The cafe: Chez Dre is a charming patisserie down the end of a laneway at the rear of 285-287 Coventry Street. It's certainly not a small place with seating upwards of 70-80. There are arty wooden tables and chairs at the entrance, marble topped tables and a small communal table in the main area and then a medium sized courtyard at the rear. The marble topped table's help give it a French feel. There is a huge open kitchen and the counter displays some delicious looking pastries and macarons as well as croissants and breadsticks. If today wasn't Day 3 of a diet, I would have road-tested at least one of the pastries! I didn't see the menu but judging by the size of the kitchen, I would assume it would be a decent one. The crowd was very South Melbourne (I'm not exactly sure what I mean by that...), the staff were extremely friendly and many people were using it to walk to and from the market with their retro shopping trolleys.
The coffee: A fairly creamy nose backed up by smokey, roasty and chocolatey aromas. On the palate, it had quite a light mouth feel and the body was slightly fuller than medium bodied. The taste reminded me of a very creamy and decadent ice coffee. The espresso shot was a smidgen under 'standard' in volume (not a criticism) and as can be seen by the above photo, the milk quantity was perefct. The temperature was spot on too. A very smooth, enjoyable and clean coffee. For my palate, it was probably a tiny, little bit 'thin' but that's just a personal preferance. Many people would probably enjoy it a lot more than some of the richer coffee's around town. $3.50. Score 8.5/10.
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