the copper mill

recently listed in smhs sydney's best 20 cafes, so had some good expectations from this place. service was average, we finally got a smile from a staff member when we paid the bill. not my idea of service. 
the brunch menu was mainly sandwiches and a basic eggs on toast option, which was what i ordered but received something else. my companion order a bacon and egg roll which was pretty sad looking and tasting. coffee is by golden cobra, quite ashy. 
wont be returning, still can not understand how this made it in the top 20. so many better options in the area

nice little cafe tucked in the blooming suburb of erskineville, however this place is quite small and gets quite busy during the weekends.. so expect to wait for a table. 
the coconut hot chocolate was quite tasty, and also the corned beef and potato hash dish. i'd come here more often if it weren't for the massive queue of people! 
(visited on 19/10/14)

going down hill. i have rated copper mill as delivering the best coffee in the inner west until recently. in recent weeks the coffee has been going down hill, this may be due to the incredibly rude barrista not being able to take constructive feedback well. when asked for another shot of coffee as the coffee tasted a little weak he clearly threw a tantrum and would then not speak to me anymore, nor even look me in the eye. i said thank you and stood outside to wait for some take away food. the very rude barrista proceeded to come outside and tell me that i was rude and i should have asked for an extra shot of coffee in the first place. i told him i just like my coffee to taste like coffee as it always has done. he had no further words and clicked his cowboy boots and stormed off in a huff. customer service at it's very worst. you've lost 2 regular customers, maybe some gen y training is in order.

had some very ordinary service on the weekend. not what you'd expect from 91% likes and a shame we had family with us at the time. we waited outside for a table and when it was cleared and ready we weren't seated, she went off and cleared/served other tables, bit weird. so after a while we seated ourselves and she ran over to say yes that's your table but i'm not going to serve you for 5 minutes, also weird. we were in a bit of a hurry so we figured we would order takeaway from the counter which was next to us. when she realised this she told us we couldn't sit at the table then and had to get up for someone else, not weird, just rude. so we bought 1 muffin and went home for toast. we really want to like copper mill, it's our local, but that left a pretty sour and confused taste in our mouths. hopefully a once off but do i want to try again? sadly no.

good, not great

great cafe with mexican twist. great service, they mistakenly gave us the wrong dish and didn't charge us for it. it wasn't such a bad mistake after all because the roasted pork and egg roll was definitely one of the best i've tried, the pork with crackling was excellent! we also tried one of the specials item on the board, which was a puffed galette with pumpkin haloumi and poached egg. everything was cooked to perfection, and it was nice light dish in comparison to the pork roll, and the coconut ice chocolate was fun, nothing overly exciting and came with a generous dollop of coconut ice cream. coffee is good. communal seating is slightly uncomfortable, but all in all a great cafe.

bondi hipster wank-fest comes to the innerwest.. the service is chaotic and poor. only one person seemed to care (i’m guessing the owner/manager) but the rest were either stoned or oxygen deprived during their mother's pregnancy. it would take ages to be seated and to get our order taken (despite empty tables). in fact, a couple who arrived later than us, sat next to us and were eating their meal before ours were even ordered.

the dreadlocked barista kept playing with is his unkempt, un-tied or netted hair while making coffees. hey mate ? this is a food place. coffee is a something i put in my mouth. stop it. food safety before you fabulousness dude.

the food menu was clever with what seems like interesting flavours and combinations. hinting at south american flavours and palette. i had the mushroom medley on toast with a poached egg. for $16 i got an uninspiring meal that should have been better for the combination of its wonderful ingredients. yet it wasn’t. it tasted like some cheap mushrooms (i got one enoki,one oyster, and the rest was your run of the mill mushies), an egg, some parmesan cheese sitting together on a plate rather than taste like a creation. the excessive use of oil and salt (who adds salt to toast ??) was a let down for a place that seemed to be so heathy and ‘green’. i also had the b+e roll. not a hard meal to get wrong but it too was too oily and salty (what is it with the salt guys ??) ... the relish was lovely but just wasn’t enough to compensate for what went wrong.

the coffee was however very good. my suggestion is to buy a takeaway and skip the pretentious, overpriced food made by a bunch of disaffected hipsters who seemed too stoned to know how to light a gas jet.

i am so disappointed with this place. it should be a wonderful place. and indeed there are a lot of people around who seem to love it ... but i just don’t agree.

located in alexandria, the copper mill is a welcoming addition to the suburb's ever-growing cafe and restaurant scene that has been expanding since the opening of the grounds of alexandria. it's also a good walking distance from st peter's station and even closer to sydney park if you happen to be in the area. as you step inside, you notice the industrial decor of the joint while it's quiet on the weekdays, it's much more busier on the weekends especially with the limited seating inside so there will be a small wait for the tables at peak hours (though not as bad as the grounds of course). it's rare to find a cafe where i actually want to try every single dish of the menu but the copper mill is definitely one of those places.

when i was fortunate enough to live a short stroll from the copper mill, i would always drive past gawking at the hoards of people standing outside waiting for a table. a firm favourite among locals and non-locals alike, you can find this little gem on mitchell rd just near sydney park. their menu changes often and is relatively small but all that really matters is that what they do serve is pretty awesome. peruvian bacon and eggs a glorious hot mess that packs a full suitcase full of flavours and then some. served warm on a fluffy bun, it’s a pretty foolproof menu staple for diners.    

one too many parties and one too many drinks mean that i’m constantly on the hunt for the perfect hangover cure. although abstaining from drinking is probably your best bet, nothing beats a bacon and egg roll – and the copper mill in alexandria serves up a pretty mean one.

glad i tried. coffee,food,service,value....were all in harmony.

puffed galette with spiced pumpkin, fresh coriander, garden peas, and poached eggs. amazing.


-----01 dec, 2014-----

lemon peach pop! peach, lemonade, ice cream and mint. best frappe i've had yet in sydney.

very slow service, unfriendly staff, fantastic food.

discovered za'atar. beef hash was so good, i bought za'atar as soon as i got home (to canada). not so impressed with the $5 coffee though.

bad service. have been to this cafe since it opened and the service has really deteriorated.
the staff got my order wrong and when it came out they insisted i had ordered that dish, despite my friend confirming i had ordered a different dish. once they took it back the service was rude and unpleasant.
will not be returning!!