Right off the Gold Coast Highway, Skull and Bones Espresso Boutique is nestled in a nook. Right through a door which could be housing any old business is the espresso boutique, half-hiding as a getaway for the locals and visitors alike. The vision was to be like Melbourne, taking a small space and making the most with what they have got. Each facet of the place is used to indicate that quality matters most.
My dining buddy and I had finished breakfast and were goigng to meet my parents a few hours later for lunch. That left a fair few hours in between to bide the time. For part of that, we decided to take a detour and stop in another place to get a coffee. With all the fuss about the coffee here, being lauded as one of the best in the northern area, it was chosen since it was not too far away from the breakfast location.
The service is really quick, and the staff are co-operative among each other. Each one of them is really friendly. So, they have that welcoming atmosphere to them that suits a place such as this.
Regarding the fit out of the place, it is hard to describe it in only a few words. What it definitely is is relaxed, but that just gets an idea of it. The aesthetic borrows a bit from this and a bit from that. On the back wall was a design that looks stereotypically 1970s, skull decorations are around the place, there are some really good stencil drawings on the walls and the blackboard wall with chalk signs complete it at the entrance. A bit mismatched, much like their clinetele. Props will be given to managing to get as many chairs and tables in as possible.
Skull & Bones has quite the simple menu. First off is their coffee. There are the general espresso drinks, then bulletproof coffee (my dining buddy went to try it, so hold your horses because I will describe it when it comes to it), and "Bone's Brew" (a speciality bottled cold brew, in several varieties). As with most places that offer coffee, tea is also available as an alternative. Next up is the cold drinks, which include freshly squeezed juices, coconut crush, a dozen different flavours of milkshake (or thickshake) including the favourites, plus Nutella, peanut butter and others, and healthy fruit smoothies.
Food wise, they still keep it simple. Getting them out of the way, the usual "health" suspects - i.e. acai bowls, granola, bircher muesli and banana bread - are available. These make up the all-day breakfast. After that, bagels take up the majority of their menu. It starts out with the bare basics: a choice of bagel (e.g. plain, rye, blueberry) and a topping such as butter, or a kind of jam.
Next is their range of bagels, which are the varieties cater to both breakfast - where an egg is the primary filling - and following up at lunch, several classic deli-style sandwiches are adapted to bagel form. This includes classics such as the Reuben and smoked salmon. With one exception, they are available in half and full size.
There is also a range of sweets, which includes wafffles, the health food snacks (e.g. bliss balls et al) and one bigger reason for why we came in here. On Fridays and Saturdays, it is a treat because of one reason - the bronuts. These are a combination of brioche and doughnuts. For an additional price, they can get Nutella, peanut butter or jam added to them, as well as a choice, to make it into a sundae.
It was the normal doppio for me this time around. From what I can remember, this was an okay coffee but nothing that was outstanding. Far from bad, it still had a strong spark to it and was a little on the fruity size. Also, the extraction was spot on. Like I said, it was not bad per se, but with the crew using Toby's Estate for their blend and the place being as beloved as it is I would have expected it to be much, much better. Part of why it might have been sullied is that they served it in a takeaway cup as opposed to a porcelin mug.
So, about the bulletproof coffee, eh? What is it? Basically, it is where they get a coffee and blend it with coconut oil and some butter. The flavour of it certainly is different, and it has a slight creaminess to it. Um, yeah I did not dislike it or anything but I don't think I will be going back to it. I admit to being a purist with my coffee, black is where I am at.
The real reason for coming here was - without any doubts - the bronuts; it was a Saturday after all. So with the drinks, it was two bronuts ordered: my dining buddy getting peanut butter, and I ordered a jam sundae. Trying it, this was actually quite good. I would not advertise the combination so much being a mixture of brioche and doughnut since the classical doughnuts from what I have seen are akin to brioche in the first place (correct me if I am wrong). The doughnuts were moreishly soft, and coated in a cinnamon sugar combination. The jam was a freshly made raspberry one, and the ice cream was super cold. Also, the ice cream was smooth and was not just a plain vanilla, but a decent quality one. In the end, the bronut was so good that it could easily be had on its own.
I do want to like this place a fair bit better than I actually do. If there were a few tweaks here and there, plus engineering it to have more of an edgy aesthetic if would really do well. The best way to do this, I reckon, is via this plan: first, I would ditch the takeaways cups and invest in crockery - coffee simply tastes better from china or glass. Secondly, they appear to be going for an edgy sort of look (I inevitably drew comparisons to "Death Before Decaf" in New Farm), and I would suggest that they really go for it. That means being in-your-face, having the decor really match the mood and everything.
That being said, there are several aspects about the place to like. It is really relaxed, the food does look good and I enjoyed the bronut that I had. Additionally, with all the people around there they are doing something correct. The little nook does well to accomodate their ardent clientele. For what it is worth, this is all subjective and some people like it and I am able to see why. I just prefer other places.
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