http://www.thelittlelarder.com.au/
I love living in the Brisbane CBD and one of my favourite pastimes is to wander around the city and surrounds to see what's going on. Being in such a central spot, it's easy for SC and I to pick a direction and just go, but invariably in the 'River City' we tend to stick to the suburbs along the river. Moray Street New Farm has been a favourite of ours to walk down for as long as I can remember, it's such an awesome street with lots of lovely buildings and houses.
In all the years that we have been wandering down Moray Street, we have often marvelled and wondered about a little cafe that was always so packed out. In a quiet part of New Farm which is almost exclusively houses and apartments is The Little Larder, which over the years has become a local favourite and Brisbane institution. We thought we would marvel no more and finally get in and check out why it's usually so busy.
On a normal day we would have put on the walking shoes and taken the more personal approach to getting to The Little Larder, it's only a 25 minute walk. However, with this unusually cold period that Brisbane has been forced to endure, we decided a nice quick (and heated) drive would be the prudent option. Cruising down Moray Street, we almost overshot the cafe, which is fairly non-descript and much easier to spot when casually walking by on the other side of the street! Because we overshot the cafe, SC let me out to secure a table while she ably scouted for a park.
As is happening alot lately, we were the first to arrive and scored the best table in the place, which in this instance was the furthest away from the open door. We had rugged up for the cold, but it was still really early and it was cold, even inside the cafe. As I took my seat, I scoped out the inside of The Little Larder, which had a funky and very relaxed feel about it. There is a good feeling of space in the cafe, with large tables that are well spaced out, with many backing onto comfy padded benches. I loved the eclectic feel of the place and the pieces of art spaced around the wall that looked to be for sale.
As the smiling waiter brought over the menus, and asked us if we wanted coffee, I received a puzzled look when I instead queried about the smoothy menu. Working through the puzzled look, SC ordered her customary half strength latte and I went for the Mango smoothy. After a few short minutes our drinks were brought over and our orders taken, with SC opting for one of the daily specials. Having my first sip of the very thick smoothy, I noticed that there was a strong flavour of Honey with the smoothy that almost drowned out the taste of the Mango. I actually quite liked the strong honey flavour, but when SC had a sip, she thought it was a bit overpowering.
I really liked the menu at The Little Larder, which ran mostly to more traditional options, but had a few quirky dishes that I hadn't seen on a breakfast menu before, such as the quesadilla bowl. SC was seriously considering the french toasted brioche until the waiter started to reel of the specials. I could tell that she had stopped listening after the bubble & squeak was mentioned and after a quick check in as to what came with it, she was sold. The bubble & squeak was different from some of the fry ups I had seen before and looked really healthy, with lots of vegetables like tomato, corn, peas, pumpkin and beetroot. It also came with a near perfect poached egg on top of a couple of pieces of grilled haloumi. SC really liked the bubble and squeak, which had lots of interesting flavours working well together and loved the poached egg, but thought the haloumi was one ingredient too many and didn't really eat much of it.
Sticking to my guns of trying to find the best scrambled eggs in Brisbane, I ordered the eggs with mushrooms, tomato and bacon. I have been having alot of great breakfasts of late, so I am getting a catalogue of great breakfast components and after this breakfast am going to add the sauteed mushrooms to my top list. They were scrumptious, cut really thin and cooked perfectly with the right amount of seasoning and I was really happy that it was a large serving. Next most enjoyable on the plate for me was the bacon, which was cooked just how I like it and tasted wonderful. I loved the flavour of the scrambled eggs too, which had great seasoning, but I found them to be a little dry, which detracted a little from their eggy goodness. I made a tactical error when eating my breakfast, I got stuck into everything else first and left the tomato to last, and unfortunately on such a cold morning, they went cold and weren't as nice as they looked.
We need to check in with some of the breakfast places that we are going to, we keep making the assumption that they all have no booking policies, so turn up really early (and miss out on sleeping in). The Little Larder has a booking policy, so we could have booked and waited until a little later in the morning, when it was not so cold, and enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast, without the food going a little cold.
I can see why The Little Larder is such a popular place and in summer I think that there would be no better cafe to sit with the sun streaming in and enjoy a nice relaxing breakfast. The huge glass windows, which were thankfully closed on a cold morning, open up to let the outside in. The staff were nice and friendly, even really early on a cold Sunday morning which made the visit all the more enjoyable. It's definitely a space that invokes comfort and creativity and I could see SC sitting here on a summer's day, sketch pad in hand, doodling away for hours.
There is such a glut of great breakfast places in Brisbane that it's great local cafes like The Little Larder are able to not only keep their loyal customers but stay relevant. There is a tendency for the new and shiny place to capture the imagination of Brisbanites so I love it when a cafe reaches icon status. I think The Little Larder is there.
@FoodMeUpScotty
I love living in the Brisbane CBD and one of my favourite pastimes is to wander around the city and surrounds to see what's going on. Being in such a central spot, it's easy for SC and I to pick a direction and just go, but invariably in the 'River City' we tend to stick to the suburbs along the river. Moray Street New Farm has been a favourite of ours to walk down for as long as I can remember, it's such an awesome street with lots of lovely buildings and houses.In all the years that we have been wandering down Moray Street, we have often marvelled and wondered about a little cafe that was always so packed out. In a quiet part of New Farm which is almost exclusively houses and apartments is The Little Larder, which over the years has become a local favourite and Brisbane institution. We thought we would marvel no more and finally get in and check out why it's usually so busy.
