INTRA, Lava top list of Canberra cafes to support after lockdown | Full list

Canberra’s cafe scene is the envy of Australia. But who are our real culinary leaders? See who makes the cut in our list of the the best eateries in the nation’s capital.

Lockdown has been rough for everyone so treat yourself to a fancy brunch while supporting Canberra’s hospitality industry.

From community hubs to late night hangouts we spoke to Canberra's cafe kings and queens about withstanding lockdown and their plans for the future.

INTRA

INTRA in Campbell is renowned for their jaffles and speciality coffee. Picture: Instagram

Sean Baker, INTRA co-owner, was born from the ethos of doing things differently.

“We didn't want to make just another cafe, there are already a thousand of them in Canberra,” he said.

“We pride ourselves on providing an outstanding service that is casual and relaxed, alongside new and interesting dishes and coffee from sustainable and reliable roasteries.”

He said while Canberra was plunged into lockdown, the cafe fared better than other eateries.

“We consider ourselves very fortunate compared to other businesses during Covid,” Baker said.

“We are based at the bottom of a huge apartment complex, so when lockdowns happen and everyone works from home, it means the day-to-day traffic of the area multiplies drastically.

“We did the usual takeaway model which has been super effective for us, we try and pump out dishes as quickly as possible out of our tiny kitchen so we had to make some more speed-friendly dishes. Our incredible head chef Steven has come up with the likes of a falafel wrap, mortadella sandwich and the crowd favourite, reuben sandwich.”

And the most popular dish?

“It would have to be the kimchi jaffle. It's made a name for itself in Canberra and it's the only dish to have made it through all three years of service with us. It‘s a true staple of our menu,” Baker said.

“For us, the first easing of restrictions won't mean much. We are a small venue so the one per 4sq m rule means we can only have a few people dining in at a time.

“We will stay as a takeaway for the time being. However, we are really looking forward to serving people inside again, so we will be back at it as soon as it's a viable option for us.”

Instra is at 30/12 Provan Street, Campbell. Details: @intracbr on Instagram and Facebook. www.intracbr.com.au

Space Kitchen

Best known for its brulee French toast and Belgian chocolate waffles, Space Kitchen has a dedicated following.

“We are creating a space where people can experience dining with a side of the whimsical,” a spokesman said.
“Our friendly staff and creative menu bring playfulness to the table, but the biggest attraction is our bright and bold display of colourful desserts designed to wow.

“Our spectacular desserts are all hand made on site by our team of pastry chefs with a range featuring flavours that will bring sweet childhood memories back to life.
“Our signature dishes are the brulee French toast and Belgian chocolate waffles.
“For something savoury you can’t go past our breakfast fritters with corn, zucchini and haloumi or if you‘re into something more meaty you will love our unique Space Benedict.”

The Covid lockdown has helped Space Kitchen evolve as well.

“We have gone digital; customers can now order from your phone via our website and your order will be waiting for you when you arrive,” the Space Kitchen spokesman said.

“We also have contact less ordering from the table using a QR code. This also allows customers to view pictures of the dishes to help them decide, with options to add or remove anything from the dishes with ease.
“We also have been growing our online ordering platform for cakes so you can now order your next birthday cake from the comfort of your home or office.
“We are looking forward to coming out of lockdown. The situation has given us the opportunity to reflect, evolve and improve our practices and we are excited for the future.”

Space Kitchen is at the corner of Furzer and Worgan streets, in Phillip, just off Melrose Drive.

LAVA

Lava owners Ikay Ensomo and Lincoln Fairleigh. Picture: Lava

Lava co-owner Lincoln Fairleigh has always had a passion for coffee and opening their stores has given him and Ikay Ensomo the opportunity to share it with others.

“Lava was built for one reason, we love coffee and we love sharing coffee with others,” he said.

“We’ve been growing steadily since we began with our Weston store (opening) in 2009, to our Phillip store in 2012, and our new Kingston store in 2020.

“We have a chill vibe, focused on providing great customer experiences, simple food done well and in well considered spaces.

“We intentionally chose not to roast our own coffee as this allows us to focus completely on the front end customer experiences. We partnered with a great roaster in Melbourne called Wood and Co. They work with some amazing farmers and producers around the world to bring some exciting and delicious coffees to our customers.”

