Ona Coffee House

Ona Coffee, established in 2008, is a world-class coffee roaster owned by former world champion barista and Australian Olympic handballer Sasa Sestic. The company now runs several cafes, including the Cupping Room, Typika and Highroad in Canberra and others in Melbourne and Sydney. Hundreds more cafes across Australia use Ona beans.

This expansive operation is all run out of Fyshwick, an industrial suburb best known for its hardware stores and sex shops, pulling coffee and brunch lovers from all over the city – not to mention the numerous coffee nerds who pay pilgrimage from interstate. There’s a cafe and retail shop out the front, with Ona’s roasting machines and temperature-controlled production facilities visible out the back. The marketing and logistics offices are housed here too, so it is truly the headquarters of the business.

The coffee menu is extensive, with at least 25 different coffees to choose from. It showcases four core blends with a variety of milk based, espressos, filter and iced, and there are special reserve single origin options that rotate on a monthly basis, including a selection of low caf-feine ones. On the “freezer menu” you’ll find exceptional and award-winning coffees, vacuum-sealed into individual doses and frozen to keep indefinitely.

The crowd here is diverse, with tradies and office workers mixing with uni students and young mums or dads. With a kids’ menu and a pastry selection, there’s something to cater for everyone. Even on weekends when the surrounding shopfronts are shut, it’s often a full house.

The all-day menu is overseen by executive chef Jerome Felix and is consistent with Ona’s oth-er outposts around the country. It’s a small menu offering of generously sized meals. The Ona roll is a favourite, served with either rocket and aioli, or barbeque sauce and cheddar cheese. Another popular order is the eggs Benedict with Korean fried chicken, pickled cabbage and sriracha hollandaise.