Hana Rosa

Due to the stressful, time poor period known as University exams and numerous repeat visits to 'Comfort at my Table' it has been a while since my last blog! After a highly enjoyable Christmas and boxing day I decided enough days had passed to make a visit into the city bearable. Being the ghost town period for independent cafes there was little option for lunch that didn't involve a food court. Therefore we decided to stop off in Paddington on the way home for a bite to eat.

Hana Rosa is located on Latrobe Tce  where Sol Breads used to be, just down from Lure on Latrobe. The cafe has a nice breakfast and lunch menu but unfortunately it still being the Christmas period the kitchen was closed and the only lunch options were those in the deli cabinet. Luckily there was a turkey, cranberry and cheese baguette and a ham, tomato, Swiss cheese and basil bread roll remaining that we purchased and had toasted. We also ordered skinny cappuccinos and were supplied with a bottle of cold tap water to share.

Water

Cappuccino

The cappuccino was Di Bella and well made and appeared at the same time as the sandwiches. Mum and I decided we would go halves on the sandwiches so we could sample both. The ham, cheese, tomato and basil bread roll was tasty and the toasted bread roll was really delicious. The turkey, cranberry and cheese was good but a little dry mainly due to minimal amounts of cranberry. Nonetheless lunch was quick and tasty, especially with the toasted Sol bread.

Ham, cheese, tomato Roll

Turkey, cranberry, cheese Baguette

All in all Hana Rosa is a nice cafe and I look forward to returning one day when the kitchen is open!

Denim Co.

A friend from Canberra was visiting Brisbane last week so we decided to catch up over a mid-week lunch at Southbank. Last time I had lunch at Southbank it was at Poppy's which was underwhelming. Walking along Little Stanley St. I noticed Denim Co. so we decided to give this cafe a try.

Deli Cabinet

Denim Co. is half clothing shop and half cafe that serves coffee, breakfast and lunch. After looking over the menu the Aioli Chicken Turkish bread immediately caught my eye. My friend also liked the look of the Turkish breads and opted for Roasted Vegetable, Pesto & Herbed Goats Cheese on Turkish. A round of skinny cappuccino and skinny latte was also on the agenda. Orders are placed at the counter then table service applies .All of Denim Co.'s daily food was pre-made and on display in the cabinet. All the sandwiches, quiches, muffins, bircher muesli, wraps and croissants looked super fresh and appetizing.

Menu

Latte

The coffee came out quickly and was LavAzza blend. It was a nice strong brew, no complaints from me. A few minutes later the Turkish breads arrived which we had asked to be toasted. They were a generous size and were delicious. The bread was toasted to perfection and the aioli chicken was amazing. The aioli had a strong garlic flavour but I really liked it especially in contrast to the vine ripened tomato, melted swiss cheese and crispness of the Turkish bread. The Roast Vegetable Turkish met with similar praise and even though the sandwiches had been quite big we both finished them off.

Aioli Chicken

Roast Vegie

Denim Co. is a nice little cafe serving simple breakfast and deli style lunches. I really enjoyed the food and coffee offered here and wouldn't hesitate to order the Aoili Chicken Turkish again.

Lure on Latrobe

 Lure on Latrobe is my favourite place to go when I am in the mood for muesli. They serve what I consider to be one of Brisbane's best breakfast muesli's, 'The Breaky Trifle'. But instead of breakfast I ended up heading to Lure for lunch and was quite excited to see what the menu had to offer. On arrival we were greeted by a friendly waiter who is a fixture of the Lure floor staff (he knows my breakfast order off by heart) and we were seated in the undercover area. Lure's dining area is a converted Queensland style veranda with wooden tables and patio chairs which gives it a real homely feel.

