Junktion Coffee House pushing through Toowoomba’s Covid slump

Buying a business and moving interstate during the middle of a pandemic may have been a challenge but now the owners of a Toowoomba cafe feel right at home.

Husband and wife team Dien Pham and Anh Cao are the owners of Junktion Coffee House, Monday, February 21, 2022. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Buying a business and moving interstate is a stressful enough proposition, but add to that a global pandemic and it’s an entirely different challenge.

However, after doing just that almost a year ago, husband and wife duo Anh Cao and Dien Pham have found success with Junktion Coffee House.

After arriving in Australia from Vietnam five years ago, Ms Cao said the couple and their two sons lived in Melbourne until they decided to head north in March last year.

The couple, who helped run a family-owned takeaway store in Melbourne for about a year, decided to branch out and buy their own business, and took on Junktion Coffee House on Bowen Street, formerly Pony Espresso.

Husband and wife team Dien Pham and Anh Cao are the owners of Junktion Coffee House, Monday, February 21, 2022. Picture: Kevin Farmer

While the business was an opportunity they wanted to explore, it was the climate that first got the couple interested in Toowoomba.

“I have some friends here and they said the weather was so nice,” Ms Cao said.

“In Vietnam we have the high land and the weather is very similar to Toowoomba, and once we got here we found out how friendly the town was.

“In Melbourne the weather is either too warm or too cold but it’s so nice here.”

Ms Cao said when they first opened business was slow, but now things were starting to improve.

“While Toowoomba didn’t have lockdowns last year it was so quiet, a lot of people were working from home or couldn’t travel to Toowoomba,” she said.

“I was so stressed at that time but now it’s better.”

The new menu has won over fans as well, with the traditional street food proving a hit alongside the tried-and-true favourites of coffee and cake.

Husband and wife team Dien Pham and Anh Cao are the owners of Junktion Coffee House, Monday, February 21, 2022. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“Because we are Vietnamese we have more Vietnamese cuisine and luckily offices and customers around here like Vietnamese food,” she said.

“We are so happy about that. At first we wanted to introduce to Toowoomba our local food, and we’re really glad that people like it.”

Ms Cao said the couple were originally from Ho Chi Minh City but were enjoying their time in Australia.

“In school we learnt English but it was focused on numbers and writing but now we have learnt more speaking and listening,” she said.

“In Melbourne we lived within the Vietnamese community so when I went out to the market I spoke in Vietnamese.

“The first time I came to Toowoomba I tried my best to express myself, it was a little hard but I feel (my English) has improved.

“In Toowoomba there’s a Vietnamese community so it’s nice to be able to share that with people. We have a good relationship with the Vietnamese families here, they come here and have a chat which is nice.”