The new southside cafe customers are lining up for

It’s tucked away in a secluded backstreet, but this cafe’s cracking menu of tasty fare is driving queues of people to seek it out.

In a tiny, quiet backstreet in suburban Mount Gravatt East a boisterous queue is gathered outside a slightly rundown strip of shops.

There’s a brokerage firm, an energy consultancy service and a curiously somewhat understocked convenience store.

Deli Dakota, tucked away in a secluded backstreet in Mt Gravatt East. Picture: Richard Walker

It’s an odd spot for any retail business; it’s an odder spot to see a crowd jostling for a cafe table on a Sunday morning. But that is the appeal of Deli Dakota.

The eatery – barely big enough to swing a cat in and reliant on rows of tables and chairs along the footpath for its main seating – has become a booming success since launching towards the end of last year.

While most restaurateurs would shudder at such a small, sequestered spot, not Jordan Iovenitti. After making the difficult decision to close his hugely popular cafe The Gift Shop in Upper Mount Gravatt when its lease ran out in February last year, he decided this new space was perfect for the business’s next chapter.

Deli Dakota’s tight and cosy interior. Picture: Richard Walker

Teaming up with hospitality veteran Mitch Haworth, the duo conceived the narrow, no-frills space would focus on quality over quantity; offering a simple, concise menu of deli-style sandwiches, coffees and milkshakes and doing them well.

At breakfast, that means a quartet of options including avo on toast and a refreshed version of The Gift Shop’s famous Golden Eggs dish comprising a montage of mushrooms and a panko-crusted egg; while at lunch it’s about made-to-order classic burgers and sangas with a twist.

The Dakota Fried Chicken burger. Picture: Richard Walker

There’s also a glass cabinet filled with sweets and a succinct range of pre-made sandwiches ready for toasting. Inside on the brown leather banquette, a table of six all ordered the Moreton Bay po’ boy ($24) – a Louisiana-style sandwich on a long roll usually filled with some sort of fried seafood. Here, it’s Moreton Bay bug tails coated in batter and fried until golden and snap-inducingly crisp while the crustacean stays supple and moist inside. The nugget-sized pieces form a procession down a soft, milk baguette liberally anointed with mayonnaise and overlaid with rounds of tomato, baby cos leaves and a dice of mango before a spritzing of sriracha and kewpie. Textural, sweet, spicy, creamy, acidic – it’s eye-rolling, slap-the-table delicious.

Deli Dakota’s Moreton Bay po' boy. Picture: Richard Walker

Also popular among the other diners is the Dakota fried chicken burger ($17), but it’s the barbecue brisket reuben ($18.50) which hits our table. Swapping out the usual corned beef for just-pink Cape Grim beef, topped with sauerkraut, intensely vinegary pickles, melted American cheese and barbecue sauce on thick slabs of malted barley bread, it’s an interesting spin on the New York deli favourite but is more like a seriously good steak sandwich.

The barbecue brisket reuben at Deli Dakota. Picture: Richard Walker

Melbourne specialty coffee roaster Rosso provides the beans at Deli Dakota, with a flat white as smooth as freshly ironed satin sheets. Alternative milks are available for your brew too, as well as the house milkshakes, although you’ll want to go with traditional dairy for the Oreo-infused shake that’s sweeter than a video of a dog cuddling a baby, but equally as devourable. One visit to Deli Dakota and it’s clear that this is a cafe worth seeking out.

DELI DAKOTA

30 Badminton St, Mount Gravatt East

0422 152 422

delidakota.com.au

Open

Mon-Sat 6am-2pm; Sun 7am-2pm

VERDICT

Food 4

Service 3

Ambience 3

Value 4