K&K Austrian Bakery and Coffee House - Jindalee, Brisbane. Hidden away in a leafy suburban street, that is many long turns away from the highway, K&K in Sinnamon Park is an impressive and maybe out-of-place find on the far end of your typical shopping junction in suburbia. Let's put it this way: the menu here is quite extensive. Primarily, it contains a lot of the delights from the Bavarian section of Europe, which encompasses Austria, parts of Germany and all around the Alps. For what they can do with the space they have been given, they are doing well. There are some seats outside on the pavement, and a few on the balcony out front among the trees. Inside, they have a number of touches akin to the beer halls in the home country.
Starting out with breakfast, it is nothing really unusual, just a range of continental options and a few basic orders otherwise. This is available all day. During the lunch and dinner time, diners have an excellent choice of many sorts of soup, traditional hot Viennese meals, specialty schnitzels and grostels plus plenty of lighter options which include sandwiches, pies and bakery items. Within this super-generous range of options, they have a good selection of cakes - this is more or less what my dining buddy and I came here for (and it was late in the afternoon).
Finally, finishing off they have a range of drinks up to the eyeballs:it contains a good range of European and Australian beers, and wines. Then there is the tea and coffee options, with some of them containing alcohol, and finally all other kinds of cold, non-alcoholic beverages including juices, the usual sodas, milk-based beverages and even a plain glass of milk.
As aforementioned, it was a simple coffee and cake order for me. More specifically, the order consisted of a double espresso and a cake I had not seen before called "Esterházy torta". Named after a Hungarian prince, this cake is made with a buttercream base and is spiced with a vanilla flavour. The structure of the cake is like a multi-layered sandwich, with the filling being almond meringue dough. Next it is iced with a fondant glaze and decorated with its characteristic chocolate stripe pattern. Finally, the outside has a coating of walnuts around it.
Yes, this is as every bit as delicious as it could sound. This cake had a delicate, somewhat subtle flavour, however the real appeal of it was just how delicate and lavishly decorated it was. Lots of effort must have gone into making the cake, and it is well appreciated. This is like few other kinds that are around, and any sweet tooth about the place should certainly consider trying it out sometime. This was to go with the coffee that I ordered, which was a simple double espresso. The coffee that they use comes from Julius Meinl, which is a Viennese company, points on efforts to maintain authenticity. The espresso was well brewed and had a good depth in flavour and strength.
It may have merely been coffee and cake, but I don't think that I have seen service like this in this regard before. On one single tray, the coffee was brought over, along with a glass of water to accompany it. This is a traditional Viennese way of serving coffee, and it was a nice touch to the place. More or less, the company Julius Meinl is an ambassador to the Viennese coffeehouse culture which is more or less alive here. Not many places seem to do this around the city. The service was pretty good at the time, that kind of good where they are aiming to please amidst business either dying down for the day or resting quietly before the next big meal (i.e. dinner).
Heading on out of the cafe-bakery, I noted some bretzel (pretzels made from bread to distinguish them from the packaged snacks) on the counter, and to be able to give a fairer review to this place bought one before both of us were merrily on our way. This was a good little snack to share, with a chewy texture and plenty of rock salt sprinkled all over the pretzel. It must have been freshly baked, and there is certainly a world of difference in its preparation and aroma.
K&K is certainly one place that I have to come back to in order to do a proper review. The food looks and sounds too delicious not to take the opportunity, and I am looking forward to that time. As a place for a between-times snack, it does itself good as well which was evident with one of the nicer pairings of coffee and cake that I have had in recent memory.
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