On a normal day we would have put on the walking shoes and taken the more personal approach to getting to The Little Larder, it's only a 25 minute walk. However, with this unusually cold period that Brisbane has been forced to endure, we decided a nice quick (and heated) drive would be the prudent option. Cruising down Moray Street, we almost overshot the cafe, which is fairly non-descript and much easier to spot when casually walking by on the other side of the street! Because we overshot the cafe, SC let me out to secure a table while she ably scouted for a park.
As is happening alot lately, we were the first to arrive and scored the best table in the place, which in this instance was the furthest away from the open door. We had rugged up for the cold, but it was still really early and it was cold, even inside the cafe. As I took my seat, I scoped out the inside of The Little Larder, which had a funky and very relaxed feel about it. There is a good feeling of space in the cafe, with large tables that are well spaced out, with many backing onto comfy padded benches. I loved the eclectic feel of the place and the pieces of art spaced around the wall that looked to be for sale.As the smiling waiter brought over the menus, and asked us if we wanted coffee, I received a puzzled look when I instead queried about the smoothy menu. Working through the puzzled look, SC ordered her customary half strength latte and I went for the Mango smoothy. After a few short minutes our drinks were brought over and our orders taken, with SC opting for one of the daily specials. Having my first sip of the very thick smoothy, I noticed that there was a strong flavour of Honey with the smoothy that almost drowned out the taste of the Mango. I actually quite liked the strong honey flavour, but when SC had a sip, she thought it was a bit overpowering.
I really liked the menu at The Little Larder, which ran mostly to more traditional options, but had a few quirky dishes that I hadn't seen on a breakfast menu before, such as the quesadilla bowl. SC was seriously considering the french toasted brioche until the waiter started to reel of the specials. I could tell that she had stopped listening after the bubble & squeak was mentioned and after a quick check in as to what came with it, she was sold. The bubble & squeak was different from some of the fry ups I had seen before and looked really healthy, with lots of vegetables like tomato, corn, peas, pumpkin and beetroot. It also came with a near perfect poached egg on top of a couple of pieces of grilled haloumi. SC really liked the bubble and squeak, which had lots of interesting flavours working well together and loved the poached egg, but thought the haloumi was one ingredient too many and didn't really eat much of it.
Sticking to my guns of trying to find the best scrambled eggs in Brisbane, I ordered the eggs with mushrooms, tomato and bacon. I have been having alot of great breakfasts of late, so I am getting a catalogue of great breakfast components and after this breakfast am going to add the sauteed mushrooms to my top list. They were scrumptious, cut really thin and cooked perfectly with the right amount of seasoning and I was really happy that it was a large serving. Next most enjoyable on the plate for me was the bacon, which was cooked just how I like it and tasted wonderful. I loved the flavour of the scrambled eggs too, which had great seasoning, but I found them to be a little dry, which detracted a little from their eggy goodness. I made a tactical error when eating my breakfast, I got stuck into everything else first and left the tomato to last, and unfortunately on such a cold morning, they went cold and weren't as nice as they looked.
We need to check in with some of the breakfast places that we are going to, we keep making the assumption that they all have no booking policies, so turn up really early (and miss out on sleeping in). The Little Larder has a booking policy, so we could have booked and waited until a little later in the morning, when it was not so cold, and enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast, without the food going a little cold.
I can see why The Little Larder is such a popular place and in summer I think that there would be no better cafe to sit with the sun streaming in and enjoy a nice relaxing breakfast. The huge glass windows, which were thankfully closed on a cold morning, open up to let the outside in. The staff were nice and friendly, even really early on a cold Sunday morning which made the visit all the more enjoyable. It's definitely a space that invokes comfort and creativity and I could see SC sitting here on a summer's day, sketch pad in hand, doodling away for hours.
There is such a glut of great breakfast places in Brisbane that it's great local cafes like The Little Larder are able to not only keep their loyal customers but stay relevant. There is a tendency for the new and shiny place to capture the imagination of Brisbanites so I love it when a cafe reaches icon status. I think The Little Larder is there.
@FoodMeUpScotty
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| Lots of space and cool art for sale around the walls |
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| Nice comfy seats around the walls make The Little Larder a very welcoming spot |
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| An eclectic look and feel inside |
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| Lots going on in The Little Larder |
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| The coffee machine looks to be a spot for local artists to go to work |
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| Old style coke fridge looks cool |
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| Any place that has a poster of Christopher Walken is OK by me :) |
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| The cyclists were starting to turn up as we left, a sign that things are about to get busy |
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| The view we saw for years walking by but never stopping in |
My niece and I had brekkie here in summer - outside table was wonderful for the sunshine and watching the Newfarm world go by. Food was good too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we have walked by it a 100 times in summer and its a great spot to watch the world (or us at the time) walk by :)
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