Solo sugar high at Gallery Cafe Carindale

Gallery Cafe Carindale
Shop 1042, Carindale Shopping Center, Carindale



Back when I had spare cash and time to burn, I was one for spoiling myself with the occasional cafe treats. I don't care that some people have reservations about eating on their own. I'm not one of those people. Granted I'm hesitant to try a fine dining restaurant minus company but when it comes to cafes, it can be a nice change to have a moment to yourself to unwind.



A while ago, I was facing afternoon sugar cravings and it so happened that I was wandering around Westfield Carindale where is food a-plenty. I wasn't in the mood for a food court fix so I thought I'd try a cafe that I don't normally go to.


Gallery Cafe is located downstairs next to Portmans. The actual cafe is kind of tucked away into a little nook of the shopping center so that once you're inside, the rest of the shoppers seem to be in another world.

People-watching from my window seat

When I went, it was insanely busy. Lining up to order, I heard the waitress repeating to everyone 'there'll be about a 20min wait for menu items'. Luckily for me, I just wanted cake and a drink. Even more luckily for me, I spied a cute booth near the window and planted myself there to people-watch the shoppers going by.

Iced chocolate

My iced chocolate came first. It's a classic cafe iced chocolate with cold milk, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and ice-cream. As a rule, I like this style of thing more than the new fangled blended frappe stuff. Cold milk with a ball of ice-cream sitting in it has old school milk bar appeal.

Banana bavarian cake

The cake I chose was a banana bavarian cake. The cake is layered and covered in chocolate ganache. it comes served with whipped cream.

Close-up cake shot

Though the cake tasted good, the texture was a bit dry for me and I would have liked ice-cream on the side (ice-cream saves everything) or some kind of syrup/sauce. I should admit though that the sweetness of the iced chocolate probably affected my ability to judge anything else sweet.

I liked the atmosphere at Gallery Cafe. Although it was a busy lunch hour, it didn't feel chaotic. The staff were run off their feet but still friendly. It was nice to be able to feel like I was in an isolated cafe when in actual fact, I was in the middle of on of Brisbane's largest shopping centers.