Workshop coffee / toby’s estate decaf. Shop RG01A, the Galeries Victoria, 500 George St, Sydney. Not much bigger than a hole in the wall, opposite the town hall side entrance to the QVB, there are two espresso machines and three grinders, and a kitchen out the back.

Somehow they have crammed in a bench and a series of stools, seating four or five, but their core business is clearly takeaway, and the queue is clearly evident.

The food is a little pricey, but competitive here in the CBD, and the range of sandwiches is pretty broad.

Coffee is very good: the crema is strong, milk is well put together.

Worth a visit: I would say the best coffee on its block.

Neoma organic coffee. Level 4, Oxford St bridge Bondi junction Westfield.

Despite the somewhat painful antics of the well-to-do patrons ahead of me in the queue, the wait is bearable. Seating for around 40, including communal tables on either side, is provided overlooking Oxford St, and there are wine and cheese tastings every thursday at 4pm, for $10 per head.

On the Sunday lunch shift there are 10 staff working away, including 2 on the coffee machine. There’s a decaf grinder, but instead, the decaf is sourced from an open takeaway container, so I’m not optimistic about the flavour.

Sure enough, milk dominated and lacking in flavour: if anything, the shot itself is watery.

Great range of breads and pastries, but the decaf is to be avoided.

Karmee coffee. 224 Harris St, Pyrmont. I read about someone having a good meeting here on twitter, and it was about the right distance from work to make it there and back in a lunchtime walk.

Don’t be put off by the seemingly high prices, and the stylish furniture: this is still just an appealing place to pause for a cup of coffee. Various open windows and doors, and a high ceiling make this a really breezy space, and the polished concrete floor (and liquor licence) give the place a feeling somewhere between a cafe and an upmarket pub.

Arriving as late in the day as I do (mid afternoon), the staff levels are minimal, but the service is friendly and efficient. The food order is called out to an unseen kitchen, and the coffee is prepared immediately, giving me a few moments to sit and wait for my takeaway lunch.

When I see the decaf retrieved pre-ground from a plastic container, I’m briefly grateful that at least the container was sealed. To make up for the lack of coffee flavour, the coffee is really milky, with a slightly sweet note to it. It’s as good as one might hope given the state of the initial coffee it springs from.

Campos Coffee. 166 Glebe Point Road, Glebe.

Open since Feb 5 2009, this place is next door to the grave of the Valhalla cinema of years gone by. Service is really great: George, the owner of the cafe, and his team are committed to making you feel welcome, to showing the kind of passion for the menu board that makes the food taste better when it arrives.

Even when we arrive at lunch time when the place is fairly full, and need seating for a baby (there are no high chairs here, so you need to bring your own high chair substitute) they are happy to seat us in any remaining seat: it’s our choice.

There’s a dedicated decaf grinder that is full-size; the coffee is ground to order and tastes great (yes, even the decaf).

And the food is really top-notch too. If you’re in this part of Glebe, you owe it to yourself to check this place out.

Aroma coffee. 1/47 Cooper St, Surry Hills. 9699 3193.

High ceiling with a glass wall at the frot makes this a well lit space, with searing for 31 indoor and out including a big table that seats 8. There’s an emphasis on sandwich making ok the menu, but the small kitchen at the back has a few other offerings too.

When I visit, the air conditioning seems to be outclassed by the heat and humidity of the day. Food service is on the slow side.

Coffee is bulk ground, and there’s no decaf grinder in sight, but in spite of this it’s a milky, slightly sweet coffee with – unsurprisingly – not a lot of nuance. The bacon and egg roll, though, is really good: crisp bacon with runny eggs.

Single Origin coffee. 191 Missenden Rd, Newtown. Some skylights have been cut in the non-street-facing roof of this place. With the high ceilings, there’s a great sense of space. A big chalkboard in one corner tells the story of the high-ish prices – they’re clearly not after the student market.

