Breakfast and Coffee at Loading Dock Espresso

Loading Dock Espresso
2 Edmondstone Street, South Brisbane

I was taking my routine stroll through South Brisbane/West End when I spotted something that made me change my course: a queue of people admist commercial-looking buildings. I ventured closer and spotted a cafe. Hang on. I've walked along this street countless times before. How could I not know there was a cafe here? My theory is that Loading Dock does predominantly weekday trade (possibly open on Saturdays too) and prior to this month, I didn't get into Brisbane until late night on Fridays. Now that I have Fridays off, I see much more of Brisbane that is hidden from the weekend-only visitor.

Loading Dock Espresso sounded familiar to me so I'm sure I've read about it on some website or cultural media. It's a small cafe that looks like a locked up garage when it's closed because that's what it is. I must have never noticed it in the past because all I saw was a garage roller door. The cafe layout reminds me of Two Trees Espresso, which is another Mambo Coffee outlet.

Soy latte

Ordering coffee was a no-brainer since this was an espresso venue after all. The only question was what I should order with it. I noticed toasties on the blackboard but when I got to the front counter, I was told they were sold out. I did have a back up plan though. I overheard the two ladies in front of me ordering 'morning glories'. I didn't know what they were so I asked. They turned out to be breakfast muffins.

Morning glory muffin

My latte was good but what left a stronger impression on me that morning was the morning glory muffin. It was so yummy! It had a soft muffiny base ladden with berries, oats, nuts and topped with crunchy pepitas.

Bite shot

They weren't overly sweet like the really processed type of muffins and generally tasted more 'wholesome'. Despite that healthy aspect, they were downright delicious too. I loved the combination of textures.

I've attempted to buy the morning glory muffin twice now since that first taste. Once, my car wouldn't start and I had to call RACQ. The other time, I was up and about too early in the morning and Loading Dock was still closed. I'm not deterred though. I will be back for more of those delicious muffins! Maybe even this week.