Brisbane cafes: Industry Beans review, Newstead

This “glorified coffee shop” serves the sort of food that would generate plenty of interest if it was coming out of the kitchen in a flash inner-city bistro, says Tony Harper.

I didn’t partake of the “immersive coffee experience” … not my sort of thing.

But my mate had what I guess is a cortado – an espresso shot with milk, but short – hardly an immersive experience, but at least a dabble into the coffee culture of Industry Beans.

He’s kind of fussy, and it passed. Which it should, as Industry Beans is a coffee focused venue: it roasts beans, sells beans, brews coffee and – if the propaganda is accurate – sells food almost as an ancillary.

Industry Beans, Newstead. Picture Mark Cranitch.

But even just driving past the place puts lie to that theory.

It’s a gorgeous, light-filled space, as white as a snowstorm, with enough tables and chairs, knives and forks, wait staff and kitchen staff to place it unequivocally as a restaurant.

Albeit, I guess, a casual one.

On a Sunday afternoon it is busy and, having been there now, I understand why.

There’s so much more to the Industry Beans experience than you could possibly expect.

Eggs Benedict, fruit salad, French toast, perhaps a burger and fries, house-made baked beans perhaps? Nah … it is way more inventive than that.

The evergreen omelette on the breakfast menu at Industry Beans. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

We kick off with sous-vide salmon garden ($25).

The salmon part is self-explanatory; it’s the “garden” that makes the dish – battered tendrils of samphire, a couple of gelatinous puddles, crumbs, foam and leaves. It’s pretty and it’s an eating adventure.

More relaxed than Aria, but is the food as good?

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Beef ribs ($29) – tender, sticky, espresso-glazed – come on a pillow of potato “foam” (like a well-whipped mash) with a blob of something truffle-ish in the centre, little puddles of pea puree and a scattering of leaves.

And pork belly ($26) arrives like a plated sculpture – shards of crispy tapioca, kimchi somewhere in the mix, puffed black rice, potato, mayonnaise and potato.

It’s a rather wondrous mix of textures and flavour. There’s a side of Jerusalem-artichoke hash browns ($8) and another of polenta crisps ($7).

It’s the sort of food that would generate plenty of interest if it was coming out of the kitchen in a flash inner-city bistro.

At a glorified coffee shop it is nothing short of remarkable. But in the end it’s the desserts that win the day.

The fruit sashimi at Industry Beans. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

Three are on offer and we have a crack at them all: spring dessert ($12); coffee garden ($15) and a gorgeous plate of marshmallow, meringue and mandarin ($16).

Once again they are inventive and it’s something of an adventure to eat them.

It’s busy, and there’s the occasional glitch in the service – nothing alarming. And it’s hot: we are sitting a few metres from the kitchen on a balmy spring day and we feel like we’ve crawled inside the bain-marie.

When we get up to leave we discover it’s just a hotspot: next time we’ll know, and find a cooler spot.

Even so, I’d happily sit in the hot seats to relive the whole Industry Beans experience.

It’s clever food – not challenging or particularly groundbreaking, but artful, thoughtful and rather tasty.

SCORES OUT OF 10

Food: 8

Drinks: 6.5

Vibe: 7.5

Service: 6.5

INDUSTRY BEANS

18 Proe St, Newstead

Breakfast and lunch daily, dinner Thu-Sat

Vegetarian and coeliac options

Eftpos and major credit cards

On-street parking