The menu at Mitte is amazing! The food is novel, of decent size and as tasty as all get out. It is a fantastic place to go for breakfast, with the gigantic croque monsieur being a wonderful hangover cure. The coffee is great and they also do a wonderful line in non-alcoholic drinks. The homemade lemonade is really refreshing on a hot day.

It has a very funky vibe but it's a bit small inside, so it's not a good place to go with groups or prams. The service is generally friendly and tends to be on the more involved side and this can be grating depending on your mood.

Cavallini's does really really great pastries and cakes. Everything is made with such love and care and is of the highest quality. A lot of thought goes into making it a really comfortable, welcoming place - from the cute individual floral teapots and cups to the Times Literary Supplement provided for customers to read.

The courtyard out the back is cleverly covered with grapevines in the summer (that turn spectacular colours in the autumn) and warmed up with gas umbrellas in the winter. It does super tasty sandwiches and good inexpensive pizza slices for lunch.

APTE is an oasis in the desert that is cafes in Alphington. The coffee is great and the menu is spectacularly good - particularly at breakfast time. I'm not usually a sweet breakfast fan, but the banana bread with pistachio labne is to die for.
The staff are friendly and calm in the face of the huge crowds that flock there, particularly on the weekends. The outdoor courtyard is very pretty and a more peaceful bet on a busy weekend day.

The toy baskets and the fact that it opens at 8am make it a great option for breakfast with the kids.