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Posted 2012-09-22 by Justine Crowley ⇒ follow

The shared tuck shop theme is well and truly alive at right in front of the Melbourne City Library on Flinders Lane. The name is so appropriate due to the cafes location, and the type of creatives and coffee living people who hang out here.

The ambience is woody, yet a bit of colour spring cleans this establishment. I caught up with a fellow writer friend just for coffee, and the experience turned out to be more than that. This writer friend of mine is also an actor, and she had an acting audition that same afternoon. Her audition went well, and so did our time together here.

I was in the process of uploading yet more photos for my articles, while I grabbed us a table on the side facing the front counter, so we did not have to share that tuck shop vibe.

The tables were a little low, yet you would be forgiven for thinking that you're hanging out in the living room of an artist's or retro lover's house. I felt like I was in Sydney ,despite being over 700kms away from home at the time, hence catching up with people I got connected with from my old home - Melbourne.

My chai tea ($4.50) arrived, and I loved the self service option. You choose how much honey and milk you want to put into your tea at any given moment. At times, the tea was flavoursome, while at other times the tea was quite bland. The problem was, the tea got cold quite quickly. The drink is just something you need in order to kill time and enjoy quality conversations. We were together for almost a couple of hours.

My friend also liked her hot chocolate, and we also ordered a bruschetta to share. A filling lunch option. Perfect if you don't have an appetite fit for a king. You're home and hosed until dinner if you're lucky. Although the bruschetta was tasty and I would have devoured it again here, the tomatoes could have been cut a bit finer. The tomatoes were just a bit too chunky for a bruschetta.

Not a bad experience. I have enjoyed better cafe experiences in Melbourne. Needless to say, with great company the experience is fantastic. Do not hang out here alone.