The Gold Coast’s best breakfast cafes as voted by you
There’s never been a better time to join the breakfast club. After counting the votes, we reveal the 10 cafes serving the best breakfasts on the Gold Coast.
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Warm mornings and early sunrises make summer the best time to join the breakfast club. Amber Macpherson reveals the top 10 Gold Coast cafes serving the most important meal of the day.
10. Daark Espresso
2/41 Musgrave Ave, Labrador
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There’s a reason Daark Espresso offers a half size version of its meals — manager Jackson Snook says the portions are huge. “People always rave about how filling our meals are, they’re usually pretty big,” he says. The Chirn Park cafe serves a variety of breakfast dishes to please many palates and rotates through a number of off-menu specials everyday. “We have a wide variety of breakfast meals, there’s really no one set cuisine,” Jackson says. “Pretty much anyone would be able to find anything — vegetarian, vegan-friendly, all dietary requirements. The most popular dishes are the ricotta pancakes, the southern fried chicken and waffles, crispy potato benedict, and cherry tomato and avocado bruschetta.” The cafe will soon put out a new menu for autumn. “We do change it (the menu) up every so often — the chefs use flavours that are in season at the time,” Jackson says. “They do a lot of experimenting, they give it a go, and we move forward with it.”
9. Double Barrel Kitchen
64 Karbunya St, Mermaid Waters
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Double Barrel Kitchen owner Jess Winters says you can’t put a price on a loyal customer base and their faithful tastebuds. “We change our menu seasonally, we have four menus a year,” Jess says. “But we don’t change the whole menu, you just can’t. You can’t change the rustic avo — even though the price of avocado goes from $22 a tray to $78 over the year, it’s still our best selling dish.” The Mermaid Beach cafe is a locals’ hang out, a popular neighbourhood cafe with recycled timber decor, rustic feature walls and polished concrete floors. Jess says the autumn menu will be ready for tasting on February 28. “On the Gold Coast, our food trends and coffee, we’re leaps and bounds in front of a lot of places,” Jess says. “We always like to freshen up our juices and smoothies and drink specials when we change the menu too — in winter our juices come with lots of ginger.”
8. Helena’s Espresso
5/2-4 New Street Nerang
A little culture comes into play at Helena’s Espresso, with owner Helena Jaffar’s Persian heritage sprinkled through modern Australian breakfast dishes. Ingredients of saffron, rose water, cherry blossom, dukkah and Persian fairy floss add a dash of decadence to classic breakfast fare. Top selling items include the saffron infused eggs benny croissant with smoky bacon; the smashed avocado and feta served on soy and quinoa bread; and the brekkie bruschetta with tomatoes, avocado, lemon and sweet balsamic glaze. “It’s a credit to our chef David — his hard work, commitment, creativity, skill and personality has made us make the top 10,” Helena says. “Not to mention the all day breakfast menu which he has incorporated a mixture of Persian and Australian flavours.”
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7. Cardamom Pod
Brickworks Centre, 3/3 Brolga Ave, Southport
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Eat with your eyes at Cardamom Pod, the vegetarian cafe known for plating up works of art for breakfast. Owner Sean Pinnell says customers love to capture their masterpieces before devouring them. “The dishes taste as good if not better than they look,” Sean says. “One of the most popular dishes is the velvety smooth Nutella pumpkin protein pancakes with chocolate pouring sauce. This is the dish that gets all the phones out to share on the ’Gram as it’s a sensory delight with beautiful composition that melts in your mouth.” Whether you’re a regular or a first-timer, Sean says Cardamom Pod always exceeds expectations. “We keep our customers happy by giving them more than they expect and by staying creative and progressive in the kitchen to make the plant based dining experience a memorable one.”
6. Beachside Pavilion
Shop 46 The Oasis, Victoria Ave, Broadbeach
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If you can’t stand morning people stay away from Beachside Pavilion — manager Emily Pirie says you’ll be smiling at 7am whether you like it or not. “We have a beautiful team of staff that love working mornings,” Emily says. And if a friendly face isn’t enough to brighten your day, the menu of classic breakfast dishes will turn your frown sunny side up. “Our most popular dishes range from our classic bacon and eggs with traditional sourdough, short cut streaky bacon and free range eggs; to the granola bowl using our house made granola, organic chia yoghurt, vanilla bean panna cotta and seasonal fruit; and our avocado toast with sweet potato puree, free range eggs and house made dukkah,” Emily says. “These three dishes have been on the menu from day one of opening and are some of our top sellers. We pride ourselves on creating dishes that are for the whole family to enjoy.”
