Animal Orchestra

Snug. Awesome baked eggs and excellent coffee. They use Vitasoy. Friendly service.

I love coming to Animal Orchestra, unless it’s for a uni tute — I’m just not a fan, and it’s not because I hate Oxord style learning.
AO is best when it’s not crazed with an abundance of students; the rare moments when you can sit there (by yourself, if you choose), have a great bowl of soup or any other food item and read. Bliss.
That, and their sticky date pudding comes with two scoops of ice cream. True story.

There aren’t many good lunch spots near my office, but this is one of the better ones. The main reason I come here is for the massive bowls of soup, which are always tasty and satisfying. The other reason is the surly waiter, who always tries to get me liquored up before I head back to work. Most of the time, he just suggests a glass of wine. When he offers me a tequila, I know I’ve been working too hard.

Looking for a place in Carlton where I could have a beer and my friend could have a beer AND a coffee, it suddenly dawned on us: Animal Orchestra. Why don’t we go there for a drink more often? In the past, I’ve mostly been to AO for their baked eggs breakfast (which runs all day) or for an afternoon caffeine hit, but the set up here is perfect for a quiet tipple.
A large umbrella provides shade for the long tables out the front, which doesn’t get too much foot traffic, unlike Lygon St and surrounds. There’s also a tiny front porch and a large back room inside past the counter. Friendly, casual staff provide table service and the bottled beer list caters for different tastes: I had a Carona (it was hot) but was umming and ahhing over a Little Creatures Pale Ale and an Asahi.

There aren’t great options near the University of Melbourne, although, I have found some great gems. Not sure if Animal Orchestra is one of those gems, but I used to come here frequently for study breaks.
They have good coffee, good food, good service, and outdoor seating in the back and front, which is great. Because it attracts a lot of university students, the prices are reasonable. I’ve had their baked eggs ($ 12) here a few times. They also have various paninis ($ 10). The baked eggs aren’t amazing, but come out quick and hot. Plus, you have options — chorizo, bacon, vegetarian, mushrooms — they have all sorts of baked eggs. Small, cheap, perfect for a quick breakfast before class starts in the morning. Good food overall, but
Service can be a bit slow at times, but I don’t mind — they’re quick when it comes to take away coffees. This place is a great option if you’re around Melbourne Uni.

Students, take note!
This café has it all, and a little bit more, for really great prices!
Coffee? Yup.
Tea? Yup.
Toasties? Yup.
Muffins? But, of course.
But this place goes a bit further, with some really good baked eggs. The menu changes daily on this so just pop in and see what’s cookin’.
They also do some really good paninis that, again, change regularly.
Last, but not least, they do (usually) two soups a day. And they’re huge bowls of soup. Not ‘cooked for days to let the flavors mature’ kind of soups, but darn close.
Sit out front and enjoy the sun. You could even pop in by yourself, because surely someone that you know will pass. For the money, it’s a decent alternative to KFC!

When I had previously heard people mention Animal Orchestra, I literally thought it was some kind of wacky steak house that served up bizarre meats, like ostrich and crocodile.
Thankfully, the actual place keeps its wacky-​factor to a minimum, and is actually quite a cute little inner-​city café.
There is a decent sized breakfast menu, with an emphasis on baked eggs, served with a variety of different accompaniments. I opted for the focaccia menu and sampled both the chicken pesto focaccia and the bacon and egg breakfast focaccia. These were both reasonably priced at $ 9.50 and were definitely filling, but in terms of taste, neither of them were anything to write home about (and the breakfast focaccia was a little dry for my liking). The coffee was decent, and the vibe was quite pleasant.

During my time at Melbourne Uni, Animal Orchestra was a great little spot to hang out with fellow communication students to discuss whatever our latest piece of coursework was or our latest Eureka moment on our thesis. Right across the street from the Graduate Centre and the John Medley building, it is one of only a few places to get good coffee right next to uni.
We’d always sit outside and bask in the sun during the summer months. But you might not always get a spot right there as it is pretty popular and seating is somewhat limited.
They also do a range of breakfast and brunch options with a number of different paninis and variations of baked eggs (served on a hotplate). The baked eggs are my personal favourite, I’d recommend them for a first-​timer.
The service was always pretty good and the vibe very relaxed.

Animal Orchestra really is the quintessential student café. As a result they have gone characteristically overboard on the shabby chic décor. The chairs are mismatched, the mirrors are vintage and retro posters plaster the walls. They’ve pretty much raided the local op-​shop for that oh-​so-​casual thrown together vibe, but whatever it works for them.
The staff are suitably trendy and service can be a little patchy under the pressure of the lunchtime rush hour. This is due largely to the throngs of chain smoking Arts students that flock to AO; needless to say space is limited. While the food is by no means revolutionary, its really not too bad at all. There’s an extensive panini list, a good range of baked eggs and the muesli is delicious. The soup tends to be a little watery, but comes with a huge slice of sourdough toast to make up for it.
Worth a visit if you’re in the area, and a definitie improvement form the sterile confines of the Melbourne Uni food court, what Animal Orchestra lacks in refinement it makes up for in character.

I stopped by here after class to treat myself to a nice meal. I always see people sitting outside, so I figured that it was a great place. From the outside, it looks VERY run-​down and old, but I guess it contributes to the style. It’s old-​looking, but very clean and trendy.
Food: They have an alright variety of things on their menu (which is displayed outside on chalkboard) — mainly paninis and a few breakfast choices all at reasonable prices. I’m not a huge panini fan, so I went with the Smoked Salmon Breakfast which consisted of Smoked Salmon, Egg, Capers, Rocket Salad, and a side of buttered bread. It was pretty good, but still had room for improvement. The Salmon was a bit rough in texture and took quite a while to arrive. The bread was wayy overcooked, dark, and too roasted for my tastes. Judging by the food quality alone, this place would probably get 3 stars.
However, 1 star off because there really was no satisfaction. The portion was small, and not that filling so I spent over 12 dollars and still felt really hungry.
Ways they can improve:
~ Larger portions, or at least more filling meals so it could be worth the value.
Overall, this is a nice hip place, but judging by the food quality I probably wouldn’t be returning.