The cafe everyone wants at the end of their street

SOMETIMES you just get a good feeling about a place. Walking past SouthEast Espresso in Coolangatta, it’s the type of space that lures you in. Here’s why ...

SouthEast Espresso at Coolangatta.

SOMETIMES you just get a good feeling about a place. Walking past SouthEast Espresso in Coolangatta, it’s the type of space that lures you in.

There’s no fancy or slick fit-out – though there are clearly on-trend touches, such as industrial cage lights, modern metal planter boxes on the wall, and a polished concrete floor – but the decor is cool, relaxed and welcoming. It’s kind of shabby chic with a coastal twist – mostly courtesy of a giant wave mural down one wall – and it feels like a classic milk bar, where big smiles and old-fashioned service rule. And they do.

Arriving about 11am for brunch, they had run out of beetroot cream for the hot smoked salmon dish ($20), but the owner came out of the kitchen offering to create an alternative that would still work with the dish.

SouthEast Espresso at Coolangatta. Hot smoked salmon on toast.

In its place the herb-spiked cream was just as successful – slathered on to two thick slabs of organic sourdough topped with pickled onions, rounds of sliced chilli, and two runny-centred organic poached eggs from Mount Tamborine. Like the venue, it was a simple dish with plenty of charm – the chilli providing pops of heat and the pickles acid against hunks of soft coral-hued fish.

The cafe uses locally sourced, organic products in all its dishes, and the rewards of using the best-quality ingredients shined through again in the pumpkin and chorizo bruschetta ($17.50).

SouthEast Espresso at Coolangatta. Pumpkin and chorizo bruschetta.

Lashed in oil and fried, slices of sourdough provide a crunchy, crouton-like base for mashed pumpkin, curls of sweet caramelised onion, spicy chorizo, kale and crumbles of Byron Bay feta. It’s rich and unctuous, though doesn’t leave you feeling heavy. The menu includes a nourish bowl loaded with veg, sourdough toasties, an omelette with avo, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, sauerkraut, dukkah and chilli, and bircher, which has been soaked in kombucha and coconut yoghurt.

It’s my type of menu, heroing the best of local ingredients, treated simply, but with a little imagination and creativity.

A solid smoothie selection is also in play including the vibrant and not-too-sweet Islander with mango, pineapple, strawberry and apple juice; while milkshakes are served in old-fashioned stainless steel tumblers. Hrvst supply cold press juices and Probiotic Kitchen an array of kombucha. Coffee is from Sydney’s Ground Control and it comes hot and smooth, with your choice of milks including macadamia, coconut, almond and soy.

SouthEast Espresso might not be the flashiest cafe on the Coast, but it’s the cafe everyone wants at the end of their street – where great food and genuine service really matter.

Originally published as The cafe everyone wants at the end of their street