I was here at 3pm on a Thursday. There was 2 ppl in the queue before me and about 5 tables occupied. I was served reasonably quickly and looked for a place to sit.

at the front, they have a nice long padded couch with about 7 or so tables for 2. Two were occupied and the rest had reserved tags on them. I decided to sit at one anyway. Couldn’t see all of them suddenly filling up. No one in fact came for any of them in the 20 mins I was there. was the café just being lazy or saving them for their special ppl???

Considering there was 3 working the café at that time and not many waiting, the time for my coffee to arrive was long. 5 mins??

My double shot flat white lacked flavour and richness. Staff didn’t look suited to the café business. These new Belco establishments are trying to look fancier, but it’s hard for them to change the bogan feel to it all.

won’t be rushing back.

As a visiting Melbournite, I’d been told not to expect much by way of coffee in Belconnen. While Orange Bean is the best of a mediocre lot, the wait for a coffee during the morning peak is off putting. Was disappointed by my long black - too much water, not enough flavour.

Orange Bean fails in the same way as many cafes in Canberra: due to the employ of a weak bean (they use Veneziano).
Kept extremely busy by the hoardes of public servants nearby and a lack of competition, they don’t have to work too hard for their money. They know how to make a quick coffee but not a good one.

In the middle of the concrete sprawl that is ‘downtown’ Belco this place was doing a roaring trade this weekday morning. They were churning out coffee at an alarmingly fast rate, flocks of glass-eyed office drones waiting for a caffeine hit. This bleak picture did not fill me with confidence. But as I tasted the piping hot cup of flat white as I was pushed out the door by the shuffling hordes, I was pleasantly surprised. An unexpected hit.