Dead Man Espresso

This morning we ventured out to Dead Man Espresso, a cafe somewhat away from the heart of South Melbourne, but certainly worth the walk.

The story of this cafe is interesting - pick up a takeaway coffee and you can read about it on the side of the cup. In a nutshell, it celebrates the history of South Melbourne, or should we say 'Canvas Town' which is what this area used to be called in the 1850s gold rush era. A region of dreamers, crooks, lost souls and settlers. The folks at Dead Man Espresso say are proud of their plot of land - and so they should be.

Coffee was excellent, even better than St Ali's in our humble opinion. We decided to be healthier than usual this morning so we ordered a dead man bircher (perhaps not quite a healthy name!) and some lemon crepes. Bircher was a smaller serve than other cafes, but plenty enough, though it was a bit dry. The lemon crepes were light, tangy and delicious! Perfect for a Sunday morning.

We were so impressed with the coffee that we ordered a second, in a takeaway, and were pleasantly surprised with the Canvas Town story.

The wood-inspired fit-out is funky, warm and welcoming. As we left, we passed the quickly building crowd of hungry South Melburnites, coming to possibly their Sunday favourite, the dead man espresso.

dead man espresso
35 market street
south melbourne