Cardamom Pod Brickworks
When Cardamom Pod Broadbeach began serving à la carte breakfasts, the Gold Coast’s vegan/vegetarian dining scene took a massive turn skywards. With beautifully presented, nutritious meals made to order, Cardamom Pod converted a throng of fans, their fruit and flower laden ‘Pod’ breakfast bowl being named one of the best dishes on the Coast. In […]
Goji Granola Bar & Café
Dreams sometimes come true. At least that’s the case for husband and wife team Monica Tjong and Gabriele Pirotta. The pair had always dreamed that one day they might own a little café in the ‘burbs. Gabriele, a chef in Italy before he emigrated to Australia about seven years ago, waited for his residency before […]
Terrarium
Tucked into one corner of the Maudsland Central Shopping Centre, it’s easy to see why this brunch spot is named ‘terrarium’. Glass windows compose two walls of the triangular-shaped café, looking out to Maudsland Road. Inside, the grey and white hues of the décor are livened up by green plants, hanging from the ceiling, in […]
Le Vintage Boutique Cafe
Cute as a button, Le Vintage Boutique Cafe transforms a rather ordinary corner store into a chic little boutique hybrid business. Whether you want to pick up staple food items such as bread and milk, coffee or the morning’s paper, or stop for a meal with friends, if you live on the western side of […]
Mudjira Village Eatery
It’s the case of ‘the girl least likely’ marrying royalty; a fairly pedestrian café in an outer suburban shopping centre scoring seasoned hotel and restaurant owners Graham and Kate Bennett (ex Helm Bar) as its new owners. Mudgeeraba should be so lucky! But we didn’t know about the hometown queen when, after hearing really good […]
Gelato Messina
Gelato. I’m sitting looking into the tubs. This is one of those foods, I’m thinking, where the visual representation has very little to do with the taste. In front of me is an ordinary looking mass of light brown gelato; a bit non-descript, really. Unenticing. Except that I’ve just tasted it. Which changes everything. Gelato […]
House of Gabriel
Tucked in between the Gold Coast and Byron Bay, the Tweed Coast is a foodie destination all its own. The Tweed Fusion Festival, held annually in October, invites us away from our all-too-comfortable armchairs to explore and experience the environs just beyond our back door. Tweed Fusion is a two-day celebration of arts, music, food […]
Little Bandits Coffee
It may be tiny, but Little Bandits has been warmly welcomed by locals who’re passing around Upton Street on their way to work, visiting or working in the area. Open from 6.30am every week day, the main selling point of the café is their award-winning Belaroma coffee – a balanced yet complex coffee achieved through […]
Kettles On, Kingscliff
Kingscliff always reminds me of holidays: days when you can amble past a few shops, grab a chair in the sun or an armchair just inside the door of a café, catch up with friends for an all-too-rare chat as you wistfully imagine that you lived in this sleepy town! Although less than two years […]
The Salt Mill
Walk up from the beach at Currumbin, and you can talk surf with Johnny Gillett, who owns The Salt Mill with his wife Sarah. Perfect as their first café, it’s a little ‘cute as a button’ nook put together using the couple’s combined skills. Rough-hewn bench seats, fruit cartons and a wine barrel tell us […]