Dead Man Espresso

Dead Man Espresso
35 Market Street
South Melbourne
Melbourne
Victoria 3205
Australia

https://www.deadmanespresso.com/

The Reuben Sandwich (AUD $19.50 / SGD $18.30)

Good Coffee For Dead Men (And Women) In A Stylish Cafe

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 6
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 5
Value for Money: 6
Spent about AUD $20 / SGD $19 per person.


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Established in September 2009 by Kylie Mackinilay and Luke Mutton, Dead Man Espresso has since grown into a well-known institution, focusing on specialty coffee and seasonal regional produce. A popular hangout even on weekdays, Dead Man Espresso sees a constant bustle of activity, with people coming in throughout the day, drawn by their fine house-blend espresso, and hearty, fresh plates that feature unusual local flourishes.

Ambience at Dead Man Espresso feels like a stylish patio in the woods, with ceiling-to-floor windows set in rustic polished wood, creating an expansive sunlight filled venue. They've used mainly reclaimed or recycled materials, including Messmate wall panelling, Marmoleum flooring, and a zinc servery bench. Paired with refurbished 20th century Danish chairs and custom designed wooden tables, the place has an overall warm and welcoming feel for the casual coffee hunter. Perches along the front take advantage of their elevated position outdoors, offering a view up and down the street.

Service at Dead Man Espresso is partially self-service, with ordering and payment over the counter. This results in a near-constant crowd of patrons queuing from the counter to the entrance. Staff exhibit patience and decent product knowledge when you're placing orders, though customers behind in the queue may not share the same level of patience. While most customers takeaway, should you choose to dine in, staff will serve orders to your table. I note that cleaning up is performed with acceptable speed, usually within a few minutes. Staff appear happy and willing to engage with customers.

Food at Dead Man Espresso focuses on fresh, local Australian produce. They even have a rooftop garden where herbs and local vegetables are grown, alongside a small beehive. Coffee is the star here, they perform their own roasts, and it's of good enough quality that locals will seek out this rather out-of-the-way cafe. Portions are medium to large for individuals, so we chose to share. Prices are comparable to most other cafes, budget about AUD $20 / SGD $19 per person. If you're a morning zombie without coffee, then a visit to Dead Man Espresso will surely bring you back to life.


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Dead Man Espresso Exterior

Dead Man Espresso Interior

Dead Man Espresso Menu

Seating Outdoors

Seating Indoors

The Magic Coffee (AUD $4 / SGD $3.80) features steamed milk poured over a double ristretto, and served in a smaller 160ml cup, in effect having the 'perfect' milk to coffee ratio, hence the name. Smooth and strong, with beautiful roasted coffee notes. A good choice of beverage to resurrect the dead.

Magic Coffee (AUD $4 / SGD $3.80)

Struggled with the Scone With Fresh Cream, House Jam (AUD $4.50 / SGD $4.30). The scone was overly dense and not as crumbly as I like, though it had decent bready sweet flavour. While the fresh cream is properly thick with milky flavour, the house jam during our visit was a sticky raspberry and quince compote, which was weirdly sour sweet bitter with an acidic metallic tinge. Couldn't quite get used to this acquired taste, though it seemed other diners like it.

Scone With Fresh Cream, House Jam (AUD $4.50 / SGD $4.30)

Scone With Fresh Cream, House Jam

The Dead Man's Benedict (AUD $22 / SGD $20.60) is unique, featuring a slice of crisp toasted white bread, topped with house cured and house smoked pulled pork that is tender and chewy, juicy crunchy pickled and salted pears, crisp fried kale leaves, 2 poached eggs, and beautifully creamy hollandaise sauce. This has big savoury salty sweet fruity vegetal earthy flavour, super tasty. However, we were disappointed with the semi-solid eggs, which had been cooked to death, truely deserving a requiem.

Dead Man's Benedict (AUD $22 / SGD $20.60)

Dead Man's Benedict

Dead Man's Benedict

While The Reuben Sandwich (AUD $19.50 / SGD $18.30) is American inspired, the Australian version has replaced sauerkraut with crunchy pickled purple cabbage, swapped out pickled gherkins for juicy pickled cucumbers, and used a crisp spongy seeded caraway bread in place of rye bread. With thick layers of thinly sliced chewy corned beef, soft Swiss cheese, and creamy Russian dressing, this has a big juicy meaty bite, with robust savoury sour salty flavour. It's like the heavens opened on first bite. We enjoyed this greatly. Highly recommended!

The Reuben Sandwich (AUD $19.50 / SGD $18.30)

The Reuben Sandwich

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