Pooches welcome: Brisbane’s best dog-friendly cafe

Serving up doggy treats like meatballs and puppycinos, this southside cafe is sure to get tails wagging.

“ARE we at a Quilton factory or a cafe,” my friend asks facetiously, staring across at the pile of toilet rolls stacked up alongside boxes of takeaway cup lids, poorly hidden behind a flimsy folding screen.

“It would take a handyman a day to knock up a wall and hide all that away.”

He’s right, and the small change would be well worth the investment at Little Pug Cafe in Brisbane’s Mount Gravatt because they have absolutely nailed the rest of the package.

The eatery along busy Logan Rd is the work of husband and wife team Josh and Louise Daly, who gave up their careers in microbiology research and pathology to venture into hospitality almost three years ago.

The cafe is named after the couple’s four-year-old pug Bowie and there’s even a special “Doggos” menu featuring beef and veg meatballs, puppycinos and doggy biscuits for your pooch.

But it’s the human menu that really gets guests excited.

The list of 10 dishes nudges the boundaries on traditional brekky fare with plates such as beetroot three ways on toast, “Eggu Benedikutu” with a rice waffle, teriyaki smoked salmon, poached eggs and wasabi hollandaise; or the “00 Heaven” featuring open hand-rolled lasagne with truffled cream and a poached egg.

Generally speaking, pancakes lost their appeal for me around the age of 12, but the pancake suzette ($19) at Little Black Pug demands ordering after winning the title of the best pancakes in Queensland’s capital in The Courier-Mail reader-voted Best of Brisbane series last year.

And it seems our readers are right.

These gluten-free pancakes are made with ricotta and are fluffier than a Shih tzu, with the tower of four precisely complemented by a fuchsia sphere of raspberry sorbet, mixed citrus segments, cream cheese frosting, biscuit crumbs and a lick of orange butter syrup. Delicious!

Or on the savoury side is the cheekily named “What the duck” ($25) – a salad of baby spinach, pickled fennel and orange segments lightly dressed in a sweet-salty orange and soy dressing, crowned with wedges of confit potato and a perfectly crisp-crusted confit duck leg aromatic with five-spice.

Coffee is from Toby’s Estate and comes well made, while there are also thickshakes, tea, hot chocolate, vegan frozen fruit blends and a rotating line-up of cold and batch brews.

Service is as friendly as a happy hound, with staff going the extra mile to ensure guests feel comfortable and taken care of from beginning
to end.

Really, the only downside is the rather frills-free fit-out, which includes footpath dining out the front, a few bar stools near the pumping kitchen inside, and the minimalist back room with the rolls of toilet paper providing an unwanted distraction.

However, with altruistic service, great food and well-executed coffee, its basic interior is worth forgiving.

LITTLE BLACK PUG

6/1297 Logan Rd, Mount Gravatt

0491 084 771

littleblackpug.com.au

Open Mon-Sat 7am-2pm, Sun 7.30am-2pm

VERDICT – SCORES OUT OF 5

Food 4

Ambience 2.5

Service 4.5

Value 4

OVERALL 4