ONA
The first thing to know about Ona is that it has some serious coffee pedigree. Its founder, Saša Šestić, was World Barista Champion 2015, and the team has some heavyweight accolades under its belt: ‘Australian Barista Champion’ (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019), ‘Australian Brewers Cup Champion’ (2017, 2018, 2019) and ‘Australian Coffee in Good Spirits Champion’ (2018, 2019).
The second thing to know about Ona is that its aesthetics is on point: clean, minimalist, soothing, with the baristas working right in front of you. Nothing hurried or chaotic about this place.
The third thing to know about Ona is that it has some of the most reasonably priced and interesting beans to take home. The staff are extremely friendly, knowledgeable and passionate about the art of the brew, and will not hesitate to give you brewing tips and make recommendations based on your preferred brewing method. During my last visit, I took home an El Salvador La Esperanza, a natural processed single origin bean with notes of dark cherry, milk chocolate, rooibos and vanilla; and this time I treated myself to their mulled wine winter warmer blend of Castillo, Heirloom, Geisha and SL28/SL34. I can smell its rich wine-like aroma from the package, and it also has hints of blackberry, orange and all spice.
Having a coffee expertly made for you at Ona is such a treat. Take this batch brew for instance: rich, smooth, dark, without even the slightest hint of bitterness or unpleasant acidity, this is the kind of dark coffee that turned me into a black coffee drinker.
The milk coffee selection at Ona comes in a couple of forms. I picked the Hitman, which is described as having nutty and chocolatey notes. The nuttiness certainly comes in strong - when you first smell the coffee there is almost a savoury note, but it goes down very smoothly. There are coffee places which I love because their milk coffees are very creamy and milk-forward (by that I mean the milk is the star of the show), but that is not the case at Ona. At Ona, the bean is definitely the star.
The food selection at Ona is very small, and let's just say it's not their strength. Take the most interesting sounding item on the menu, the kimchi toastie, for instance. The sandwiches are all pre-made and wrapped in clingfilm in fridges, being warmed up on a sandwich press or a jaffa maker as they are ordered - yet they are not warmed enough so the cheese doesn't melt and the sandwich comes out lukewarm, with little bits of cheese falling all over the place. The kimchi taste isn't very prominent, so despite the creativity that its name and ingredients suggest, it ended up being a really boring, sub-par sandwich. It also was pricey af for something that's more school canteen quality than fancy cafe quality.
Ona also serves a range of pastries, including Shortstop donuts. I have ready access to a Shortstop shopfront so I wasn't tempted, but I know they make great donuts. What we settled for instead was an almond croissant, which was pretty respectable - lovely and buttery, suitably syrupy - but I don't think Ona makes them in house so I'm not sure whether I can give them any credit.
Come for the coffee - oh, definitely come for the coffee. The food? Maybe not.
Score: 3/5
I really struggled on the scoring front. For coffee and staff knowledge / helpfulness re coffee, Ona gets 5/5.
The food is probably a 1/5 I'm afraid...and I did have misgivings about judging Ona on the food because it is really a coffee joint, but then I thought, if you're prepared to put something on the menu at a premium price, you should be prepared to back yourself.
Cost: approx $20pp
Address: 140 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville NSW
Website: https://onacoffee.com.au/
The second thing to know about Ona is that its aesthetics is on point: clean, minimalist, soothing, with the baristas working right in front of you. Nothing hurried or chaotic about this place.
The third thing to know about Ona is that it has some of the most reasonably priced and interesting beans to take home. The staff are extremely friendly, knowledgeable and passionate about the art of the brew, and will not hesitate to give you brewing tips and make recommendations based on your preferred brewing method. During my last visit, I took home an El Salvador La Esperanza, a natural processed single origin bean with notes of dark cherry, milk chocolate, rooibos and vanilla; and this time I treated myself to their mulled wine winter warmer blend of Castillo, Heirloom, Geisha and SL28/SL34. I can smell its rich wine-like aroma from the package, and it also has hints of blackberry, orange and all spice.
Having a coffee expertly made for you at Ona is such a treat. Take this batch brew for instance: rich, smooth, dark, without even the slightest hint of bitterness or unpleasant acidity, this is the kind of dark coffee that turned me into a black coffee drinker.
 |
| Batch Brew, $5 |
 |
| Hitman, $5 |
The food selection at Ona is very small, and let's just say it's not their strength. Take the most interesting sounding item on the menu, the kimchi toastie, for instance. The sandwiches are all pre-made and wrapped in clingfilm in fridges, being warmed up on a sandwich press or a jaffa maker as they are ordered - yet they are not warmed enough so the cheese doesn't melt and the sandwich comes out lukewarm, with little bits of cheese falling all over the place. The kimchi taste isn't very prominent, so despite the creativity that its name and ingredients suggest, it ended up being a really boring, sub-par sandwich. It also was pricey af for something that's more school canteen quality than fancy cafe quality.
 |
| Kimchi toastie, $14 |
 |
| Almond croissant, $6 |
Score: 3/5
I really struggled on the scoring front. For coffee and staff knowledge / helpfulness re coffee, Ona gets 5/5.
The food is probably a 1/5 I'm afraid...and I did have misgivings about judging Ona on the food because it is really a coffee joint, but then I thought, if you're prepared to put something on the menu at a premium price, you should be prepared to back yourself.
Cost: approx $20pp
Address: 140 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville NSW
Website: https://onacoffee.com.au/
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