Why WFH takeaway lunch dates are now a thing

With many of us stuck working from home, a takeaway lunch date maintaining social distancing could just be the answer to help us all keep our sanity

Dinner parties may be banned, but I’m making working from home lunch dates a thing.

After weeks of being slumped into a dining chair with all the ergonomic support of a toothpick in my apartment’s crammed study nook, I’ve decided to take my cafe takeaway reviews on the road.

While I may not be able to catch up with colleagues in the office at the moment, there’s no rules to say I can’t enjoy lunch at their place. Actually there are rules: I must be one of only two guests and my colleague must know us both and we must still practise social distancing, but hey.

Not only is it a great way to support our local hospitality businesses doing it so hard right now, but it’s far better than a Zoom, Skype, FaceTime or Google Hangouts chat with co-workers where, no matter how hard I try to position the camera, it always ends up with me looking like I have more chins than Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor or people staring straight up my nose.

So this week I’m checking out the new takeaway offering from southside favourite and regular top 10 finisher in the U on Sunday Best of Brisbane reader polls, Lady Marmalade.

This Stones Corner cafe has been a long-time treasure with locals and those from across Brisbane, adored for its hearty portions, out-of-the-box brunch dishes and authentically warm and generous service from owners Sonja and Howard Searle (pictured) and their team.

While that service now has to be over the phone for ordering and at more than an arm’s length for pick-up, it is still just as genuine and heartfelt as I place and collect my lunch order.

The offering available from 7am to 1pm Thursday-Monday is a reduced version of their regular menu with a roll call of customer favourites such as ricotta and blueberry pancakes, the gringo waffle, and burgers and toasties, plus coffees, freshly squeezed juices, teas and cold drinks.

After thoroughly washing our hands, my colleague and I take to her back deck with the cafe’s signature confit duck on a chilli corn bread waffle ($27, pictured) and the Korean fried chicken burger ($22.50), plus two coffees.

The chips in the latter dish have not survived the 15-minute car ride very well – a little limp, but I take it as a sign that my ever-expanding ass simply doesn’t need the calories.

The burger, however, is a winner, the massive fried chicken steak still crisp and boosted by a bitey kimchi slaw, slathered with creamy Japanese mayo Kewpie and a hydroponic garden of greenery for freshness.

It’s that confit duck, though, that will have you putting Lady Marmalade into your takeaway speed dial.

While the chilli waffle has minimal kick, its texture is fluffier than a freshly groomed pomeranian, with the duck meat cooked with the precision of a French Michelin-starred restaurant. Crowned with a runny-yolked fried egg, sticky clusters of candied pecans and a splash of maple and (mild) chilli sauce, it makes eating out of a cardboard box positively fancy.

The takeaway coffees are another reason to visit Lady Marmalade, with my skinny cap creamier than a dairy, while my co-worker’s lactose free flat white gets a thumbs up.

Working from home may have its challenges with the countless internet outages, infinite computer issues and constant temptation of the fridge, but takeaway lunch dates are something I could definitely get used to.