Frank Deluise, owner of Harry's Cafe, has heard the high-pressure wheeze of an espresso machine more often than he's heard his own name. He more or less grew up in Cafe Romantica, the East Brunswick cafe his father owned for 30 years. Then, a year ago, Luciano Deluise sold Romantica and the espresso symphony receded for a time.

"We took a year off, went overseas," says the son, who bought this well-established cafe, his first business, two months ago. Deluise has lived near Harry's for six years, but it's only now, since he's owned the place, that he's realised what a fixture it is. "People have started saying 'hello' to me in the supermarket," he says. Wisely, he hasn't changed much about Harry's: most of the menu and many of the staff go way back.

The cafe backs onto the shopping-centre car park, where there's a heated rear deck and a bit of fidgety-kid wiggle room. Inside, Harry's is bisected by display fridges piled with alluring lunch items and sweets. There's more seating out front.

Breakfast means eggs-and-extras, such as a big breakfast with terrific scrambled eggs, and fluffy French toast made with fat wallops of baguette fried to deep golden and served with deliciously tart berry compote.

Also good are the eggs parma: poached eggs on sourdough with shaved parmesan cheese, basil, tomato and a drizzle of olive oil. I can imagine this dish coming into its own in summer when the tomatoes are worth the trouble. I'd also have been happier - and so would the chickens - if the eggs had been free range.

One of my Templestowe spies told me the coffee was the world's best. I'll retreat from that limb, but it's certainly a good brew. Fresh juices are also on hand.

The lunch offerings, all made on the premises, are even more impressive than the breakfasts. I really liked the big, firm sausage roll made with beef and pork mince and nice flaky pastry; the generous wedge of spanakopita with short pastry; and the risotto ball with pumpkin (sometimes it's available with bolognaise or sweet potato).

Most of the sugary stuff is bought in, with the exception of the rice pudding and baklava, made by Greek members of staff, and the muffins.

So much for the food. What really helps Harry's stand out is the service. You know those alarming factoids about how long we all spend waiting at red lights? Well, I'm much more worried about how long we spend waiting for our coffees. My back-of-an-envelope calculations suggest it's as long as 14 days in the average urbanite's life. Egads. Happily, you shouldn't add much to your tally at Harry's: the cheery waiters seem to understand that caffe latte can be an emergency.

The other nice thing about ordering a coffee here is that sometimes Luciano Deluise will have made it for you. If you can trust anyone to send out good, timely coffees, it will be a man who has been making them for more than 30 years.