Lunch Menu

As we were given our lunch menus, we placed our drinks order of a skinny cappuccino and a latte then began the tough process of deciding what to have to eat! Lure offers both a set lunch menu and a blackboard menu of specials. The specials on this particular day included a goats cheese and caramelized onion quiche, chicken chowder soup, root vegetable salad, Mediterranean vegetable salad, chicken and cos salad and a salmon and Greek salad. I found myself being drawn more towards the set menu, particularly towards the BLAT, chicken burger and veggie burger. I have been trying to branch out a little lately and as I nearly always order chicken I decided upon the veggie burger. My dining companion also found himself in a similar situation, liking the look of the quiche, beef lasagna and chicken burger. In the end he went with the chicken burger and a bowl of hand cut chips with aoli.



Latte



Skinny Cap

 The coffee came out quickly and was delicious. Lure use my favourite blend, Genovese coffee and I could easily have three or four I think they are that tasty but I controlled myself and stuck to the one. Our lunch arrived promptly, probably within 10 minutes or so of ordering. The veggie burger can take on many forms and combinations varying from cafe to cafe. Lure's came as a home-made veggie patty with tomato, beetroot, carrot, roasted capsicum, grilled eggplant, cucumber, sweet chill, pesto & yogurt on a Turkish bread 'bun'. It was completely delicious, more so than I anticipated. It had a great combination of salty and sweet and the veggies were fresh and well cooked! The chicken burger met with so-so approval, it was good but not great was the feedback. The bowl of hand-cut chips on the other hand didn't last long and  before I knew it my guest had demolished them. I believe his exact words were 'sorry if you wanted chips but they were just so tasty'!



Chicken Burger & Chips with aoli



Veggie Burger

I really enjoyed lunch at Lure and would definitely come back. My only criticism would be that the lunch menu wasn't huge and a couple more options on the set menu would be nice. Lure also had a deli cabinet displaying cheesecake, choc-hazelnut delice, banana & raspberry bread, muffins and chocolate brownies which all looked delicious. If you love coffee, muesli and veggie burgers then Lure is definitely the cafe for you! Actually, even if you just love coffee and quality food Lure is still for you!



Forages Deli Cafe

I received a Sunday lunch invitation from my parents which usually means dining at their favourite cafe, Gossips at Toowong. I was slightly shocked when my mum asked me to recommend somewhere for us to go. Taking into consideration my Dad's conservative pallet and my desire to not have to wait for a table I began to think of cafes slightly off the beaten Sunday breakfast/brunch/lunch track which meant the exclusion of my beloved Paddington and Rosalie. Suddenly, I thought of Forages Deli Cafe, which I pass nearly 20 times a week on my way to and from university and work, so off we went ready for a good meal.



Skinny Cappuccino



Zucchini & Dill fritters



Forages Deli Cafe is located in the Gailey Fiveways complex along with King Of Cakes Bakery, Tippler's Seafood, Clancy James Butcher and Naturally Fruity fruit store which are all great businesses. You order and pay at the counter then table service applies. At about 12pm on Sunday Forages was probably 3/4 full with a short line of people ordering food and drinks. After perusing the menu mum decided upon the 'ham special' which was ham, cheese, tomato, pesto and avocado on your choice of panini, foccacia or Turkish bread. Mum went with the Turkish bread and opted for it to be toasted. My dad liked the look of the ham special but also had his eye on the open grill of turkey, bacon, cheese, avocado and mayo. Mum told him to go with the open grill so they had something different to each other and could 'compare notes' haha! I had trouble deciding on what I was going to order. I am an absolute sucker for all day breakfast which Forages offers, but I also liked the look of the variety of foccacias, paninis, Turkish breads and homemade burgers that were available. In the end I continued on my recent branching out streak and went with the zucchini and dill fritters with smoked salmon, sour cream and caper relish but I did substitute the smoked salmon for ham. A round of the standard skinny cappuccinos was the beverage of choice.



