St Ali
| Where | 12-18 Yarra Place, South Melbourne, 3205—View map |
Contact | 03 9686 2990 stali@stali.com.au |
Website | www.stali.com.au |
Open | Monday to Saturday 07.30 am to 5.00 pm |
Payment | — |
Diet | Check with venue |
Seating | Inside and outside |
Kids | Welcome |
Pets | Welcome |
All hail the saint
Rowena Robertson
St Ali's reputation is founded on its incredible array of coffees. Named after Ali ibn Umar al-Shadili, a fourteenth century mystic considered the patron saint of the coffee port of Mocha (in Yemen), the café boasts a mind-boggling range of beautiful beans sourced from all over the world. If you've always wanted to try Kenyan Tembo, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Tanzanian Kilimanjaro, Cachoeira Estate Yellow Bourbon or Guatemalan Finca El Bosque, St Ali is your place.
For my lazy Sunday repast I chose the zucchini and thyme mushrooms with herbed ricotta on fresh organic sour dough-a tasty enough dish, but not quite as mind-blowing as my friend's choice-organic poached eggs on pide with haloumi, cherry tomato, fresh mint and dukkah, served with red onion jam. The two of us shared the St Ali breakfast platter (comprising fruit toast, natural muesli, roasted nuts, poached seasonal fruit, labneh with cardamom oranges and wild honey), which proved the perfect sweet/spicy chaser for the earlier savoury dishes.
Other breakfast choices include Moroccan baked beans with feta and fiery zhoug served with toasted pide, a Turkish platter featuring bastourma, feta mash, fig chutney and pistachio sauce served with warm flatbread, and a Middle Eastern stack of fried organic eggs with hummus, chorizo and tomato salsa on pide.
St Ali welcomes all-comers; on the day we were there, the clientele included the young, the old, the hip, the not-so-hip, children and pets. The converted warehouse space surrounds have a comfortingly ramshackle, organic feel; the service is extremely attentive and friendly; and the prices are reasonable-between $7.50 and $13.50 for a full breakfast. There's no pretension at St Ali, and that's probably because it has absolutely nothing to hide. Its only agenda is to serve some of the best coffee and most inventive breakfasts in town.