169 chapel street. if this address sounds familiar to you, but not the name journeyman… there’s a reason.

home of dukes coffee roasters since 2008, owner peter frangoulis renamed the stunning exposed-brick establishment in 2014 in order to separate the cafe from the coffee roasting business. the interior’s super sauve interior fits right in along chapel street – industrial ceiling beams, classy seating, wood panelling + fresh flowers.

and with that coffee pedigree, its no surprise that my flat white was amazing.

i had my brother in law and husband with me this morning, so had some extra options for meal choices – and more photos! win.

toasted muesli with fresh fruit + organic yoghurt.
presentation was exquisite as was the mango gel (i could eat a bowl of that on its own!). the fresh fruit (berries, kiwi, mandarin and pineapple) were colourful + sweet and the toasted muesli added the crunch needed to go with the vanilla yoghurt. light, fresh, delicious.

chilli scrambled eggs with smoked tomato, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil + baguette
eggs were scrambled perfectly – soft and creamy but still eggy. i love roasted cherry tomatoes (i know they’re not to everyone’s liking) so thought this was a beautiful addition. the chilli kick was there, but subtle. probably a bit too subtle for me as i love spice, but not overpowering or a discouragement to those who might not. the baguette, and that absolutely delicious mozzarella served with fresh basil, complimented the dish well… i have also since been eating crusty bread with mozzarella and basil for lunch everyday this week to satisfy my new craving! (i tell you, these weird food cravings of mine – scrolls and fresh bread with mozzarella – go figure!)

again, the presentation was so pretty i’ve decided an extra photo is warranted:

and the last dish of the morning:

pulled pork benedict with poached eggs, cider vinegar hollandaise, apple + spinach
eggs were poached beautifully, those yolks ran all over the english muffins once burst! the acidic but creamy hollandaise matched perfectly with the crispy sweet apple (plus who doesn’t look apple with pork?!)… speaking of pork, it was the only disappointment of the whole morning. anticipating a generous mound of juicy saucy pulled pork, in contrast this ‘pulled pork fritter’ was compacted in a little too much unfortunately losing some flavour + lacking the expected ‘drool’.

for the non-coffee drinkers at the table (they are brothers after all), the fresh cold-pressed juice  (orange + green) was consumed just as quickly as my flat white was!

i feel i’m on a bit of a customer service “thing” at the moment, and seem to be noticing (or paying more attention to) the little details. in summary, the service at journeyman was pretty good. sure, we had a short 15 minute wait for a table… but i’m used to that (and happy to wait) in melbourne + the front waitstaff were really friendly. once seated (again waitstaff polite enough), menus and meals all arrived quickly, correctly + efficiently. my only bug-bear is the missed opportunity to offer paying customers a ‘would you like another coffee now that your meal has arrived and you emptied your first flat white 10 minutes ago?’. i tried for a good 15 minutes to catch someone’s eye to order another coffee to no avail, settling for ordering a takeaway when paying at the counter (which i would’ve done anyway + had a third). an easy $15 lost, as the boys would’ve had more juice too.

the vibe is great, with the tall ceilings allowing for a packed cafe without conversations reaching a feverish pitch, and there is a huge selection of dukes coffee beans to purchase + take home with you as you leave. all in all, a lovely sunday brunch out with the boys!

verdict: worth the journey, if you’re not already a local!
find: journeymancafe.com.au