Shouk Cafe | Paddington Brisbane

With so many great cafes in Brisbane, serial brunchers have never had it so good as we do now. It does mean though, that it has become harder and harder for a restaurant to stand out.

One place that has made a name for itself on the awkward hours dining scene, is this little gem of a cafe in Paddington: Shouk Cafe.

With an all day breakfast menu as well as vast lunch and dinner menus, Shouk has every hour of your day covered for anytime you get a Mediterranean craving.

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I love cafes with a nice feel to them, and the little tabletop plants and Paddington rooftop views make settling in at Shouk a bit of a zen experience.

Below we had an iced latte and peppermint tea to kick off our appetites.

We then opted to hedge our brunching bets and go for a mix of things from the all day breakfast menu and the lunch menu, including:

• Cardamon and Honey Panna Cotta with Smashed Baklava: Lightly sweetened honey and cardamon panna cotta with smashed baklava and pistachio persian fairy floss
• Lamb Shwarma Flatbread: Slow cooked lamb shwarma wrapped in flat bread with pickles, hummus and a tahini sauce

I probably don't need to say this, but these dishes were little works of art. We sat and just looked at them for a few minutes until the panna cotta began melting and we decided we'd done enough aesthetic admiring.

The panna cotta had some beautiful fresh flavours, which just worked with its creamy texture. I also felt extremely virtuous eating this with the fruit salad that accompanied it. 

I think I've talked off all my friends' ears about the lamb shwarma flatbread. Quite simply, I loved it. 

The lamb was perfectly slow cooked with soft meat and some uplifting herbs and spices added into the mix. The hummus it was served with was fresh and creamy and the flatbread itself tasted like it had just come out of the oven.

Also from the breakfast menu was this stellar dish:

• Pumpkin and Halloumi on Toast: Roast pumpkin, spicy zhoug sauce, pureed pumpkin and two 63 degree eggs on sourdough toast

This was my first 63 degree egg, which is something that has been popping up at cafes worldwide. The eggs are cooked in a water bath held at 63 degrees for at least 40 minutes, making sure they turn out the same way every time. They were super soft and the whites had a really creamy texture, which is a nice change to rubbery whites you get if an egg has been cooked for too long.

The mix of pumpkin and halloumi and spicy sauce was a real winner for this vegetarian dish.

If you're after standard brunch offerings of toasted bagels or chicken sandwiches, Shouk probably isn't for you. If, however, you're keen to try a bit of kale, latke, or water bathed eggs you will definitely be covered here.

11am has never been such an exciting time of the day.

The Particulars

• Shouk Cafe can be found at 14 Collingwood St, Paddington 4064
  
• Open Mon – Sun 7:30am – 3pm & Fri – Sat 6:30pm – 9:30pm
• Breakfast/ Lunch dishes range from $5.50 – $26