250 Oxley Road, Graceville
The good thing about moving out west is that I finally get to try a lot of cafes and restaurants that have been sitting on my 'to visit' list but never bothered to go to because they were too far away. Now, I live in the 'far away' and whilst it's vastly inconvenient for anything in town, there are some notable gems in this part of Brissie.
One cafe that I'd been following on Instagram for aaaages is Goodness Gracious in Graceville. Jenny occasionally passes it on her drive and commented that it is always busy. The photos they posted looked amazing so I was keen to give it a try. Yesterday, Marc and I were both home with nothing to do so we headed there for lunch.
Goodness Gracious Cafe is on the corner of Oxley Road and Strong Avenue, with dedicated parking on the latter. There is air-conditioned indoor dining space and covered alfresco dining outside. I'm just getting into the Summer spirit this week so I wanted to bask in sunshine. I'm sure by the time Summer actually hits, I'll be over the heat, but at the moment it still seems enticing.
Refresher juice and Go Mango smoothie
We ordered drinks to start, with the refresher juice catching my eye and Marc ordering the Go Mango smoothie.
Drinks were brought out first and they were pretty much exactly as described. My refresher juice was very refreshing with elements of watermelon and cucumber. It was cooling but not too sweet. Marc's smoothie was more 'delicious' in that it tasted like a mango and coconut dessert but it was too heavy for my liking. He really enjoyed it though.
Food took a bit longer to arrive. I was relieved when our plates were finally brought out because it was getting on a bit in the afternoon (2pm ish?) and my stomach was grumbling.
Smoked eggs with duck - and leek hay, truffle aioli and artichoke
The plates were so prettily presented. The smoked eggs, duck slices and various garnishes were arranged across the plate, resembling a fine dining entree more than a cafe breakfast. This was a very interesting dish. The duck had good flavour but my critisism comes from the fat not being rendered during the cooking process. There was no crispy skin either so I found myself cutting the skin and fat off all my pieces before I ate them. I enjoyed the leek hay as it added a smokey taste and crunchy texture.
Cut shot of smoked eggs
The eggs were nice. I liked that they were served cold but still had a gooey yolk. The artichoke was very tough so it was a jaw exercise devouring it. I liked the aioli but couldn't detect any actual truffle flavour.
Red wine beef cheeks - with warm grain salad, yoghurt, candied pepitas and tea soaked currants
Marc's dish was a contrast to mine in that it was a hearty main but served like breakfast. It came as beef cheeks in a bed of 'grain salad', which tasted like breakfast cereal. This was such an unusual combination that I had a taste and had to stop to process what I just ate. 'Steak cross cereal' is how Marc described it to me and that's a fairly accurate description. The beef cheek was nice and worked surprisingly well with the grains, crunchy pepita and sour yoghurt. Marc did comment that once the yoghurt was used up, the dish became overwhelmingly sweet.
I applaud Goodness Gracious Cafe for its creative menu. There were some elements of the dishes we tried that could have been tweaked but all in all, it made for a much more exciting experience than generic cafe fare. Service was friendly but the food was a tad slow in coming out. We liked the layout of the cafe and feel it would be a lovely function venue.
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