Hazel Espresso — Restaurant in Gold Coast City

This is a wonderful cafe. I have been here for breakfast three times and was very impressed on each occasion.

On my first visit, I ordered the Ban Mi Breakfast Board and a flat white coffee. Both were excellent. The ban mi roll was very fresh, and the contents - pork, coriander, etc. - were full of flavour. The coffee was a nice blend and extra hot as ordered.

The second time around, I thought I'd be more adventurous. I went for the Chilli Crab Croissant and the Hanoi Egg Coffee. Again, excellent choices. The omelette was perfectly cooked, light and fluffy, and you could taste the crab meat with every bite. I enjoyed the coffee, too. It was a strong brew with an egg mixture on top, not too dissimilar from egg nog. Unique, in a good way.

I hit the jackpot again this morning, this time with Bo Ne Flaming Beef, which I had with a traditional Vietnamese filtered coffee. Bo ne is a marinated beef dish that comes with eggs, tomatoes, and coriander, and it's served with a fresh baguette to mop up the marinade. Sensational! The coffee was good too, a strong brew with condensed milk.

The service I received was great on each visit. The waiter who served me was friendly, polite, and brought out chilled water each time without having to be asked. He happily explained the menu options, and the waitress who brought my Vietnamese coffee this morning patiently showed me how to go about drinking it. (You wait until the coffee drips through the percolator into the cup, then remove the percolator and drink from the cup.)

Hazel Espresso is in a good location, down a side street, just metres from the Southport Tram Station. It has seating inside and outside.

I would certainly recommend Hazel Espresso for its high-quality, unique menu, excellent service, and...

This is a great little cafe tucked away in Chinatown, Devonport Street, Southport. The decor is beautiful and homely, not too overdone or attempting to be something it's not. The service was attentive, friendly and welcoming, impeccable even. I chose the Avo Goodness and a Salted Caramel Iced Macchiato, neither disappointed. The Avo Goodness is deceptively filling, the crunchy lotus chips add chewy goodness while the sourdough was easy to cut with a knife. They definitely didn't skimp on the avocado, exactly the correct ratio of avocado to toast. The macchiato was out of this world! Delicious bitter, perfectly brewed coffee, just the right amount of salted caramel, and the sea salt foam was to die for! I was expecting it to be sweeter than what it was, and I was hoping it wouldn't be overly sweet. It was perfectly balanced, just the right amount of sweetness matched with the right amount of salty and bitter to not be overbearing. After checking reviews after my visit, I'm disappointed I didn't look beforehand, as I would've ordered the Vietnamese egg coffee instead. I will definitely be back and trying that next time! I recommend giving this...

Now I understand why the place is always busy. Some of the fluffiest scrambled/omelet eggs I've ever had. We had the chili crab scramble and it was delish. The french toast was delightful, so we ordered another. The fresh fruit juices and egg coffees were on point and made fresh. Everyone else at our table thoroughly enjoyed their meals as well (truffle mushroom scramble, flaming beef and egg and crispy chicken sandwich). All presented beautifully too. The servers were all sweet, friendly and patient with us as we took a moment to order - it was difficult to choose because there were so many enticing options on the menu!

The only things I would suggest is they need to fine tune their kitchen prep, because the food came out rather slowly (yes I get that they were really busy - I will try going on a week day next time if I can). And maybe turn the music down ever so slightly inside as it was a little loud.

We will definitely be back for more though. The food was delicious...