Horse To Water

The Verdict

Is it just us, or does it feel like Bridge Rd is beginning to turn? Cafe maestro Eamon Sheahan obviously agrees, because when a lease opened up opposite the Epworth Hospital, he grabbed it with both hands.

The result? Horse To Water, a spanking new espresso and sandwich bar, slinging coffees till early evening. The opening hours are a deliberate strategy. Until now there’s been very few places for hospital staff and visitors to get a decent brew, particularly after 4pm when Fifty Acres shuts up shop. At the moment, Horse To Water shuts at 5pm, but they're going to stretch that to 7pm in the coming weeks. 

“There’s just nowhere for people to go up here,” Eamon says. “But the Bride Rd retail scene is starting to pick up. We’ve got 2500 people in the hospital, plus new developments down the road.”

Honestly though, Horse To Water would work no matter where it was. The execution is that good. Eamon and the team are slinging bottomless filter coffee for $5, plus a single origin from Peru and a milk blend from Forza. Veneziano are the guys behind the beans, and the pastries and nibbles come straight from the ovens at Dench.

Dench sourdough also forms the backbone of the toastie menu (“It holds its shape better as a toastie bread,” says Eamon). Horse To Water are offering a compact little menu, mostly built around the classics. An HCT wit hot seeded mustard, a pastrami-loaded Reuben (on rye), and even an old-school BLT. If our PT is reading this, we definitely did NOT scoff the mac n’ cheese toastie with pickles and kewpie mayo. No sir. Nope...not us.

“I’ve noticed people are more loyal to their coffee than their food,” says Eamon. “We want to build that loyalty over time.”

Dunno about you guys, but we’re definitely coming back for more.

Image credit: Jenna Fahey-White