I had no idea why 'vanilla mung' was scripted under the Three Beans logo until I googled the cafe for this review. Apparently 'coffee, vanilla and mung' represent the three core tenants of this company: ethical, healthy and tasty.
O....k...
So odd nomenclature aside, this is a pretty solid cafe franchise and the Hornsby kiosk is worth a stop if you're in the neighbourhood. The coffee is Fair Trade Alliance and the gourmet sandwiches are all delicious. They obviously use fresh produce and if the service is a little slow, it's because they're busy making your sandwich. The baristas could be better trained, but it's consistent enough that you could grab a coffee card and make this your regular.
The only problem is you're stuck in the doorway of Westfield Hornsby. The cafe is nicely cordoned off, but you still have to deal with the hoards of shoppers streaming by, and the odd blustering wind coming in from the centres double doors. That said, I've never really been a fan of coffee shops in malls.
Ethical, healthy, tasty. Turns out they were right all along. read more