XS Espresso

XS Espresso has arrived at the ever-evolving Jesmond Central shopping centre with the first of hopefully many stores to open up across town. Crowned in 2018 as the winner of the Australian Café of the year award, XS Espresso has been bringing Sydneysiders some of the most tantalising food and drink options since 2014 and now it’s Newcastle’s turn.

Opening up shop within the Jesmond Central shopping complex, XS Espresso officially launched their new space up to customers on the 1^st of September 2020. It’s been just over a week and the team have been run off their feet with people flocking to the café joint.

“It’s only been open for six days but it feels like it’s been about six months. The response we’ve had has been enormous. We had lines out the door all weekend and the feedback on google reviews have all been five stars,” franchisee Nathan said.

Launching back 2014 in Sydney by Roky Gorgees, six years on and the XS Espresso brand now has ten cafes across the city and is branching into regions along the North Coast of NSW with Newcastle being stop number 1!

Eight months in the works, the Jesmond based space is here to rock the local café game and bring locals some of the tastiest dishes you’ve ever sampled. With one of the most mouthwatering Instagram’s you’ve ever seen, customers often don’t even order off of the menu – but off of Insta!

“The biggest thing with growing the brand is our consistency. The big thing around that is because what you see us serving up today has to match what we’re posting online.

“People come in and they might not know the name of the dish or the drink, they’ll open their Instagram and show us a photo and say – I want that! If the product doesn’t come out looking like that, that’s a huge disappointment!”

Foodies listen in because it’s the menu that you’re all really going to start salivating about. With one huge menu there’s a little bit of everything for everyone and we don’t mean that by halves. From the littlies to grandparents, from vegans to vegetarians and gluten-free; they’ve got all bases covered.

“Our menu literally caters from anyone who is a small child, with our mini scrambled eggs on toast to your elderly customers. Our menu covers all bases.

“We’re very family friendly. We’ve got highchairs for the kids; you can tie your dog up out the front and we’ll give them water bowls. We’re open and available to everyone.”

Heading in for breakfast? Expect your usual Aussie café staples like the Let’s Get Smashed with smashed avo on sourdough toast with cherry tomatoes, marinated feta, chilli flakes, sea salt flakes, radish and olive oil and the Newcastle favourite; Acai Bowl blended with banana, topped with strawberries, kiwi, granola, shredded coconut, chia seeds, almond flakes and honey; or the traditional Pancakes complete with three stacked house-made pancakes topped with fresh strawberries, banana, vanilla ice cream and vanilla crumb with a choice of Belgian chocolate or Canadian maple topping.

Want to get a little more adventurous? Order the Truffle Benedict. It’s Eggs Benedict, but not as you know it. With baby spinach, two poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and shredded truffle with thick cut Vienna toast and your choice of bacon, ham, chorizo, steak, smoked salmon or haloumi; YUM.

The lunch menu kicks in at 11am and features a huge range including the almighty Chicken & Waffle made with crispy fried buttermilk chicken served with cinnamon waffle, maple bacon, creamy slaw, melted cheese, crispy sweet potato and XS secret spicy sauce; the Cone Bay Barramundi with pumpkin wedges, chickpea stir-fry, kale, tomato, chilli, garlic, corn and crispy sweet potato; as well as burgers, loaded fries and so much more.

Moving into dinner is where the fun really kicks off with a menu full of pizzas, burgers, pastas, a Pita Plate and the almighty New York New York; New York sirloin, local rocket, pecorino, roasted tomato, chilli, garlic and lemon herb butter, served with a side of steak cut chips.

Whilst the menu is full of all sorts of foodie options, it’s the late-night dessert bar offering that has got us all in the HH office salivating. Open until 10pm seven days a week, all you sweet tooths out there can get your cravings satisfied late into the night.

“We also do churros, Nutella crepes, cookies & cream crepes - we’ve even got a Biscoff range at the moment; Biscoff pancakes, Biscoff cookie dough.”

Treat yourself to one of the seven XS signature Shakes, our picks are the XS Surprise, a Nutella and Crunchie shake topped with fairy floss, 100s & 1000s, waffle cone, and Kinder Surprise or the Golden Gaytime; a caramel, vanilla crumble and coffee shake topped with Golden Gaytime doughnuts.

Maybe order a round of Churros, sample the range of XS Crepes or indulge in the mouth-watering Oven-Baked Cookie Dough; warm choc chip cookie dough topped with vanilla ice cream and Belgian chocolate drizzle.  

Need a coffee and something sweet to go? The XS Espresso signature coffee window is buzzing of a morning with takeaway coffee orders. Treat yourself to something a little special one morning and order a Cookies & Cream or Nutella based coffee and choose from one of the pastries baked fresh each morning!

“Our signature is the coffee window. All the takeaways come through that window. We create a real atmosphere out the front of the space. Of a morning, 10-15 people will be gathering here waiting for their coffee, and sometimes we sell out of our pastries by mid-afternoon!”

With big plans to open XS Espresso no.2 in Newcastle by the end of the year, get in now to the Jesmond space to trial what could just be Newcastle’s next biggest foodie craze.

“We’re excited to be here in Newcastle, and we know that once people come in and try our menu they’ll be back.”