The Shortlist

Went here for the first time today. It’s a nice little café with a quiet backyard and all your classic favourites for breakfast and brunch i.e. mueslis and stuff piled on sourdough. I didn’t eat anything but everything I saw looked great!
Prices are good with $ 3.50 for a reg coffee and $ 9 for avo on toast rather than the ~$ 15 that you pay elsewhere. Coffee wasn’t amazing but decent and I had a lovely apple berry frappé.
Will definitely be back!

Quite liked it. Good coffee, friendly staff, yummy food. We sat outside on a rainy day on stools (not everyone is a fan of stools, I’m aware) and chatted the morning away. Limited menu.

The food and coffee here is surprisingly good, considering it is served by two of the grumpiest «wannabe» hipsters in this part of the inner city. This homeless, glasses wearing, bearded dude is the epitome of Newtown’s duds. A smile would be too mainstream and any sense of positivity would deny his style. Besides him the place is great, yet the baked beans are served rather cold.

This café is that perfect combination of mediocre coffee and first-​rate pretense.

I quite take a liking to the Shortlist. It’s been added to my «Coffice» directory where I can take my laptop and do some work (they’ve got Wi-​Fi and some spacious tables. I stayed for about an hour to an hour and a half and ordered a sandwich to get me some extra energy. When I find a space where I can work and that serves good food, then it’s a win!
The vibe in here is casual and being close to Sydney Uni, you’ll feel transported back into student life. Ah, the good ol’ days! Soak up some sun in the back and get that Vitamin D and chill out to the nice music they’ve got playing in the background.

I’m going to stretch myself a bit on this review — it is so nearly a five star review for me, but a couple of small details nearly dropped it to a 3.
This funky little café positively oozes hipster, set as it is in the middle of Darlington. Add to that a nice little patio out the back, friendly staff and a cool streetscape and it is definitely a place I would enjoy coming back to.
Range of food is not bad, the coffee was actually quite good, with the exception of one small thing (sorry, yes, going to go on a tiny rant here). The macchiato was served (wait for it) in a latte style glass. I can positively feel the horror you are surely feeling right now as you read this review! Ok, perhaps I can’t — and yes, it may sound like a bit of an elitist thing to worry about… but I promise you, this is important — ANY espresso sized drink (i.e. espresso’s or macchiato’s) should be served in a small cup or shot-​sized glass. The reason is fairly simple — a large glass means the coffee cools much more quickly, a smaller glass keeps the coffee hot when it reaches me. And really, who wants cold coffee?
Anyway, it is a pet hate, and usually I would mark a café down a little for this — but honestly, aside from this I had a really good time here, and even if a little cold the coffee was still quite good. I’m not sure if the owners of the shortlist read Unilocal… but if they do they will win a fan for life with this small change.
Anyway, for my usual breakdown of the coffee:
Coffee: Double macchiato
Bean: Little Marionette
Crema: Nice and thick ⁸⁄₁₀
Overall Taste: Excellent, smooth. 8.5÷10
Served in: Latte glass (–1)
Preparation: Well poured, not too much milk
I’ll go back :)

Just moved into Chippendale and passed this little gem on my «get to know the area» stroll. And it is a fave already! Having moved from Balmain I recognised the style as similar to The Little Marionette. My coffee and creamy and delicious… The vibe is perfect. Can’t wait to get to know the staff a little, try the food and be rested in finding my new local coffee-​haunt!

The Shortlist in Darlington is everything you want in an inner-​city café. Coffee that’s delicate but still packs a punch, a brief but satisfying brunch menu and an atmosphere that transforms from rainy day calm and cosy to sunshiney chilled and chatty. Owned and operated by sisters Bec and Loz, a dynamic and delightful duo in their 20’s, The Shortlist welcomes you through its open garage doors like it’s been waiting for you to arrive.
A few changes have taken place since I went there last, and as one of those few small businesses that booms from the outset, it continues to get better and better. And regardless of its delicious coffee (beans courtesy of The Little Marionette) and amazing muffins (white chocolate and citrus, with muffin tops that would send Elaine Benes wild), it’s The Shortlist’s charm that brings you back. With self-​service water poured from percolated coffee jugs, wet floor signs scrawled in blue and orange texta like a kid’s art project («Be Careful, it’s slippery!») and Johnny Cash drawling out of the sound system, the café swarms with Redfern’s resident young and upcomers. These entrepeneurial sisters have clearly found their market and are nailing it. And here’s the pun: The Shortlist — easily shortlisted for my top 10 Inner West cafes.