Hero Building, 116 Russell Street (corner Russell and Little Collins St), Melbourne CBD, 3000
(03) 9663 0998
Google map link
Coffee Brand: 1919 Bristot, Speciale (Italy)
At first glance Postal Hall is like the hundreds of other cafes infused throughout Melbourne. Some offer mediocre to decidedly poor options in coffee, food and service…and somehow seem to survive.
Plenty others offer the opposite and Postal Hall is one of them.
We could use Postal Hill as a case study in point. The coffee is solid without being spectacular. You know what you are going to get here and that can be a rare thing, usually the realm of large chain stores working to a strict formula. It attracts a certain clientele – mainly, almost exclusively, office workers. Its strength relies on consistency, quick service and knowing their market.
We are giving this place the nod, two thumbs up, recommended. The coffee scores, for one, result in this. However there are some other things worth noting. When you provide a product or service, relying on the paying customer to succeed, there needs to be at least reasonable quality – across the board. You don’t need to be the fanciest, most expensive or most exclusive to do this. You just need to provide the customer with a good experience and consistency. Over our three visits here we observed the goings on. The front-man, Simon, knew most customers by first name and what they needed without them asking. Naturally at ease with the public, he displayed a friendly manner coupled with a sharp, dry wit.
The coffee is good here, but there are shortcomings of the brand. Coming from half way around the world doesn’t help and the blend is fairly standard. The baristas do a good job of crafting a decent coffee. Half a decade (or more) ago the coffee here would have been considered way above average to the everyday coffee consumer. Postal Hall holds its own in the mosh pit of Melbourne CBD cafes competing for the breakfast and lunch rush, but as we are discovering on our journey of coffee enlightenment things are moving on quite quickly. Specialty coffee is becoming more and more visible and we reckon Postal Hall would put its neck in front of many other similar places by obtaining and providing a specialty coffee brand to its customers.
Score Summary.
Macchiato: 15.5, 15.5, 15
Espresso: 16, 15.5, 14.5,
Ristretto: 15.5, 15, 15.5
Overall Mean Score: 15.33. Recommended.
Good & fair review of my regular cafe, I couldn’t agree more or less.
Cheers