Turkey Open Grill



Ham Special



The coffees came out fairly quickly but there were only two placed on the table rather then the three that were ordered. After a couple of minutes the waitress came back and apologized about the missing coffee informing us it got knocked over on the way out and was being re-made. I am not sure what type of coffee Forages uses but it was pretty good and well made. The remaining coffee appeared with the food which came out very quickly, impressively fast actually. The servings were generous and the produce used was fresh. The ham on both mum's Turkish bread and accompanying my fritters was from the bone and delicious. I thoroughly enjoyed the zucchini and dill fritters as they were slightly crisp on the outside but soft on the inside. The caper relish had a strong tangy flavour which gave the fritters a nice zing but I only needed a tiny amount otherwise found it a bit overpowering. Overall I loved my meal and would definitely order the fritters again. The turkey and bacon open grill was an impressive looking lunch and my Dad raved about how delicious it was. The ham special Turkish bread met similar praise from mum.

Forages Deli Cafe is a great place to have breakfast, lunch or a sweet treat in between. They also have a deli cabinet with an abundance of cakes, muffins and slices as well as quiches, filos, salads available to take home. If you ever find yourself in the Indooroopilly/Taringa/Toowong area I highly recommend stopping in at Forages!

Adelaide Eatery Adventures

I visited Adelaide for the first time over the weekend and took the opportunity to try a couple of local cafes. I was really impressed with the food scene in Glenelg, particularly the coffee and cafes. There were too many cafes and not enough meals in a long weekend to try them all. Here is a snapshot of my cafe adventures in the city of churches.

Zest Cafe Gallery

Skinny Cappuccino

Located just off Jetty Rd in Glenelg, Zest Cafe Gallery is a cute cafe offering a range of all day breakfast and lunch selections. Arriving around 9:30am I was in the market for breakfast, in particular I was in the mood for my usual order of a skinny cappuccino and muesli. On offer in the muesli department was Zest's own house blend with milk ($6.90), with Greek yogurt ($8.90) or with Greek yogurt and berry compote or yogurt and fresh fruit ($9.40). I decided upon the muesli with Greek yogurt and fresh fruit.

Muesli with fresh fruit

My skinny cappuccino arrived quickly and was accompanied by a complimentary spiral pastry biscuit which was a nice touch. I'm not sure what coffee blend Zest used but it was a great cup of coffee. A moment later my muesli arrived. It was an impressive looking platter served as a mixture of oats, dried apricot, figs and nuts topped with the fresh fruit which consisted of segments of mandarin, halved grapes and slices of apple. This bowl was accompanied by a side of Greek yogurt and milk to add to your own liking. I don't usually enjoy milk with my muesli but had to add a small amount to the muesli as there was not quite enough yogurt.

I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast at Zest Cafe Gallery and would love to return to try other some of there other breakfast and lunch options.



Grind It



Grind It is a cafe also located just off Jetty Rd in Glenelg. During my time in Adelaide I visited this cafe twice, once for lunch and once for breakfast. On my first visit I ordered a skinny cappuccino and a wrap from the lunch menu. The skinny cappuccino ($3.30) was great and made from Adelaide's own AAA Diamond Coffee. Grind It offers 10 sand which options ($9) available on baguette, rotti or Italian bread in addition to its main lunch items of gourmet burgers '(lamb, veggie), salads (grilled haloumi, nutty Asian slaw, fatoush) and house made soup. I decided upon the hummus, avocado, fresh tomato, cucumber and lettuce on rotti and added chicken for an extra $2.00. The house made rotti wrap was delicious and the chicken had been marinated in a light honey & mustard seed dressing. All the ingredients were very fresh and I would have to rate this as the best lunch wrap I have had. I would order this again in a heartbeat.

 

Chicken & Hummus Rotti

My second visit to Grind It was two days later and this time I was joined by a friend. We arrived about 12.30pm on a Sunday and the cafe was busy as it was prime time for the weekend brunch/lunch crowd. We were able to steal two of the few remaining seats at the long, high bench in the centre of the cafe and were asked if we would like a coffee straight away. I went with my skinny cappuccino which I had enjoyed a few days earlier and my friend went with a mocha. As we were seated near the kitchen we were able to see the stream of delicious looking breakfast orders coming out to other diners which convinced us both to order from the breakfast menu. My guest decided to have the 'Veggie Breaky' ($15) which featured 2 eggs (any way), roasted tomato, sauteed mushrooms, zucchini fritter and Turkish toast. I on the other hand changed my mind about 3 times but eventually ordered the 'Sam I Am' ($16) which was pesto and fetta scrambled eggs on rye with grilled ham (avocado added), a cute play on the Dr Seuss' green eggs and ham.

