Boundary Espresso, Melbourne - Up North

Turkish Breakfast at Boundary Espresso

As a member of a stereotypical Asian family in Australia, we never ventured far from our home in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Preston, where Boundary Espresso is, was to me just a name on the road sign on the way to the airport.

Working on a project in Melbourne for the past two months has allowed me to be reacquainted with my city, especially the northern suburbs, which my relatives would have told me was a "danger zone" (plus other marginally racist comments people say behind closed doors that I won't repeat here). In short, as a little girl in Melbourne, we basically never ventured north of Fitzroy.

Boundary Espresso (look out for the chiro sign!)

I'm glad I got the chance to stay for almost a month in Preston this time, now that I'm older and independently mobile, not to mention the northern suburbs (Northcote, Thornbury, Preston etc.) have changed a great deal. Northcote feels like Fitzroy 20 years ago - hip, alternative but not really, with hippy health food stores and cafes abound, and, as my Asian relatives like to say, "the houses have gone up so much in value" (and they have). Preston, where I was staying, is still a little industrial - car dealerships, a random but huge conference hotel (ie. my home for a month) but then, there's Boundary Espresso.

Strong latte at Boundary Espresso

Boundary gets their beans from Coffee Supreme, my absolute favourite roaster recently, and if you ask me, best coffee I've had by far, even in Melbourne. Of course, this depends on the barista too, and Boundary's are excellent. In the couple of times I've been there, I've seen a small rotation of staff - if I'm not mistaken, my barista was different each time, but the coffee was just as great. The general public often assumes that filter, siphon or similar methods of brewing coffee will give you a lot more notes and nuances, and I too, like the often complex yet subtle, tea-like flavours that emerge from these "slow" methods, but the amazing thing about the espressi (espressos, whatever) I've had from Coffee Supreme beans (and once with another roaster's beans at Cupping Room in HK) was how these nuances came into a espresso + milk combination too. All I can say is, the milk tasted amazing, and it wasn't just because they were using milk from St David Dairy. The flavours of the coffee had penetrated the milk, and the milk helped to amplify them.

Strong latte and raspberry and pistachio cupcake at Boundary Espresso

I never stopped for much food - a cake here, a shared brekkie there (the breakfast menu had Turkish breakfast, huevos rancheros - they seemed to be going the way of globally-inspired breakfasts and I like it), but it was good too, and while I'm not sure I'd go out there on purpose for a coffee, but if you're within a 5km radius,  and certainly if you're on your way to the airport from the eastern suburbs (ie. not going on Citylink), I'd absolutely recommend it.

Boundary Espresso [map]
107 Plenty Rd, Preston
Tel: +61 (0) 3 9484 0260
Open: 7.30am-3.30pm Monday to Friday, 8am-4pm Sat, 9am-4pm Sun