select - Café cities part three
Written by Brian Johnston
When you travel the world, head for the nearest café. Every coffee you enjoy is history and culture in a cup. Here are some of the world’s best café cities in which to watch the world go by.
Melbourne
European-style café life first emerged in Melbourne’s Lygon Street in the 1950s and, once the espresso machine was introduced, there was no looking back for Australians. Coffee in Melbourne is almost universally excellent, even if it does go by such unexciting names as ‘short black’ and ‘flat white’. You can get your dose of caffeine in surrounding that recall Mittel Europa and the Mediterranean, accompanied by Hungarian cakes and Greek baklava. Many of Melbourne’s iconic suburbs – Richmond, St. Kilda, Prahran, and South Melbourne – have excellent coffee strips. In Carlton, Lygon Street (often referred to as Little Italy) remains a great place for those who love their coffee accompanied by delectable Sicilian pastries. South Yarra’s Chapel Street is the spot to perch outdoors and watch fashionistas teeter along the strip of boutiques and chic cafés.
WHY
Few would argue against the proposition that Melbourne has the best café scene in Australia, rich with the culinary influences of its many European and Middle Eastern immigrants.
WHERE
The Victorian state capital lies on Port Philip Bay in the southeast corner of Australia.
HOW TO GET THERE
Qatar Airways has daily flights from Doha to Melbourne.
Istanbul
Coffee houses in Istanbul are generally rough-and-ready places. Elegance is reserved not for the décor but pastries full of nuts and honey, with wonderful names such as ‘nightingale’s nests’ and ‘lady’s lips’. Enjoy them with coffee, which comes in minute glasses full of fine grounds. Sit among old men playing backgammon or reading the newspaper, and while away the time: Istanbul at its relaxing best.
WHY
Enjoy not just coffee but the rumbling of hookah pipes as customers sink into a postprandial haze in this ancient capital.
WHERE
Located on the Bosphorus Strait, Istanbul famously straddles Europe and Asia, with many cafés overlooking its famous harbour.
HOW TO GET THERE
Qatar Airways has 10 flights a week from Doha to Istanbul.
