Steaming Mug

Steaming Mug @ Parramatta

Where: Steaming Mug Espresso Bar & Deli, 33 Argyle Street, Parramatta, 2150

Coffee Beans: no idea…

I’ve been coming to this little café for a while. Located just outside the big building housing various services for Aboriginal people, it’s only five to ten minutes’ walk from Parramatta train station and Westfield.

A fairly new business, Steaming Mug contains everything you’d expect to find in a café despite its size: handmade muffins and biscuits, sandwiches and toasties, various salads and, of course, hot and cold drinks variety. The staff are friendly and service is speedy; I have never seen it crowded, but it does a fairly brisk business in the mornings as office workers drop by for their morning dose of caffeine. Behind the café is a surprisingly spacious open seating area—though I’m not sure what they do when it rains.

Seating Area Behind Café

I usually order a small latté ($3.50) to takeaway. Though difficult to see in the picture (I had to take the lid off first before taking the photo, which smudged the coffee a bit), the latté comes with the classic latté art and is just the right temperature to be hot and drinkable. The first sip gives you a pleasant hit of coffee, and it has a sweet undertone that makes it perfect for a morning pick-me-up before work. In terms of size, taste and presentation, I was quite happy with what I got in my cup of coffee.

Latté

The only food I have tried at Steaming Mug is kale salad, which contains kale (duh), quinoa, pumpkin and feta. It was a crisp and refreshingly light lunch that I wish had a smidgen more flavour. There’s a limit to how long you can chomp on fresh kale leaves before you start feeling a bit like a rabbit. On the other hand, it was healthy enough to ease my vague guilt at having eaten an enormous blueberry muffin in the morning, so that somewhat balances things out.

Steaming Mug is simple. It doesn’t pretend to be what it is not. There is no snobby or fancy atmosphere (with accompanying inflated prices) that some City cafés aim for. And, despite the roomy seating area, its real charm is in its quickly-served takeaway coffees to bleary-eyed office workers way too early on Monday mornings. In this, it certainly lives up to its slogan: I will start working when my coffee does!

Yays:

• Nice coffee; good temperature
• Quick and friendly service
• Reasonable prices
• Spacious seating area
• Cute slogan

Nays:

• Location can seem somewhat awkward
• Kale salad is for health-nuts only

Overall experience:

80% -- Distinction!