Remedy Coffee

Take shelter from the rain with a hot drink and a board game.
Rose Archer
June 04, 2015

Overview

Remedy coffee is an impossibly cute little cafe just across the Civic on Wellesley Street West. It has a rustic, homely charm, with dark wood, exposed brick and homemade tea jars. Cute kitsch framed pictures compete for wall space with shelves that are heaving with books and board games. They do a great range of hot drinks and even have a Pacman arcade game tucked into one corner.

They make very good espresso coffee with beans from Toasted Espresso. For black coffees Remedy use a revolving single origin (right now they are using Costa Rica SHB - a nice little number which has notes of fruit, wine and honey), and an AA Kenyan for the white coffees, which is chocolatey with a 'winey' acidity (not to be confused with a winy acidity, which would be no good at all). However for winter our top pick of the drinks on offer here is the lemon, honey and ginger drink which they make using the real deal: fresh ingredients from their kitchen, and served to you in a tea pot for $4.50. They also have a selection of loose leaf and bagged tea, which is they have curated by finding their favourites from a bunch of different suppliers, including Tea Total. Remedy even do a Yerba maté, if you're that way inclined.

Their food is hearty, healthy and affordable, with a simple menu of bagels, toasts, sandwiches, salads and muesli. The smashed avocado on 5-grain bread, served with tomato and feta is fortifying and cheap as at $9. Sandwiches are also $9 and all options can be had on 5-grain or gluten-free bread, or even in a panini. Most of their sandwiches are meaty, but they do have the delicious looking vegan option of avocado, hummus, mango chutney and cashews. They also have a few sweet and savoury baked goods in the cabinet.

Many aspects of the cafe create its cosy ambiance, including the eclectic wooden furniture, and large red leather couch, the friendly and accommodating staff and the soft lighting. Remedy coffee plays great music, mostly old school funk while we were there, at the perfect volume for conversations to feel private despite the small space. We stayed all afternoon and got some work done, but Remedy Coffee would be an even better place to spend a bit of quiet down time, reading a book or playing a board game.

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