Cafe Alcaston

On the corner of Collins and Spring Streets check out this cute, cozy cafe serving house-baked pies! A giant black board lists the full menu. Place your order and presto! The pies arrive piping hot with salad and a fabulous chutney. The Sample Pie is half beef and red wine, half chicken and leek. The Shepherd's Pie comes with a slightly crunchy top like potato royals. Generous sizes, lots of wholesome ingredients meant this was a hearty meal. Simple, functional setting made the best use of the tight spaces available. With polite, helpful service and quick turnaround, this place is a good spot for quick lunches.

I had the beef and mushroom pie. The staff were very friendly. The filling of the pie was absolutely tasty and piping hot but I was very disappointed with the pastry. It was very soggy and a pie pastry should be crispy! I think they heat the pies up in a microwave which was very disappointing. Perhaps if you go first thing in the morning the pastry may be crispy but I went around 11am. I would have been happy to wait longer to have a pie warmed up in the oven, but a soggy pastry is a no no for a pie. I won't be returning unfortunately.

Great little spot for lunch that you can easily walk by and not know it is there. The pies are really good. worth trying the split pie special (which is two flavours in one pie - half and half ) just try it! The coffee is good and the staff are very friendly and helpful. You can make a reservation, which is advisable as it gets busy.