Black Coffee Lyrics @ Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

On one of my afternoon study sessions with a couple of friends, one of them brought us to a café hidden in an area of mainly Asian restaurants. In a way, this café doesn’t really belong in that area because of it’s atmosphere - hip and vintage.



Each corner of the café had its own theme and there were interesting : artworks hung up on walls, piles of books stacked next to comfy armchairs, drinking bar with tall wooden chairs and vintage couches for those who feel like a nice cuppa tea. Each theme created a little bubble of distinct atmosphere and these are united by the hip music played.

We were mainly visiting the café because it had a good atmosphere and apparently their iced coffee was something not to be missed out on! The café didn’t have a menu, which made ordering a little complicated. However, we were already too full to eat more so were content with drinks.

The iced coffee was indeed quite nice, not too sweet and very aromatic.

I would want to come back to try their meals here one day, but for the mean time, I’ll be spreading words about the secret location of this café because the atmosphere is quite amazing!

Yuuga @ Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

I’ve wanted to try Yuuga for a while now and it wasn’t until couple of months ago that I actually had the chance to head to Surfers Paradise to try it with a few friends.

We chose lunch because they do Obento (lunchbox) specials during lunchtime.

We all went for the Unagi Obento which had Japanese grilled eel as the main, accompanied by sashimi, salmon and avo salad, agedashi (deep-fried) tofu, rice and miso soup.

 

Yuuga was quite average, I must say. Apparently, they were better a few years back. The sashimi wasn’t the best I’d had. The salmon and avocado salad was interesting though – the sauce was nice but raw fish with salad leaves is just not for me. Personally, I think raw fish should just be eaten as sashimi, sushi or nigiri.

Though small, the grilled eel was just enough for me. I don’t think I can eat huge amounts of eel at once.

 

Agedashi tofu was pretty nice – I generally avoid deep-friend foods but because I love tofu, it was still quite nice.

Overall, I think Yuuga is a little overpriced for what you get, but I must say the atmosphere of the restaurant was traditional and relaxing.

Wassam @ Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

Hidden in the heart of Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast is Wassam, a small but authentic Japanese restaurant that is open for both lunch and dinner.

 

Wassam serves many authentic Japanese dishes including very fresh sashimi and a couple of dishes with a slight fusion taste.

So what’s so special about Wassam?

I guess I’ll start off with my favourite dish – Chef’s Selection of Appetisers

This dish showcases a little bit about each type of food at Wassam:

1.     Tamagoyaki (Japanese omlette)

2.     Very fresh salmon sashimi, from the belly of the salmon – delicious!

3.     Deep-fried tako (octopus) – the octopus was cooked just right, leaving a chewy texture with a crispy outer layer of batter

4.     Beef tataki – Seared marinated beef in a refreshing citrus sauce and topped off with slices of fried garlic. A very special tataki, indeed!

5.     Roast pork with Wassam’s house blend of herbed mayonnaise – the creaminess of the mayo brings out the aroma of the roast pork even more. Also, the mayo balances well with the lighter sauce of beef tataki

If you like takoyaki, or grilled octopus dumplings, you might want to try Wassam’s special fusion. 

Served on a cute plate, the takoyaki comes in 6 pieces and on top of the usual mayonnaise and takoyaki sauce, it is drizzled with melted cheese!

Yakisoba

Their fried soba noodles were a little different from what I imagined – it came with almost soup-like sauce with various veggies and tofu slices. The sauce wasn’t too heavy and it reminded me of tsuyu sauce.

Tempura

Their tempura prawns were of good quality – decent-sized fresh prawns.

DESSERTS

Homemade Japanese Cheesecake

 

I’m a big fan of cheesecake and I loved the fluffy texture!

Green Tea Ice Cream Parfait

 

It’s rare to find green tea ice cream parfaits in Brisbane but they made it well – chewy mocha, aromatic azuki red bean paste, vanilla and green tea icream with strawberries and cream on top!

Lemon Sorbet

The sorbet was quite refreshing when eaten with the ice cream parfait and cheesecake. However, it was a tad too sweet for me.

Overall, Wassam serves quality food with each dish having their own “signature” of some sort. Portion sizes were adequate but if you’re looking to have a big meal, Wassam wouldn’t suit, unless you’re ready to pay a lot for a meal.

Bumbles Café @ Budds Beach, Surfers Paradise

On my first Café Crawl on the Gold Coast with some of my friends, Bumbles Café was the first café we visited that morning. Located within walking distance from the heart of Surfers Paradise, the atmosphere of Bumbles was quite refreshing and welcoming. The interior was sectioned off into different themes accommodating both small and large groups of people. The area we were seated at was surrounded by vases of fresh flowers, comfy pillows, pinewood tables and next to huge floor-to-ceiling windows that lookout onto Budds Beach.

Because it was only our first stop of our Café Crawl, we didn’t want to order too many things. They had a huge selection of breakfast options as well as cakes and desserts from their selection cabinet. We decided to order savoury things just to save up for later on.

Pesto Scrambled Eggs with Herbed Mushrooms on Ciabatta

The herbed mushrooms were juicy and the pesto with strong basil to complement the creamy scrambled eggs.

Eggs Benedict with Spinach, Avocado and Salmon

 

Eggs were poached nicely with runny yolk. Avocado, salmon and spinach were all fresh. My favourite out of the three.

Sliced Field Mushrooms Tossed with Red Onion, Flat Leaf Parsley, Garlic and Persian Fetta on Turkish Bread.

 

The ingredients speak for themselves! The garlic and onions really went well with the field mushrooms and the juiciness was just right that it didn’t make the bread soggy.

Overall, the food was good with a lovely atmosphere in the café – would like to sit in another area for a different theme the next time round and would also love to try their cakes!