*032, circa espresso, 030312

***A special edition for a special friend.***

company: You

conversation: Everything, pretty much.

We could hear the coffee machine before reaching the cafe raising my interest. What I saw was a bustling cafe, filled with people inside and out despite the rain, and overall a place I didn't mind spending a Saturday morning for breakfast.

Circa Espresso is not your ordinary cafe. In fact, it is built between two buildings in a narrow laneway with simple yet rustic decor to add to it's charm. Lum originally worked close by on one of his rotations and frequented this cafe for his morning coffee and thought I'd like to see the place too. And I did. Some of the walls were covered in graffiti whilst others had bicycles and flowers peeking out of window frames. I certainly enjoyed scanning the area and finding minute details others might not have noticed.

Seating is intimate with smaller than usual tables (one wrong move and I probably would have knocked over a glass or two), but could fit approximately 30-35 people. I guess you could say it felt a little like Melbourne with it's brown tones and mellow music; bringing me back to my previous trip where I walked through a street filled with numerous choices of cafes and restaurants, it was daunting to choose just one.

It was hard to imagine this little boutique cafe catering to the corporate world working nearby in the offices, but one distinguishing feature that I hadn't heard of before was the innovative queuing system: Beat the Q. Lum told me that there was usually a line of people getting take away coffees during the weekday mornings. I was about to find out why.


The menu was predominantly breakfast foods with handwritten daily specials at the entrance priced at approximately $14. Coffees ranged between $3.5, their specialty coffee (unsure as to why I didn't write down what kind of specialty coffee this would be) to $6, your good ol' cold drip coffee showcased at the entrance doing what it does best. My eyes kept wandering around as there was so much to take in. Worried that the dimness of the cafe would affect my pictures, I tried to take as many whilst the sun shyly peeked out from the rain clouds before hiding away.

I had a flat white, $3.5 and a, potato and dillcakes with scrambled egg and salmon gravalax, $14. Lum had a flat white, $3.5 and a, portobello mushroom, stuffed with ricotta, parmesean, walnut, basil, with sourdough and rocket, $10.

Whilst waiting for our coffee and food, I observed the barista in his own environment. It is obvious he enjoys what he does; he was careful and focused with each shot he pulled whilst managing to stay on top of the influx of orders coming left and right. Having recently landing a new job as a barista (oh what, I didn't tell you?), I can understand the pressure and stress that stems from people staring at you as they wait anxiously for their take away coffee fix, all the while trying to push out respectable coffees for those that decided to dine in (not that the take away coffees were not respectable, but you know what I mean).

The flat whites came in a timely manner at a good temperature that wasn't scalding but still hot. I unfortunately still try to wait for my food before finishing my coffee that ended up cold and bitter by the time I got to it after I had eaten. I am sorry to say that the pictures of our food weren't good enough (or clear enough) to be shown, so you will just have to believe me when I say that I was very full and satisfied after my meal.

Circa Espresso, is a little kitsch in all the right ways. Friendly staff, a comfortable atmosphere, and good coffee and food goes a long way when it is dreary and cold outside. Otherwise, sit outside when the sun comes out and you don't have much to do. Although a little out of my way, I would return if not just for the look and feel of the place. I still can't get over how inventive it was to build a cafe between two buildings, think of all of the spaces we can utilise if everyone else thought the same way too.

Oh, just a reminder that they are cash only, so you don't want to be left as collateral like I was. :)

address: 21 Wentworth Street, Parramatta, NSW 2150

phone: 0410 757 757 or 0414 477 812 / website: Circa Espresso

These pictures were taken with a Konica C35 Automatic on 35mm Fujifilm film.