Is this Queensland’s most expensive banana bread?

It might be in the most unlikely of suburbs, but this contemporary cafe delivers some of the best brunch in the state along with maybe its most expensive banana bread.

In a neighbourhood dominated by car dealerships, fishing stores and takeaway outlets, Mama Coco in Cairns is like a foodie’s oasis.

This cosy and comfortable cafe, with its warm colour palette, easy banquette seating and timber touches, goes against the expected, delivering a contemporary and out-of-the-ordinary menu, hitting major culinary trends as well as venturing into the exotic.

Mama Coco Restaurant Cairns. PICS BRIAN CASSEY.

Dishes take inspiration from around the world, with everything from the Japanese-influenced green Godzilla bowl boasting avo, broccolini, peas, pickled ginger and cucumber, sprouts, rocket, quinoa, brown rice, sesame, nori and miso dressing ($20) to the chorizo and potato hash with fried egg, broccolini, oven-dried tomato, hummus, labneh and zucchini pickles ($23). There are more classic items like a bacon and egg roll or the vegan-friendly granola and coconut yoghurt offering for traditionalists, but it’s far more fun to venture to the quirky side.

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And if you need a little encouragement, the young but well-informed, benevolent staff are on hand to offer some gentle coaxing.

Take their advice (and mine) and order the chilli labneh eggs ($19). Inspired by the Middle East, this hearty bowl features two liquid-centred poached eggs nudging charry, silken roasted eggplant, a generous slick of labneh and a capsicum and tomato sauce subtly infused with chilli. Triangular shards of crisp flatbread top the dish, standing like sails in a strong breeze, begging to be dipped into the blend of juxtaposing flavours and textures. Delicious!

While sweet tooths are indulged with what is really dessert disguised as breakfast, the “nutty banana loaf” ($17).

Richer than Bill Gates, it features a hefty slice of dense and chocolatey banana bread supporting plump and swollen cherries and two generous scoops of vanilla ice cream, showered with an intense chocolate and wattleseed sauce and circled with sugar-crusted hazelnuts.

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It's the type of dish teenage girls die for and adults with health conditions might literally die from.

Coffee is from Tim Adams, with my cappuccino smooth and boasting a good crema, while its also available as cold brew or in a number of iced varieties. Chai enthusiasts will find a variety of options, alongside classic milkshakes, interesting juices, kombucha, iced tea, house-made sodas and smoothies like the Indian-inspired mango and lychee lassi.

With its charming service, homely atmosphere, generous portions and food that exciting extends outside norm, Mama Coco delivers one of the state’s best brunch experiences in one of the most unlikely of areas.

Mama Coco, 4/196 Mulgrave Rd, Westcourt, 4052 1226, mamacoco.com.au. Open Mon-Sat 7am-2.30pm

VERDICT:

Food 9

Service 8

Ambience 7.5

Value 8