Cento Mani

Very interesting find. Gosh you can find interesting food in Melbourne. Had the bean stew which was truly wonderful) see photo). Great selection of beans and meats and superbly flavoured and seasoned. A real rustic delight accompanied with rice and avocado. Nice reasonable price too. Clever little place they’ve made here too. Fantastic use of space and nicely appointed. Terrific first experience. Looking forward to another try here.

My friend ordered and paid for a coffee with cash. I then ordered mine, but was told there is a min charge on paywave. I said okay, charge me the minimum (which he agreed to), then changed my mind and decided I won’t have one as there is a min charge (even though the min is only $ 4.00). I then said unless they have written permission from the merchant bank, they can’t charge a minimum. (this is mainly because Paywave is designed for micro-​transactions such as a $ 3.50 coffee…). The guy with a beard argued it was not against the merchant terms to which I disagreed and then he decided neither of us were having coffee so refunded my friends coffee and basically asked us to leave. Pretty disgusting customer service.

Touristing: I was keen to hit up the popular joint around the corner for a coffee this morning but they were cash only. Stumbling brokenhearted to the street I glanced to my left and saw a very unassuming doorway with a La Marzocco on the counter. I took a step in the doorway and saw an eftpos machine with paywave. It was my time to shine.
«Do you have an eftpos minimum?» I asked, probably with a hint of equal parts hope and anticipated begrudging acceptance in my eyes.
«Nope, just tap away, lovely.»
A near-​perfect large flat white later and I’m ready to shout my love for Cento Mani from the rooftops. They were my beacon of light in a precaffeinated darkness.
Those treats in the fridge looked pretty amazing too, if only I didn’t have to run to make my bus I probably would have settled in comfortably.