If anything, there’s a sense that they are looking for is to capture the essence of an eastern suburbs bakery, and locate it just of the main street of Newtown. And they have succeeded: the decor and the food presentation are really top notch.

The staff are really friendly, confirming the details of the coffee orders before making them. On the downside, the coffee does take a long time to come together.

There’s a separate decaf grinder, which is great to see. As you would expect for a place next door to Campos, the coffee is really good. A little sweet, some notes of cocoa. It’s a pleasure to drink.

I haven’t tried the bread, or the other baked goods, but this place appears well worth a revisit.

Amore coffee (Paris blend). Shop 26, 33 Hollywell Rd, Biggera Waters (Queensland): outside the metro market shopping centre. Metro Market shopping centre is one of those small suburban places that crops up in the Gold Coast. It’s not one of the giant outdoor empires, but would fit in well in a suburb of Sydney: just enough shops to pick up the groceries and a few other items – it’s a place to run to for that quick errand.

This place has a bustling kitchen, and seems steadily busy. It competes on price – the cafe’s business card advertises the $5 big breakfast which seems incredible value (2 eggs, bacon, hash brown, grilled tomato, sausage, toast). I didn’t have a chance to try the food, but if we’d had a longer stay we would have tested it out just for the value.

There’s no decaf grinder, and the latte is a little watery, but pleasant tasting.

Merlo coffee. Marina Mirage – Shop 6, Seaworld Dr, Main Beach – Gold Coast (Queensland).

As mentioned in a comment on a previous post, this cafe has been thoroughly refurbished since my last visit. There’s more seating, the entryway is more accommodating, and the food has been given even greater pride of place: there are some truly amazing-looking, mouth-watering treats on display here.

I probably don’t need to tell you, based on where this cafe is, that the prices are on the high side: add in extra charges for the decaf, and for a large cup, and you are dangerously near $20 for three large decaf coffees and a decaf espresso.

My decaf espresso is still on the thin side of the thin to syrupy continuum, but flavour-wise, it’s much improved. Not acidic, just a mellow, pleasant flavour. There’s still no decaf grinder to be seen, but at least the decaf beans are given a look-in in the display of beans for sale.

The decaf latte on the other hand is really pleasant. It’s the luck of the draw as to the aftertaste: I bought two, and they tasted quite different. Mine, though, was really good: a slight sweetness, and a good balance between milk and coffee flavours.

Overall, this place is greatly improved: as we were leaving, we heard a radio ad for the cafe on our car’s radio – they’re clearly putting the effort into promoting themselves, though I’m still unable to find a web presence. Thanks for encouraging me to revisit!

Charlie Lovett coffee (roasted on-site). George St, near Quay St. I’ve been waiting a while to let them iron out some of the opening-week jitters in their service. Overall, it’s a place that has a *lot* of staff working there, but it is selling a few different things: freshly baked bread, sandwiches and single pieces of bread with gourmet spreads, a range of deli-styled items, and freshly roasted coffee.

It’s pretty courageous to open a cafe next door to an established Gloria Jeans, but I imagine they consider their offering to be distinct from GJ’s, even if their store decor is a similar colour, and their approach to lighting is similar.

The experiment appears to be working: both places tend to be relatively crowded, even with their proximity to each other.

Decaf is good – it’s smooth and drinkable, with a hint of complexity. And yes, they have a decaf grinder.

Little marionette coffee. 277 Australia St, Newtown. I was first told about this place on twitter: they were recommended as “even better than Adriano Zumbo, but without the post-Masterchef queues”. Naturally, I added it to my to-visit list. Both times I’ve been here it’s been close to closing time, though during its main opening hours the place is generally quite crowded, with some stools out the front for the overflow.

The coffee is variable between good and excellent, depending on who is making it. They even have a decaf grinder, which is great news for me at least. There’s a complexity to the flavour that is too often lacking in decaf, and the milkwork is good too.

Where this place really shines, though, is in its pastries / desserts: they have really creative, gorgeous looking items that taste amazing. If you’re a dessert buff, you owe it to yourself to check this place out.