Fairleigh said a crowd favourite meal is the chorizo toastie.

“It’s got chorizo, chilli jam, basil and Swiss cheese. It’s salty, spicy, a bit sweet, and so delicious. Once you know, you know,” he said.

And while Covid has proven a steep learning curve for all hospitality venues, Lava has kept up with the ongoing challenges.

“Not knowing what each day would hold and needing to completely change our business model almost overnight, was the biggest challenge we had faced since we began,” he said.

“Once we navigated the new rules, we introduced a few fun things to our offering to support our great communities. We launched a delivery service to get coffees and breakfast to those in isolation, we hosted a few Instagram giveaways and a lucky door prize.

“(We) recognised the importance of being a beacon of positivity for our communities, so we kept doing what we and our customers love – making great coffee.

“We’re excited to get back to what we do. We’re opening up for dine ins, with capacity limits in place. We’re excited to be able to provide better experiences for our customers, chat more about the coffees on offer.

“We’ll also be opening back up our wine nights in Kingston from October 21. We have a heap of amazing low intervention and delicious wines ready to share with everyone.”

The Lava stores are at: 45 Brierly Street, Weston; 38 Townshend Street, Phillip; 34 Eyre Street, Kingston. Details: @lava_coffee Facebook.com/Lava.Espresso.Bars

RYE

Rye is a Scandinavian-style cafe in Braddon. Picture: Instagram

Braddon cafe RYE is an eatery created around Scandinavian culture and good food.

Owner Ekta Kakkar said the philosophy of the cafe is based on the term Fika, meaning to have a chat with a cake and a cup of coffee in hand.

“We feel really proud to say everything is made from scratch,” Kakkar said.

“There’s a huge sense of community in Canberra so we love nothing more than using the best organic locally sourced ingredients from other small businesses near by.

“When it comes to coffee we think outside the box with brews like filter coffee and cold drip. Food wise our motto is fresh is best so we make all our flatbread, sauces and muffins in-house.”

The cafe’s signature dish is a the baked eggs and hollandaise.

“This dish has been a RYE classic since day one and people describe it as biting into a cloud,” Kakkar said.

“If you are in a rush grab one of our homemade kanelbullar. They are Scandinavian cinnamon buns with a delicate soft cardamom dough.”

Kakkar said: “We are excited for the end of lockdown as our concept is that people are able to spend time exchanging with their friends and family. We will be working with strict Covid-19 guidelines and offering all our meals as takeaway for anyone that feels they still need more time to adjust to the reopening of Canberra.”

RYE is located at 9 Lonsdale St, Braddon.

 

Folks Gallery/Cafe

Folks Gallery Cafe in Dickson serves coffee and snacks with a twist. Picture: Instagram

Vincent Chen, owner of Folks Gallery Cafe had his coffeee grounding in China, where he worked eight years ago.

“I’m originally from China and I was amazed by the “Third Wave” of coffee when I managed a speciality coffee shop in Shenzhen, China, Chen said.

“Since then I’ve been keen to share the pleasure of coffee with the people around me. Later we decided to showcase art alongside our coffee.

“Being humble is our motto. We rarely do fancy marketing as we have confidence in both our skills and our sincerity. Customers will like us and keep coming back if we stay true to our hearts and keep our cafe simple and real.

“We’re a small shop with only 25sq m floorspace. I want people to feel calm and relaxed at Folks Cafe. We’re not focused on being fancy; instead we want to provide a space that feels like home or a sanctuary for our customers. Less is more.”

Chen said the coffee is what makes Folks Gallery Cafe stand out from the crowd.

“What makes Folks Gallery unique is that we serve coffee that involves a bit of fusion,” he said.

“Some examples of our creative styles of coffee include our coconut iced latte and our almond hojicha latte.

“My favourite food item on our menu is the spicy tuna and sweet corn toastie.”

While lockdown has been hard on the cafe, delivery platforms have played an important part in keeping our business alive.

“But that also means doing more work for less return, with really high commission rates,” he said.

“And delivery platforms means fewer people will take the effort to visit our store in person.

“During lockdown we just served takeaway coffee. Luckily we have our regulars coming everyday and that gives us the faith and hope that we can survive through the dark times.

