures me that one or two of the girls are always friendly and go out of their way to chat to her kids which I was very pleased to hear. I am not saying that the staff at Java are unfriendly but I do believe that the staff in there are generally still in high school or fresh out and don’t have a lot of experience and that shows.

The poached eggs, tomato, spinach and mushrooms are extremely generous. The eggs are served on thick white toast and are of a smaller size (60) but nicely cooked. Again it is nothing out of the ordinary. It could have had more seasoning, especially in the spinach. You know a little squeeze of lemon on mushrooms and spinach can make all the difference! The tea came in those teapots that I am sick of mentioning. The tea was T2 and the cup was a bit on the thick side with a thick handle making it awkward for any chubby fingers (mainly mine). The cost $20.50! Their prices have been raised! Some sides are $3 and some are $3.50. If you read last weeks blog you would haved noticed for this price I also got a hot chocolate at Pistachio in Seddon. But at Pistachio you are not next to the bookshop and the cinema and I guess that’s the price you pay for location.

Monica

Rachael's note - One of the advantages of Java is it's hours of business. Being a bit of a night owl I am often in the Village in the evening, be it at the movies or just working late and Java is the only cafe that is consistantly open until a late hour. Thank god for Java because there is nothing worse than coming out of the movies at 10pm and finding no where to go to chat about the movie.