Dead Man Espresso, South Melbourne

Wooden interiors against black black walls with a dash of greenery and a couple of statement terrariums - that's Dead Man Espresso, spacious light filled South Melbourne cafe. If you have an eye for detail and love for little quirky things, you won't miss the rather peculiar small skull shaped showpieces that blend seamlessly with the surroundings. It's like looking for easter eggs.

You have quite a few seating options to choose from. There's a wooden communal table which gives a sense of privacy due to its sheer size and thoughtfully placed huge terrariums in the center then there are the usual two seaters. But the winning spot is the open balcony; it is quite elevated from the ground so you don't feel like you are sitting on the sidewalk and you can indulge in some bird watching while you wait for your food.

The menu is a good mix of sweet and savory dishes to choose from. Since this place is close to my home I have been here a couple of times. On my first visit I went with the green bowl. It looked like a decent portion of not-so-calorie-heavy mix of warm greens like spinach, kale with some cauliflower, pulverised seeds and dressing. Overall the dish was good but it had too much spinach for my liking; halfway through the dish I felt like there is only spinach left in my bowl.

So next time, I decided to play safe and went with the Dukkha Eggs - served with beetroot purée, poached eggs, avocado, feta, chili smash. I figured not much can go wrong with this classic. But there is something different about this one - the chili smash. I am game for anything and everything with some chilli so this little addition won brownie points from me. John Doe had the sweet potato and quinoa fritters and boy it was one good looking dish. It was served with a side of apple slaw on roasted carrot and pumpkin & mint hummus. It was a mix of things I would have never imagined would go well with a fritter.

Let's talk about the coffee!

Dead Man Espresso uses their own custom blend made specially for them by Seven Seeds. No wonder, their coffee tastes like no other.

To sum things up, Dead Man Espresso is a well designed place with a good mix of dishes to choose from and the coffee is good so definitely worth another visit.