The cafe serving Nutella and banana pancakes you must try

Love Nutella and love pancakes? Then you’ll want to rush into this Queensland cafe serving up some of the best in the business.

As a kid, I was never allowed Nutella. Rightfully, my mum refused to buy it, with no slick advertising campaign promoting its supposed high fibre content or protein-packed nut component convincing her it was anything more than expensive, chocolate-flavoured oil in a jar.

After years of enviously watching kids at school scrape out every last skerrick from the peel-open sachets with itty bitty plastic spoons, I finally got my share in Italy on a Contiki in my early 20s. At hotel breakfast buffets they would have bain-maries full of the Italian-made hazelnut spread ready to suffocate all manner of foods in a volcanic-like lava eruption.

Corn Flakes and Nutella? Sure, let’s do it. Fruit and Nutella? Absolutely! Pastries and Nutella? You’d be crazy not to. I drowned everything in it until, one day, this product of my childhood dreams turned into a nightmare and I couldn’t stomach it anymore. Mum was right.

At Ipswich’s St.Shoebill cafe, however, Nutella is served as a sensibly proportioned squiggle over a stack of pancakes ($17) topped with bruleed banana, Biscoff biscuit and bloody good vanilla ice cream.

The Nutella, banana and Biscoff pancakes at St.Shoebill. Picture: David Kelly

With a crumble of cookies around the outside and chips of house-made almond brittle, this could have easily swayed to too sweet, but somehow found its equilibrium.

On the flavour flip side is the bao ($14). From the all-day breakfast menu and packed contemporary lunch offering encompassing the likes of leek and mushroom croquettes, two types of Benedict, waffles, fritters, burgers and more, there are five varieties of bao to choose from, including panko prawn and pulled pork.

The chicken karaage incarnation comes on cushiony buns with cabbage slaw, a zigzag of sriracha mayo and a chunk of avocado too big to be enclosed by the clam-shaped bread. It makes for a satisfying bite, though the portion of two small baos is on the slight side for big eaters.

The chicken karaage bao and a coffee. Picture: David Kelly

They can easily satiate themselves, however, with one of the cafe’s smoothies. The pleasantly tart Purple Finch ($10) is packed with mango, mixed berries, banana, honey and apple juice; while there are also dairy-free options and those pumped up with protein powder. Fresh juices are also on the lengthy drinks list, alongside teas, tonics, frappes, thickshakes, kombucha and coffee, with four varieties of beans available from Ona Coffee including the nutty and chocolatey Aspen blend ($4-$6).

Having multiple brews allows diners to linger in the heritage space flanked by exposed brick walls – one lined with artfully displayed copper pipes and bicycle remnants, the other with a coffee retail section – while the eye is drawn upwards to a stunning void sheathed with pressed metal and adorned with hanging plants.

The dining room at St.Shoebill, Ipswich. Picture: David Kelly

Staff are friendly and accommodating, though a little lacking in menu knowledge, but happy to check on any of the unknowns with the kitchen, which pumps out meals with pace.

St.Shoebill is a cafe with charm and a level
of restraint – especially with Nutella – that
lets it shine.

ST.SHOEBILL

126 Brisbane St, Ipswich

0405 676 455

Open Daily 6am-2pm

Must try
Nutella pancakes

Verdict

Food 3.5

Service 3

Ambience 4

Value 3.5

Overall 3.5