Barefooting at the Barista

Another hot coffee hot spot has popped up in Palm Beach.
BAREFOOT BARISTA
Just follow the people to the door or those hanging out the front with their dogs, waiting for a take away or to just breathe in the coffee aroma permeating the cafe. It's popular so there might be a small wait on weekends for this little trend setter.
Rustic chairs, wooden benches and tables out the front provide a relaxing atmosphere for people watching, or you can head out to the courtyard out the back and gather around with your mates. It's all self serve so grab your own menu and order at the till.
They make great homemade fresh juices brought out in a jar. They have a variety of 10 dollar sourdough combinations with a twist- mushrooms, boston beans or avocado and salsa... and you can add an egg to that. There are also breakfast rolls or wraps available with bacon and chorizo or omelettes. Or you can choose from their behind the glass counter options of toasted sandwiches, savoury and sweet muffins or sweet slices. Some great frittatas and salads too! You'll just want to come back so that you can try something else the next time. Not a good spot if you hate making decisions- too much variety.

Probably not a great spot if windy and rainy as there isn't much shelter but if you have a healthy obsession with coffee then make this trip!

Sourdough with sicilian anchovies, tomato, lemon, oil and parsley- perfect Spanish combination.

Chorizo, egg, salsa verde and tomato wrap

Homemade muesli with yoghurt and apple

"He was a wise man who invented coffee" Plato

                                                             Attention all foodies!

My hot chocolate

The art of coffee

Local little hot spot, tucked away from the tourist areas behind Twin Towns, for your coffee/hot chocolate fix and breakfast/ lunch options. Announcing Bambi Deluxe: brought to you by my friend "Bolster."

She suggested a breakfast at this cosy, relaxed back street cafe to catch up while we were both on our holidays. I don't drink coffee but she highly recommends it, and everyone else seems to as well. Instead I had an enormous glass size cup of hot chocolate. It was extremely good. Do they do take aways? You bet! A constant stream of locals kept heading in to get their craving fix     before work, and I might just have to join them in the future.

Everything is home made, as we watched them making our scrumptious breakfast. We had this sourdough bread layered with avocado and tomato salsa, with a side of scrambled eggs and salad to be healthy, while sitting on recycled timber benches just inside. It was hard to decide on this dish as there were a number of omelettes and scrambled egg variations with bacon and cheese and all sorts of delicious sounding produce that were proving to sway me over. The home-baked goodies on the bench? Let's just say I was lucky to walk out of there empty handed, and maybe because I was so full from breakfast. 

The staff are friendly and seem to know the regulars by name and seem to enjoy having a genuine conversation, questions and all.




So make the stop if you're a coffee snob.
But Shhhhh it's a secret.


Your GC food authority............................................

"if food be the music of love, eat on"

ca·fé also ca·fe  

n.

A coffeehouse, restaurant, or bar.

n

If you're looking for an unpretentious spot for a casual lunch then you can't beat Little St Kilda in Palm Beach. It's right near the beach so its a relaxed atmosphere filled with beach goers after a swim or a surf, or locals just lazing on a chair reading the newspaper in the sun. You can sit outside and people watch on the bench like seats, under striped colourful umbrellas, or sit inside at the bar. It's a tiny, retro quaint little cafe filled with 80's memorabilias and posters, even using jam jars for cocktails and water. It's very reminiscent of something you'd find at Bondi Beach or Coogee, or even ironically, St Kilda.
The food is finger-lickin good, satisfying all those naughty cravings. There's your wraps and salads, burgers and souvlaki, all day breakfast options and apparently they make a good coffee. Thus it scores on the popularity card with the locals.


Today, after my 10km Gold Coast marathon run, I felt like carbs. So I wasn't going to go past the BLT on Turkish bread with fries option. Crisp bacon with lashings of aioli on a bed of rocket accompanied with crunchy shoe string fries for no extra cost? And just $ 12? Yes please. 

BLT and Chicken Burger

Thumbs up for this new eclectic establishment. Cannot wait to eat at their other new restaurant- The office! The Gold Coast has always needed some trendy cafes to counter the fast food franchise industry with wholesome tasty food, and this little cafe fills its little niche quite snuggly. 


Watch this space for more food taste tests as I will definitely be eating here again! Till next time.....

                                                                                                            GC food authority signing out

Black Coffee Lyrics

Another GC foodie review coming at you....


There's this little spot I like in Surfers, tucked away down a little arcade, a flight of steps and hugging a corner you have Black Coffee Lyrics. It has an old red door and little windows with Victorian chaises inside and out, vintage decor and ecclectic paintings and posters and customers alike. Very quaint with card games while you are waiting and a licensed bar, with nooks and cranny's you can sit amongst. It's small and cosy and a local hot spot. I love the ambience! Apparently they do a pretty mean breakfast, though I've never had it and they have some great Vegetarian/Vegan  options. My husband swears by their coffee.


The last time we went we had this "pork belly" special pizza and shared some nachos. Savoured every mouthful and it was ridiculously great for a spot of lunch, washed down with some wine. Fairly decently priced in this economic crisis too! We went this weekend and the menu had changed (seasonal) and this time I was a little disappointed with the options on offer. There were some nice looking salads with duck, goat's cheese, figs and other yum yums...but after a night with friends I felt like something a little more wholesome. We had the panini's with rosemary fries- ordered two different ones and shared (best of both worlds). They were nice and had flavour but I couldn't help but feel disappointed that we had driven all that way to have something I could have made at home. I wanted something that excited me a little, something I didn't have all the time. Doh- just when I thought I had found a little niche cafe.....I hope they bring it back to what it was!


I still recommend you give it a go- even just to sit with the girls on a "Sex in the City" expedition or to read the paper and  have a winter warmer. I just hope that when the menu changes they 'spruce' it up a little and bring back some of those great weekend lunch ideas that they had. I'll be sure to re-post my experience the next time I go.
Leave feedback about what you think if you've been!