Cafe Koula is a great place to go if you're ever around Northcote at lunchtime. If the weather is fine then you can sit in their outdoor courtyard and enjoy both sunshine and the edible plants surrounding you.
Take away sweet potato and pumpkin soup. Perfect for when you have to dash off somewhere.
Inside is just as lovely. Small tables with eclectic chairs beg you to sit in them, while the informal blackboard menu tells you today's choices. Soup is always on offer, but you need to ask what it is, as it changes daily. It's always delicious, and at $10 for a large bowl, or $6 in a takeaway cup it's a very good deal. Soup comes with 4 slices of a large baguette, and butter.
A homemade sausage roll form Cafe Koula
Cafe Koula also serves homemade sausage rolls, pastries and sandwiches, as well as the less typical baked potatoes, lasagne and schnitzel. They offer a discounted kids' menu that regularly makes me wish that I was under 12.
The Kids Menu at Cafe Koula, Northcote
If you're after a snack instead, or you have a sweet tooth that needs sating after lunch, look no further than their tiny cupcakes or scrumptious slices. These offerings also change regularly, but the most popular options tend to reassert themselves often enough to please the locals.
A colourful mini cupcake from Cafe Koula, Northcote was only $2
The cafe can be hard to find, which is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it means I've always gotten a table. A curse for first-timers as you may walk straight past. If you live in the area you'll know Northcote Town Hall. Even as a stranger coming in by tram, you really can't miss it.
Head a little further north and on the same side of the street as the Hall is a little blue stone Anglican Church. Take a sharp left through the wire gate: it looks like you're heading to the church hall, but you're actually entering Cafe Koula's courtyard.
This photo shows part of Cafe koula's courtyard, but it also shows the wire gate entrance in the top right corner.
The only thing that I would change about the cafe is their opening hours. They are open from 9am Monday to Saturday. Unfortunately they close at 3pm (and 2pm on Saturday). That doesn't leave much time for an afternoon or afterschool snack.