Skinny Cappuccino

Both breakfasts were very tasty. A highlight of the Veggie Breaky was the zucchini fritter as it was crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and packed full of flavour. The pesto and fetta scrambled eggs were definitely something I would not usually ordered but I really enjoyed the flavour combination of the pesto with the eggs. However, the grilled ham was a slight let down as it seemed like it was just sliced ham from a packet rather then fresh produce like everything else the cafe offered. I really enjoyed my rye toast, especially when spread with the cafe's house made strawberry jam.



Sam I am with avocado



Veggie Breaky

Grind It is the sort of trendy cafe that you might find in Paddington or James St. They serve really great coffee and food and I would highly recommend visiting it if you ever find yourself in Glenelg!

Gossips Wine & Espresso Bar

Gossips Wine & Espresso Bar located in the Toowong Village shopping complex is without a doubt my parent’s favourite cafe. They are serial weekend lunchers at this establishment and every now and again I join them for a meal. The cafe is located in the upper gallery, overlooking the lower levels of the centre. Gossips offer breakfast (all day on weekends), lunch and dinner on Thursdays (late night shopping). The lunch menu is quite extensive offering toasted sandwiches, gourmet Turkish/focaccia/Panini’s, burgers, pizza, salads and soups while the breakfast menu offers all the stock standard options from bacon and eggs to pancakes (no muesli unfortunately).



Skinny Cap

Arriving at the cafe around 12.30pm it was well and truly into full lunch service mode. We seated ourselves and within five or so minutes a waitress was over to take our order. My parent's being regulars at the cafe have their set order so we placed our food and coffee order at the same time. A round of three skinny cappuccino’s and two 'Deli' gourmet toasted Turkish breads consisting of leg ham, sun-dried tomato, olives, avocado and cheese for them and for me the 'New Yorker' toasted focaccia consisting of turkey, avocado, cranberry, lettuce and cheese. On other Gossip lunch occasions I have ordered the Gourmet Lamb Burger, fruit toast with strawberry jam and scrambled eggs with avocado, haloumi and bacon. All of these meals were thoroughly enjoyed, particularly the lamb burger and fruit toast! But I was in a sandwich mood this day.




Turkey Focaccia

The coffee took about 10 minutes to arrive after ordering which I thought was a respectable wait considering how busy the cafe was. Gossips use Piazza Doro Espresso which was smooth, strong and not to hot, just the way I like my coffee to be. In the time it took me to just about finish my coffee our food had arrived. All three sandwiches were perfectly toasted, having a golden texture and crunch to the bread. The Deli toasted Turkish breads were highly enjoyed as usual, I guess this is why they continue to keep ordering them! My New Yorker on focaccia was far tastier then I had anticipated. I love the classic combination of turkey, avocado, cheese and cranberry but the addition of the toasted herbed focaccia bread really impressed.



Deli Turkish

Gossips Wine & Espresso Bar is a great cafe to enjoy a coffee and meal at if you are in the Toowong vicinity. They have a wide range of selections bound to satisfy everyone’s cravings. On looking over the drinks menu I noticed a new addition of gourmet milkshakes including flavours such as hazelnut, white chocolate and rose & lychee which all sound super tempting. For the sweet tooths there are also numerous, cakes, scones and my personal favourite, Byron Bay Cookies for sale at the counter.  Apart from the good food and coffee, a real highlight of Gossips is the service. The wait staff are very friendly, attentive, fast and one of the reasons why my parents go back week after week.

