Just opposite the train station in the suburb of Kensington, The Premises occupies a corner shop which is light and spacious. A good thing too, because when the weekend rolls around, this cafe needs as much space as it can get. Just a warning, you should expect a little wait. For just over two years now, The Premises crew has been wooing locals with their refined menu and excellent coffee. This isn't one of those 'too cool for school' city cafe joints, where you feel out of place if you don't know the difference between a flat white or a magic. Instead, all are made to feel at home in this quirkily designed space, filled with old school furniture (no, it's actually literally old school furniture), and you'll find everyone here from soccer mums right through to hipsters sipping on Kenyan Pour Overs.
Aaaaaand segue into coffee. The house blend used at Premises is classic Seven Seeds (50% Columbian, 30% El Salvador, 20% Ethiopian) which has a nice sweetness, raspberry acidity and a good chocolatey body. It basically sounds like a dessert, so you know it has to be good. As well as the house blend, they also offer rotating single origin coffees from roasters such as Market Lane and Proud Mary, and if espresso ain't your style you can always choose from a filter option, with Pour Over being the main focus. And it doesn't just stop with the excellent coffee as there is some serious amazeballness (I think Iv'e invented another new word! Man, I totally have the next Pulizer Prize in the bag!) when it comes to the menu. You can't go wrong with the all day breakfasts here, with choices like french toast brioche with stewed stone fruit, yogurt cream and ginger crisp and Moroccan spiced beans with goats chèvre, green harissa and ciabatta. I had the fantastic 'Premises Eggs', consisting of two poached eggs, green olive tapenade and a Persian feta and zucchini salad on organic toast. Oh yeah, you should be jealous because it was as good as it sounds. If you're more of a lunch muncher, you will be kept more than happy with offerings like the roast pumpkin salad with pepitas, salted ricotta, chickpeas and a mint, parsley and olive dressing, or the slow roasted pulled pork sandwich with pickled watermelon rind, remoulade and dill pickles. If you're an exceptionally picky bastard and for some reason none of these tingle your tastebuds, then there's always the daily rotating specials board which might please you...though if you really don't fancy anything from the permanent menu, I think there's probably something wrong with you. There are no complaints with the service either, as the staff are always friendly and helpful and even manage to maintain their composure when Sunday brunch gets hectic. Most of us would simply curl up into the fetal position in this situation. Really, it gets that busy.
We all have our favourite hangouts, but if you've never been to The Premises and you're in the mood to try something a little different, then I would recommend the trip. With their Seeds coffee and utterly delicious menu, you may just find yourself starting to to grow particularly fond of this suburban cafe and, gasp, may even like it more than your original espresso haunt! Now, I'm not trying to conve....actually, that's a lie, I am trying to convert you. But I don't think I'll have to try too hard, because after one sip and one mouthful at The Premises, you'll probably have your new favourite...well, Premises.
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