5. Elk Espresso
Shop 44 The Oasis, Charles Ave, Broadbeach
The trailblazers of the Gold Coast breakfast scene, Elk Espresso is the place to indulge in a little bit of adventure. “We love pushing the boundaries of food and love how people are open minded and mouthed to what we create,” Elk owner Andrew Whiting says. “Expect the unexpected and expect to try something you would have never seen before.” Whether it’s panna cotta for breakfast, salmon sashimi on toast or miso maple syrup drizzled on fried chicken and waffles, Elk is forever evolving with the seasons and styles. “From summer our biggest seller is the basil scrambled eggs, Persian feta, nut spice, preserved lemon gel, crispy kale and ciabatta,” Andrew says. “Our new (autumn) menu is 95 per cent finalised and let’s just say there is no waffles on this menu which will break a few hearts but you still can expect a mouth-watering sweet dish and some epic new savoury ones — 17 new dishes, to be precise, starting on February 27.”
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4. Blackboard
7/240 Varsity Pde, Varsity Lakes
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This is the breakfast spot for smart cookies. Blackboard in Varsity Lakes is a popular pit stop for students and staff of Bond University, serving up a fresh and approachable breakfast menu. “We aim to offer something recognisable but very different to the main stream,” owner Marc Kinvig says. “We have our staples we simply can’t take off the menu but freshen it up every season. We love making one off specials that really push tastes buds to new places. People love the relaxed friendly laid back atmosphere of the cafe.” Marc says the recently refreshed offerings cater to more ethical eating. “We love all our dishes equally, but the frankies halloumi has been incredibly well received. And the summer green bowl — the movement to meat free dishes from our customers gets stronger every menu change.”
3. Le Vintage Boutique
1 Kurilpa St, Worongary
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When it comes to hospitality, Le Vintage Boutique owner Joel Aston follows the golden rule. “I treat people how I want to be treated if I want to go out,” he says. That means catering to all appetites, making sure no-one leaves the Worongary cafe hungry. “We’ve got options for them, we’re so flexible, very accommodating. All the staff are family and so are the customers,” Joel says. “Our menu is traditional — we do eggs benedict, a sweet potato rosti, the FAB, which is a feta, avo and beetroot dish. People like the consistency, quality and the size, we’re quite generous in our servings. We change the menu twice a year but we might only make two or three adjustments. People out here don’t like change.”
2. Hot Shott
3/17 Tedder Ave, Main Beach
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Prefer to build your own bagel or like a smashed avo with a cloud of smoke? Hot Shott is far from your standard bacon and eggs bistro. The Main Beach eatery ups the ante with an experimental approach to every dish. “Our food is playful, they’re classics with a playful twist,” Hot Shott co-owner Kellie Rolfe said. “I like to provide a bit of interaction with the chef and waiter and customer. The smoking avo, it’s a smashed avo on toast done elegantly, served with smoke under the cloche. It gives the customer a feeling of being around a campfire. Our benny is served on mini croissants. Or the bagel board is a build your own bagel board so there’s that interaction with the food. We like to create surprise, a different feeling for our customers. With the sweet corn fritters I blow torch the hollandaise. Little things like that.” Hot Shott is famous for its off-menu specials as well, so try the green eggs and ham or loaded hot dog for a quirky breakfast treat.
1. Mudjira Village Eatery
3 Swan Lane, Mudgeeraba
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This hinterland haunt proves you don’t need to be in a trendy coastal suburb to serve the best breakfast on the Gold Coast.
Mudjira Village Eatery is located in the Mudgeeraba Market Shopping Centre but its decor feels more like a tropical nursery with gorgeous greenery hanging from every corner.
“The courtyard is full of orchids and poincianas and flowers,” owner Kate Bennett says. “We’ve got indoor and outdoor seating, a lot of our decor is from old recycled timbers.”
The cafe has been open for five years, one of the original brunch bistros in town that serves rustic, homely meals made with love.
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“Everything we do we make from scratch. The only thing we don’t make is tomato sauce and our bread,” Kate says.
“Wherever we can, we source locally and sustainably with companies that are good people and ethical in what they do.”
The Mudjira menu has a refresh every six months but most of the popular dishes remain, which include the benny burger, cheesy scramble, breakfast gnocchi and acai bowls.
“We’ve evolved to this amazing menu that’s adapted to dietary requirements,” Kate says.
“We think ‘lets make that gluten-free where we can, let’s make that vegan where we can’. Everything we do we’ll fuss it up and make it current.
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“Your husband could have a double decker burger with bacon, and you can have a nourishing bowl, which is beautiful, healthy and good for your gut.
“Even our fruit toast, we make with our own maple butter and the bircher. We make our own coconut yoghurt, make the gnocchi, the jam.
“Everything on our menu is different and unusual but you can get a big old brekkie as well — but you’re going to get a beautiful brekkie with locally made chorizo and potato rosti, made with the rosemary out of my garden.”
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