Florence Cafe — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Yesterday I tried this new brunch spot. I was pretty excited as it is billed as an organic wholefoods restaurant and deli, which is very up my alley. Normal breakfast haunts are too greasy and predictable for me. My high hopes were dashed, however.

I order the ”Fritters - Cauliflower bhaji, millet dosa, pineapple and tamarind chutney, petite herbs + green goddess sauce”. It was $18. I added avocado, wilted greens, and cured fish, which brought the total to $31. Lucky I did. Otherwise, I would have only received three small chunks of cauliflower with a savoury crepe and some inedibly sweet chutney. The batter was not crispy and visibly caked in salt. The greens were gone in three mouthfuls. The fish and green goddess sauce lacked any flavour whatsoever. I appreciated the more unusual breakfast offering, but it must be executed well. To add to my disappointment, there was a black hair in my dosa/crepe.

My smoothie was fine but not anything to call home about, and my brewed chai was spicy, but not in a well rounded enjoyable way, and watery. I couldn't bring myself to finish it. The pastries and cakes up the front looked good enough, but the unlucky uncovered ones became pedestals for flies. The music was not loud enough to cut through the overflowing restaurant noise and just added to the sense of dysfunction. Points for complimentary still mineral and sparkling water though.

Perhaps this is all just growing pains, as my dining partner enjoyed their breakfast immensely, eggs cooked to perfection albeit overly hard bread, and would return again. At ~$75 for two diners at breakfast time, I won't be giving them a...

Whilst I've ordered takeaway coffee from Florence before, this was the first time I've dined in.

Service: The service was quick, but largely impersonal and disinterested, and I had to prompt for certain items, such as sugar for the coffee. I might understand that if I'd turned up at 3pm, but this was at midday during the week. To be fair, the staff member was never even close to being rude, and provided everything that I asked for. I was just left with the unsettling sense that I was troubling her when I placed an order for food and coffee.

Food: The pork schnitzel cutlet with cafe de paris was very flavoursome, if a mite undercooked, but nothing to be overly concerned about. The presentation was a small garnish of witlof on top (though the uninformed may mistake it for fresh cabbage), of the sliced cutlet and aforementioned cafe de paris sauce.

Overall, there was nothing actually wrong with dining at Florence, and if you're going for coffee and cake with friends, you're not going to be disappointed at all.

Upon reflection, the staff member may have just been distracted or otherwise occupied, and if anything, it highlights the extra effort catering staff have to put in to make customers feel comfortable. It's not a job I could or would want to do, and so kudos to those who have to do it every day.

All that said, I'm unlikely to dine there again, but will probably continue getting Sunday morning takeaway coffees.

I hope your experience there far outshines mine, as from previous dealings, both the proprietor and atmosphere at Florence are...

The rumours are true - Florence Cafe is top to bottom fantastic. The perfect and delicious intersection of creativity and fun, style and service.

Came for lunch around 12:30 on a Monday and it was busy - good sign. I ordered the Mango Weiss smoothie while my partner got an ice long black, both were delicious. I ordered the Parippou - a sort of Sri Lanka Dahl with crispy fried kale and dried coconut samba (with a side of bacon). My partner got The Florence Bowl.

Wow. I've written before that to me the definition of a 5-star food experience, a flawless meal is not just meeting expectations but exceeding and often redefining your idea of what a certain food can be.

For me it was the kale with the dried sambal. The Kale was fried to a perfectly crisp crunch, a pleasing textural counterpoint to the thick, rich, porridge-like Parippou. The tangy, salty sweet sambal was the perfect seasoning. This was the best kale chip I'd ever had.

In my partners Florence Bowl each different item offered a new delicious flavour. Florence offers a huge range of their house pickles, relishes and other delights and the bowl is a showcase of what is on offer.

We were both stuffed after our meals but I couldn't help myself but try the Cherry almond tart on spelt base (my sweet tooth is nothing if not bottomless). So delicious I completely forgot to take a photo.

I savoured every bite and look forward to returning to try something else. Do yourself a favour and visit Florence sooner rather than...