Coffee Anthology — Restaurant in Brisbane City

While out for a morning walk in inner city Brisbane, I went searching for a morning coffee, and came across Coffee Anthology. It’s located in a lovely heritage listed building in Charlotte Street , a block back from our hotel . It has been well restored and has all the old world charm that you’d expect from these places - somewhere to relax and enjoy the morning . We had a little trouble figuring out where to order coffee and food , and there are no indications or signage that you can’t order at the front of the store , but eventually we figured it out .

We were seated quickly and given menus , and staff constantly came around and filled up your water glass . We asked about the different types of coffee, but the staff at the back weren’t really conversant with what they had - luckily we remembered from when we lined up in the front queue . I ordered a Costa Rica coffee- which came quickly , and was a very drinkable smooth taste and slightly fruity . My only complaint was that it was gone too quickly ! (My friend and I both ordered a second coffee) The menu had quite a few dietary options 1 I ordered a gluten free okonomiyaki with poached eggs - the sauce was amazing , sweet and slightly sour and it was topped with fresh cabbage ; poached eggs were cooked perfectly with lovely runny yolks and the pancake itself was crispy outside and soft and fluffy on the inside . I really liked this dish . My friend opted for scrambled eggs with miso and avocado - you could smell the umami of the miso as the palate was out in front of us . She said the eggs were light and had the added crunch of fried shallots , so she was perfectly happy with that . They do have freshly made pastries onsite - but you have to early to grab one as they sell out quickly. We shared a pear one with caramel just before they all disappeared. The flavour of the filling was good - but I found the pastry a little dry and chewy , maybe because it was later in the day . The coffee was the standout for me though. Staff were very pleasant and constantly cleaning and refilling water , so it was more like a restaurant than a cafe / coffee shop. A place to come when you want room to sit and relax , maybe read a book , and drink plenty of...

I went because I was at DFAT

I thought the gentleman animatedly talking to a lady next to me had some connection, it was an elected member, I am recently a Queenslander (one year) Western Australia 30 years, so it funny seeing an MP from Burdekin there. In fact if I had checked my phone, I would seen who it was from the message sent out to Queensland voters

The staff were lovely but they do not wear shirts with the logo for the business, they wear shirts with the logo for the centre?

I had two coffees, both flat white - one in a cup, so tiny (forgot to photo it sorry) looked cute, but these guys can't make coffee for toffee

You need a barrista that understands that the beans must be heated to the correct temperature to make that zing in the mouth from a really good coffee

Quite honestly I could have rated the coffee as 1 out of 10, do NOT go there for coffee, if you want good coffee

I partucularly take umbrage with businesses that rely on location to provide their clients with any old thing... in my view this is one of those places

It is opposite DFAT, they had 3 cake or cookie things that were not worth a picture

The seats were moderstely comfortable and they did have a charge point for phone and a plug socket to plug in your devices by the seats

Certainly the asthetics are beautiful, a marvellous sculpture is very pleasing to the eye

I saw people there for meetings and 90% of coffee's as take-outs, probably nearby workers short for time

Everyone rushes around at speed, it is funny like that in Brisbane city, how much does it add up to I wonder? More haste, less speed is an old addage that comes to mind

No one ever died saying 'if only I had done one more days work' did they now? 😄

You can get a cab, uber or didi from outside there

One way streets through the city are pathetic and completely unecessary, the transport planners are clueless..

This place need to learn how to make coffee and not give out china cups small enough for a two year old, shrink flation omg, I had two sips it was gone, full price too.. an absolute joke

They are really taking...

On 2 September 2025 around 13:55, I was dining at this café. At the start, I was only given a fork and knife — no napkins at all, and not even a glass of water. Later, a female staff member with a tattoo on her left arm accidentally spilled a large amount of water on me. She said “I’m so so sorry” a few times, used the paper for drying cups to quickly wipe my arm, poured me the glass of water that should have been served at the very beginning, and then started acting like this wasn’t happening at all, standing nearby chatting and laughing with her colleague. No one ever gave me proper napkins — not when the accident happened, and not during the rest of my meal. By the end, I had to use tissues from my own bag. When I went to pay and asked to speak to the manager, she just said she was the manager, without asking why I wanted to speak to her or checking if I was okay. I don’t know if she was telling the truth or not, but if someone with this level of service quality is really the manager, it’s disgusting. I left feeling very disappointed — my good mood was completely ruined by how poorly this situation was handled, and by how I was ignored the entire time.

This is not my first time visiting this café. The high global ranking they claim is just empty hype — the coffee is nowhere near as good as nearby Café Mondial, though the food is decent, which is the only reason I came back. The service has always been terrible. Back in May, when I came here with a group of friends, they completely forgot my order. I had to wait until my friends almost finished eating before I went up to ask, and only then did they...