Koi

Wave Building
Cnr Albert and Surf Parade, Broadbeach
Ph: (07) 5570 3060
Open: 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner



FINDING a top meal on the Gold Coast is like hunting for a needle in a haystack. Navigating the hundreds of restaurants and cafes touting to tourists is not easy and who wants to risk a bad meal when so many good ones can be had on holiday?

With no idea, we stumbled across Koi in Broadbeach, the slightly less trashy version of Surfers.

Close to the beach and Oasis shopping precinct it was in tourist heartland. But breakfast hunger pangs prevailed and we gave the funky looking cafe a go.
A comprehensive brekky menu was on offer boasting a heart smart brekky and one aptly named get stuffed.

The (almost) 60-year-old opted for heart smart ($14.90) which featured roast tomato, asparagus, spinach, and tofu topped with thyme on crusty bread.

Her daughter went for the opposite, the Get Stuffed ($17.90) which was a plate piled high with two fried eggs, roasted mushrooms, piles of bacon, hash browns and tomato.
Eggs Benedict ($14.90) was piled high with a generous serve of bacon, poached egg and dollop of hollandaise on a piece of toast, not an English muffin.

Pancakes with compote, strawberries and maple syrup ($13.90) was a generous serve stacked with three thick pancakes and ice cream. A bit too much sugar for breakfast.


Side orders of thyme roasted tomatoes ($2.90), sautéed mushrooms ($3.90) and baked beans ($2.90) bolstered the feast.

A poppy seed breakfast bagel looked good ($12.90) with a fried egg perched on a tower of bacon, tomato and rocket.

All agreed the coffee ($3.50) was problematic – too weak – but gave the breakfast the thumbs up.

For seven of us, the bill totaled $173 which included fresh orange juice ($6.50), a hot chocolate ($4.50) and tea ($3),

Hearty fare at tourist prices.

6.5/10

- Kate

Gloria Jean's Coffees

288 - 290 Flinders St, City (and 66 other locations in Victoria!)

DAILY coffee is a heavenly ritual. I’m thankful to live in Australia’s coffee capital, Melbourne, home of genius baristas and coffee snobs.

So it’s puzzling to see a brown and orange café chain pop up across the city as a purveyor of all things coffee. The daggily named Gloria Jean’s is everywhere. I’ve ignored it for however long it’s been here but was kind of forced into trying their brew recently. Trapped in a suburban shopping centre, choices were limited.

On the face of it starting an American style coffee chain in Melbourne’s CBD seems as nonsensical as putting Starbucks in the middle of Lygon St, our own slice of Italy. Yet Starbucks remains so perhaps they're onto something.

A regular skinny café latte at Gloria Jean’s is a large anywhere else, setting you back $3.35. A small is normal coffee size, $2.95.

For my money, the pathetic excuse for a café latte that arrived was dreadful. Lacking body, it had an empty, unsatisfying taste reminiscent of bad percolated coffee. The latte was deeply unsatisfying, lacked the heavenly aroma that is part of coffee’s joy and completely without oomph. More like coffee flavoured dishwater than golden elixir of life. Hideous.

You might rightly ask who am I to criticise? And I will argue I know what I like... and what I don't. I love the coffee from Mario’s in Brunswick St, Pellegrino’s in Bourke St and coffee from my local in the IBM tower made by two-time barista of the year Tana.

How could it be that GJ's offers a product so utterly unappealing, in my view, when it specialises in nothing but coffee? I made some inquiries and the staff happily told me the beans I was not enjoying were the chain’s Italian roast blend, boasting a “rich, assertive and extremely flavourful” flavour.

Later a look on their website revealed the coffee is “specialty handmade” and I should have tasted “the care and expertise that has gone into every step of the coffee making process.”

I also discovered this franchise began in Chicago 30 years ago and was brought here by the former head of Sydney based DDB Needham advertising agency Peter Irvine, with coffee businessman Nabi Saleh 12 years ago. And people other than me are liking it. Today a staggering 185 stores have popped up across the country.

I didn’t bother finishing my GJ latte. I’d happily concede the poor taste was a one-off, but another attempt at Gloria Jean’s at the airport produced the same flavourless taste. At least they’re consistent.

Perhaps the idea is to try the flavoured coffees. There are plenty ranging from café mocha and caramel latte, to the swanky Irish nut crème which costs a whopping $5.20 for a large.

On the plus side, GJ’s has free newspapers and staff are cheery. Everything is super-sized and operates in a McDonald’s style efficiency where fast service is the key. They take your name and you wait as the barista whacks out your coffee. Your name is yelled out and a coffee left waiting for you to put your own lid on and add your own sugar.

I’ve been told by a friend the soy milk used is quite decent and for non-dairy drinkers, a good option. But I just don’t get it. Can someone fill me in?

2/10

- Kate

Cafe Segovia

Block Place, Melbourne
(03) 9650 2373
Open: Mon-Sat 7am - late, Sunday 9-5.

IN its heyday it was the place to be. Well we thought it was anyway. For uni students with plenty of free time to lunch, Cafe Segovia in Block Place was classy, cultured... and affordable.


Things have changed since the '90s. A suggestion from a friend to meet in the Block Arcade was a welcome opportunity to revisit an old favourite.

The look is the same: mosaic glass shards, mirrored walls and packed booths, with sought after French cafe style tables in the arcade.

Quality Euro fare beckoned. But the extensive menu was plastic and grotty and no specials were offered. Specials based on seasonal produce is a good thing. Then things really started to fall apart. The $20 calamari salad came with a hair atop undercooked calamari. And it was small - the calamari, not the hair. Cake from the dessert cabinet was necessary.

The best looking was a berry cheesecake. A big chunk arrived for $8.50 with faux-tasting vanilla ice-cream. It was slightly stale. More disappointment.

The lunch meeting was absorbing enough to avoid wallowing in food disappointment.
A few coffees later and a startling $80 bill was presented. Luckily work was paying for this one.

The positives: The buzzy vibe in the arcade. The Block Arcade is truly one of Melbourne's best.

Outside tables are prized, so you feel like a winner being there, despite the lacklustre food. Service is young, eager and friendly.

Go for coffee until things improve. With its former formidable reputation, Cafe Segovia deserves another try down the track.

4.5/10

- Kate