The Reverend Cafe

Looks like the rellos are writing the reviews. Yet another over priced café. Don’t go if you’re hungry.

Roomy and not too busy café with friendly staff. Good café to go on Sunday afternoon to chat with your friends or read a book. I ordered flat white, which I felt there were too much milk in.

Portion size is not an issue here. Nor are the coffee making abilities.
The coffee menu is as large as heartiness of the food they serve. A double shop front (could even be a triple.) ensures that all diners get some room to move (ding ding ding! Bonus!) and it caters perfectly for large, large groups.
This is my go-​to spot when I’m feeling adventurous with Mr Caffeine.

Little disappointed, staff weren’t overly friendly and service little slow.
I was look very forward to trying this place and just didn’t tick all the boxes.
The menu looked yum but there was little to choose from.

This is a café that checks all the boxes. Good coffee, good menu, spacious and friendly.
It’s not often that I’m in this neck of the woods, but it’s just a short walk from the Showgrounds, so any time there is an event on I am making this place my first stop.
Nabbing a quiet breakfast with a friend before the madness of a trade show, this was a great start to the day.
I opted for the corn fritters with avocado, relish and bacon. Tasty and well portioned, not a hunking slab of corn cake that I’ll never get through. My sweet-​toothed breakfast buddy had thick banana bread topped with big chunks of honeycomb.
All in all a nice little spot.

I was looking forward to trying breakfast here after having a friend live close by. It’s possible that Cup Weekend was a bad choice. It was only half full around 10am, with plenty of staff.
Although the menu had enticing options, the quality of service really let this place down. Due to the reviews below this surprised and disappointed me.
The coffee was decent, my fritters were a little overcooked and my friend’s brunch a bit soggy. I had asked for a side of sourdough (as was listed on the extras) but didn’t receive it. The waitress then made a fatal flaw, choosing to ignore my polite request on 3 occasions– sadly ensuring that I am quite unlikely to return. The service I receive at other cafes puts this to shame. Ascot Vale has very few options, so it would be nice if this lovely looking café picked up it’s game.

The food is great, the people are nice and it not too busy. The flour less chocolate cake rocks… It’s halfway between a moist townie and cake but made from almost meal. Great times.

I am speechless.
My friends scoffed at me earlier today when I told the I would be going to Ascot Vale for a coffee. They asked how I could even be bothered going 15 km or whatever it is to go to a café when there are plenty nearby. I almost listened to them as well. Coming to Reverence was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made, it makes me wish I had lazy Sundays with nothing to do every weekend.
The plan was for me to bring a bit of work to do and sit down to a nice relaxing coffee. Little did I know, my mind was about to be blown and I would not even get pen to paper. I began with a flat white, served by friendly staff with smiling faces. I had one of those moments when you first get a spoonful of that amazing tasting nectar of angels. I literally stopped what I was doing, almost dropped the spoon and sighed «oh wow.»
This coffee was probably one of the best if not the best I have ever had. It was something else. I cannot adequately manipulate english into a sufficient description of this coffee. I enjoyed ever sip. When the last drop was gone, I realised that I could not recollect anything happening that had occurred in the last several minutes. I was in my own world.
I needed more. I got a short mac. Guess what? I was just as good. I… I… I just don’t even know what to say. Reverence is home to some of the best coffee Melbourne has to offer. It is definitely worthy of the 5 beans it received in The Age Good Café Guide and I would give it a ⁶⁄₅ if I could. As the 2^nd last 5 bean café I had had left to try, I feel as if 65 Degrees, being the last on my list, has an amazing expectation to live up to. If it is even half as good as Reverence I will still be happy.
You need to try this place. Simple as that.

Relaxed atmosphere, Friendly staff and really good coffee! It’s all I need on weekend morning.

Before a recent 4 day stint at the showgrounds, I was starting to panic that I wouldn’t have good access to food. A friend suggested Reverence and what a mighty fine recommendation it was.
A takeaway coffee on the first day was solid, the friendly service really elevating the experience and convincing me I needed to return for a more leisurely visit.
Later in the week I escaped the showgrounds for a couple of hours to get a little work done and to get some food that didn’t come pre-​packaged (as is usually the case in an expo like environment).
A ginger & lemongrass tea was brewed to order and a chalkboard special of warm lentil salad with greens, yoghurt and a poached egg was filling, nutritious and above all delicious! That’s the kind of wholesome, soothing food I could eat all the time and it’s sad that so few cafes bother to offer something out of the sandwich/​poached egg/​other stuff with wheat and bread options. Nice one Reverence.
Again, the service was charming and this time I got to enjoy the old school set up, miss-​matched furniture and cool tunes.
A+ would come again.

Great coffee, lovely staff, good separation between tables, and they use raw sugar! No complaints!

Not bad, coffee was a little weak. The breakfast menu was a little small and extras were on the expensive side. They don’t split bills. However the coffee is still pretty good even though a little weak!
Food was pretty tasty, your good north side breakfast kind of menu!
Worth a try for sure.

Once upon a time Ascot Vale was the suburb no one had heard of. Hell, even now people don’t know where it is, squeezed between the Ponds of Moon (aka Moonee Ponds) and Newmarket (renowned as the host of dumpling house Laksa King). But ask someone how to get to the Vale? Nup.
So the presence of a ‘specialty coffee and tea’ house is not a good outcome for those who are comfortable with streets full of yummy mummy road warriors and African guys from the local housing commission chilling outside the internet café. But helpful if you’re explaining where you live to the hipsters of Fitzroy.
While I question the commercial sense of Reverence Specialty Coffee and Tea setting up the tenth coffee house on a four block stretch — not to mention being in the middle of the ‘burbs –it’s brilliant if you’re after a single origin espresso or a cold drip and some cheese cake.
Floor to ceiling windows and brown-​and-​orange minimalist outfitting creates a cavernous space inside the former ‘avvocato e solicitor’ office. While perturbing a number of food bloggers who, having survived the lengthy no. 57 tram trip to get there, blanched before imparting their approval, it’s nice to have a big table and some space over which you can read a broadsheet newspaper with breakfast or lunch.
They could, however, use some cushions on the high chairs in front of the windows — they look cool but aren’t particularly comfortable to sit on.
Reverence has also nailed a key aspect that any new entrant to suburban café culture requires if it’s to survive: friendly staff. Said friendly staff member was with my Honduras aguas dulce filter that came — and this needs to be pointed out — in one of those excellent double-​walled thermo glasses.
The food is good, the coffee is an education, and the location is on the sidelines of a bourgeoning it-​spot. It’s unlikely Ascot Vale and its cafes like Reverence are going to remain undiscovered gems for much longer.