Al’s Deli

When I heard that Al’s Deli was opening up a second café on O’Connell Street, I was really excited. Not only because I am forever drooling over pictures of their milkshakes, bagels and doughnuts on Instagram, but also because it is just around the corner from my work.
Walking in, service was friendly and welcoming — off to a good start. I couldn’t take my eyes off their amazing array of doughnuts — think Nutella, raspberry and white chocolate, lemon meringue (with injected raspberry coulis), raspberry and cream and black forest. And a delicious looking strawberry cheesecake and bread and butter pudding looked appetising! They are also serving a 12 hour smoked pulled pork in a brioche bun, a range of Montréal style bagels and toppings, ‘tomato pie slabs’ and a selection of pre-​packaged salads and sandwiches, which would be great for takeaway. It is essentially a smaller version of their original café in City Road.
Their opening day special was half price coffee, a smart way to lure people in. I loved the idea of their Whittaker’s hot chocolate, but sadly that was not included in the deal. So I went with a small chai latte (which is technically not coffee…). However, the wait was very long! There were four of us waiting and another couple had just arrived, and they had not even started making our drinks. Turns out they were making coffees for the workers upstairs — I thought this was a bit unfair as it was peak morning tea time.
The chai latte had great froth, but it was extremely sweet! I have a mega sweet tooth, but this was too sickly to drink. I also ordered one of their raspberry and cream doughnuts, somehow thinking it might be similar to a Little & Friday one, but sadly it was not. It was very average, and was the equivalent of a bakery doughnut. At $ 5.00, I would not purchase this again.
I had such high hopes for the new Al’s Deli, yet I felt very disappointed. There are definitely better options for coffee and doughnuts in the CBD, so I will stick to those places. However, I will revisit again because I believe every place deserves a second chance… and besides who doesn’t love the sound of 12 hour smoked pulled pork!!!