C'est La Vie



Cappuccino

Everyone has those days where they find themselves running errand after errand. Well for me, Wednesday was one of those days and it just so happened lunch time rolled around during my trip to Indooroopilly Shopping Centre. For those of you who prefer eating at a cafe rather then the food court there are several options inside Indooroopilly including The Coffee Club, Cafe One, The Shingle Inn, XS and C'est La Vie. More often then not I end up at either XS or C'est La Vie because they serve decent food and coffee for a decent price and with great speed but on this particular day I decided I was going to eat at The Shingle Inn. As I was about to place my order at the Shingle Inn, the lady serving the group in front of me warned them there was a 20 minute wait on food. I could not understand this as the cafe was less then half full and the shopping centre was not that busy. I quickly abandoned my position in the Shingle Inn line and headed up a couple of levels to C'est La Vie.



Chicken Panini & Salad

After a quick perusal of the menu our order of skinny cappuccinos, ham and cheese toasted sandwiches and an open grilled chicken panini with salad was placed ($45 for 3 coffees with sandwiches). As always the service was quick with coffee on the tables within 5 minutes and lunch another few minutes after that. The coffee was Bel aroma espresso and was okay but not quite hot enough. The ham and cheese toasted sandwiches looked a little sad but no complaints were heard on there taste. I was impressed with the grilled chicken panini as it was well toasted and the chicken had some tasty, mildly spicy seasoning. Also, rather then the side salad being a sad piece of lettuce with a token tomato it was a healthy serving of Caesar salad which was pleasantly surprising!

Toasted Ham & Cheese

C'est La Vie also offers daily specials as well as there regular menu. One of the lunch specials was a Cajun chicken panini with bacon, cheese, salad and a beetroot relish which sounded delicious but was heavier lunch then I felt like ordering. Another plus is they offer all day breakfast 7 days a week which gets them extra brownie points in my book! If you find yourself after a good cafe style meal when shopping at Indooroopilly I would recommend giving C'est La Vie a try!

Java Lounge

As end of semester exams quickly approach I found myself in need of stationary. In my opinion shopping for study supplies counts as studying, so I headed to Officeworks to begin a long next four weeks! Being the first official day of winter, it was fresh outside and I quickly found myself in need of a hot coffee. Conveniently enough it was also lunch time so I decided to stop in at Java Lounge in Paddington on my way home for a bite to eat with my Dad. Java Lounge is a staple of the Paddington cafe scene and offers a consistent all day breakfast and brunch/lunch menu 7 days a week. In the few years I have been eating at Java Lounge the menu has remained the same, offering simple but tasty cafe style meals.

cappuccino

Approaching Java Lounge just after 11am the cafe was the quietest I had ever seen it with only three or so other groups of customers. It was quite the contrast as I am used to seeing the cafe bursting at the seams! However, I definitely wasn't complaining as we were easily able to obtain a table inside away from the cold! Another benefit of having an early lunch meant we were quickly seated and coffee orders taken within the first 1-2 minutes! A quick look over the menu and we both had settled on  lunch options, mine being the Chicken Turkish with avocado and a mango chutney and Dad's being the toasted Leg Ham sandwich with cheese and tomato.

Chicken Turkish

Our skinny cappuccinos arrived at the table and it appeared the coffee was no longer the local Frisky Goat blend but rather Piazza Doro. Nevertheless it was extremely well made with a generous dusting of chocolate powder but perhaps not quite enough froth for a cappuccino. In the time it took me to finish my coffee, lunch was on the table. The Chicken Turkish was lightly toasted and accompanied by a side salad. The combination of the chicken, avocado and mango chutney was simple but delicious and the side salad featured a nice light tangy dressing which brightened up an otherwise average salad. The ham, tomato and cheese sandwich was well toasted and of generous size. A great delivery of a classic lunchtime sandwich.

Leg Ham Sandwich

After finishing lunch and heading to the register to pay I found myself standing in front of the deli/sweets cabinet.Straight away I noticed the banana bread staring back at me and it appeared to be the same that I fell in love with at the Java Lounge owner's other venture, Cockadoodle Cafe in Red Hill. As tempted as I was to get a slice to take home, I resisted and decided it would be a good reward once actually completing some study! Java Lounge is a great cafe with plenty of options for an all day breakfast or lunch and I will definitely keep coming back!