Lunch Sized Adventures – OuterSpace Espresso

on July 28, 2012 by Fiona Ryan

Filed in: Brisbane, Restaurant Review

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a lunch sized adventure as there are slim pickings down my end of town. If you look hard enough though, there are a few hidden gems. Tucked away behind a fence in the courtyard of a former church is OuterSpace. There’s a small area inside with stools where the counter and prep area are but most of the seating is located in the courtyard, around a small boab tree. This is where OuterSpace draws it’s logo from. There’s not too much sun on the courtyard during winter but they do have outdoor heaters to warm up the area and this is where most people choose to sit. After all, it’s not every day you find a bottle tree hidden in a courtyard in a cityscape.

Coffee is Toby’s Estate with a house blend and single origin beans rotating on a regular basis. I enjoyed a smooth blend without any bitter aftertaste and served with a smile. There are lots of good quality treats to tempt coffee buyers with croissants, bread and pastries made off site but freshly baked that day.

There was a tempting but not very portable special of Creamy Mushroom & Thyme Soup and I also loved, loved, loved the other special of the day, the Savoury Mince w Thick Toast a Fried Egg & Roasted Cherry Tomatoes ($14). It was back to the office for me though so, I took a punt on the Middle Eastern Lamb flat bread ($10) that was being placed on the grill and asked that a second one be popped on for me. ‘Sure’, came the reply ‘Too easy’. A quick chat with the wait staff and my flat bread was in a container, with small side salad and I was heading back to the office.

The dinner plate sized flat bread sprinkled with salt flakes was folded in half with moist lamb meatballs squashed flat inside. There were also a few spinach leaves and a soft melting cheese but I would have like a little more filling to make the meal more bountiful. There was the small rocket and Parmesan salad so I put that into the flat bread too, making it a reasonable size for lunch.

I have been lucky in that both times I’ve visited, it’s been after morning tea or before the lunch rush but I can see that with so few options around, this place would be super busy during those times. I’m sure too that sitting under that bottle tree rather than eating al desko, adds greatly to the experience.