I’m a bit of a hermit when it comes to my home town. Not hermit as in a person who never leaves their house but I don’t actually venture too much away from the area we live or where our friends live.
It had been years since I’d ventured over to the south side of Brisbane but a little birdie told be about a new cafe and you know me, I always follow my stomach. My friend Kristin was in town visiting from Sydney so we made the drive (it’s about 20 minutes from my house) over together.
Driving through the leafy suburb we thought we might have been steered in the wrong direction by Siri but sure enough, like an oasis, a little row of shops appeared, with Leaf espresso bar on the corner.
Now I’ve told you about Kristin before and we are friends for many many reasons but just one of them is her belief in breakfast dessert. You can imagine we were both in sensory overload walking past the display of baked goodies as we made our way to our booth table in the back of the cafe.
Fresh flowers adorn each table, no two being the same and should you feel like a little fresh air, there are spots out the front and on a deck overlooking the tree-tops out back.
I’ll be honest with you. I can be a bit lazy which generally means I’m not too keen on ordering at the counter but in this case it’s a good move on their part. You line up down the cabinet displaying all their wares and I’m sure most people find themselves ordering a pastry or two that they hadn’t planned on ordering.
I struck up a conversation with a local while commenting on how busy it was. Apparently it had been like that since they opened. Clearly it was just what the area needed.
As we were having breakfast dessert I went for a lighter option for my ‘main.’ While the avo was blemish free and nice and soft I think this could have been a little more exciting. When I read avocado and fresh ricotta on toasted Turkish I was expecting it to be more of an avo salsa type thing stacked up and ready to eat. Ok so maybe it’s my laziness coming in but out to breakfast I’d prefer not to make it myself. Add condiments yes, make it, no.
Kristin’s meal was quite the opposite with two perfectly poached eggs perched atop a generous serving of smoked salmon, crispy baby spinach leaves and a lightly toasted English muffin.
Look at that ooze. Isn’t it beautiful? I wish I could get fabric in such a vibrant egg-yolk colour.
Now onto the most important item – dessert! Unfortunately our blueberry and banana bread came out quite a while before our meals so it was more like entree (although I made Kristin save a bit for dessert) but it was wonderfully soft and fluffy inside with a nice crunchy crust. A few days later I bought a punnet of blueberries on sale and just remembered I have them hidden away in the freezer ready to recreate this luscious loaf.
Overall Leaf has a great atmosphere and tasty fresh food. They could get a bit speedier on the service although I’m not entirely sure how long we waited for our meals because we were chatting so much but I think we got through a few big topics before we were fed. They are open for breakfast and lunch 7 days a week and located at 8 Denham Terrace, Tarragindi.
Claire K and Kristin dined as guests of Leaf espresso bar.
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