“Despite lockdown ending we will stick to takeaway only until Covid-19 case numbers are safer. I know we might be worse off if other cafes are opening up to dine in again. But to keep ourselves safe by sticking to takeaway is the most responsible act for our customers.

Folks Gallery Cafe is at shop 3, 6 Cape Street, Dickson.

Kita

Kita serves coffee and hearty Indonesian fare for night owls. Picture: Instagram

Zac Young, front of house manager at the popular Kita, says the family-run business has been welcomed by the community.

“We opened in October 2018 and back then we weren't sure how Canberra would react to us as an all-night cafe,” Younng said.

“People raised their eyebrows whenever we told them about the concept. But we held our ground and opened within three months of securing our lease.

“With my dad being in the Australian Federal Police for almost 20 years, we knew there was a market (especially among) shift workers, uni students, and emergency service workers. “(They were) a market left not catered and forgotten about. There is no place in Canberra for these people to go that offers freshly made healthy food, quality barista made coffee, and a place to dine that's open for their whole shift.

“Kita is a family-run business, with myself as the front of house manager, my mum Evi as our head cook and company director, and my father Gavin as our renowned dishy and Canberra's best pandan waffle maker.

“There’s literally blood, sweat and tears that we put into Kita. We care about it just as much as we do our home.

“Kita’s vibe is homey and cosy. We wanted a place for all types of people to come to at all hours of the night. Kita has turned into this safe place for all types of people to come hang out.”

Young said the Indonesian fusion menu meant there were a lot of items some people may never have had or even heard of.

“If I was to name one dish, it would either be the pandan waffles or the bubur ayam,” he said.

“The waffles are delicious, and they are bright green which adds a wow factor. We get asked what pandan is almost every night and it reminds us why we are doing what we are doing.

(bubur ayam) is similar to congee, it’s a porridge-like ginger rice with shredded chicken submerged in chicken broth and topped with a fried egg and crushed peanuts. It‘s the perfect dish for the Canberra winter.”

When asked about the challenges of lockdown, he said: “We did what we had to do, accepted the challenge straight on, and adapted how we saw fit. We set the shop up to just operate our full night and drinks menu as takeaways only. We also offered delivery services.

“Due to the lack of people out and about we cut our hours back and only traded between the hours of 6pm to 12am, Wednesday to Saturday.

“As we come out of lockdown we will be returning back to our original wacky hours and accepting walk ins. For now we will only be able to fit 15 customers inside until things get a little more relaxed. We are very excited.”

Kita is at 59 Boolimba Cres, Narrabundah. Details: kitakafe.com.au/ Facebook and Instagram: @kita.cbr

Gang Gang Cafe

Gang Gang Cafe in Downer is a community focused eatery and live venue. Picture: Gang Gang Cafe

Sam Conway, Gang Gang Cafe co-owner, says the community-oriented cafe also doubled as a live music venue.

“We (brothers Sam, Riley and Max Conway) took over Gang Gang just over a year ago with the goal of turning it into a top-quality small to mid-sized live music venue that also functions as a community hub,” he said.

“I think being musicians is what sets us apart. We know what artists appreciate when it comes to organising and playing shows. And in terms of the cafe, we just try to make it somewhere we would like to hang out, eat and drink at. So far, it‘s been working out. We also have amazing people around us; staff, friends and family.”

Conway said one of the most popular menu items was the schnitzel rolls.

“Carla (head chef) has been doing these schnitzel rolls that are so good. They’re so popular that they sell out before we can even get one for lunch.”

He said the first couple of weeks of lockdown was pretty scary but they rose to the challenge.

“We changed the menu for takeaway only. The support kicked in pretty quickly though. We have a great landlord that helped us out and a big chunk of the community started coming every day, often more than once,” Conway said.

“We’re constantly blown away by the support we have from the community, even though it was a bit tiring working every day, there was something really sweet about getting to know everyone, and knowing we were giving them something tiny to look forward to each day. Also, hanging out with all the new puppies.”

He said with lockdown over, they weren’t sure how their brave new world would look.

“Honestly we don’t know yet,” he said.

“We are privileged to be in a position where we don’t really need to rush into anything. I think we’re going to continue operating as we were for the first week and take it from there.

“We know all our artist friends are dying to do shows again and we are super excited to host them but we need some more information before we can confirm when gigs will start.”

Gang Gang Cafe is at 4/2 Frencham Place, Downer.