Gold Coast Restaurant Review: Little Beans, Nobbys Beach 2 January 2011

I was a teensy bit excited about discovering some of the cafes in the Naked Guide given my initial success with Vintage Espresso.  Even though technically I discovered Vintage Espresso all by myself, without the Naked Guide.  Whatevs....  The Naked Guide promised a whole lot of hidden gems in tucked away places on the Goldie that only the locals would be lucky enough to know about and I was keen to try them out.

The take away Merlo coffee I bought from Little Beans earlier that day was piping hot and promised proprietors who knew their stuff.

I arrived with my good friend and 2 slightly sick & cranky kids who desperately needed a change of scenery away from the tv & nintendo screens. 

We sat on a lounge with a coffee table between us and the vibe was relaxed and friendly.  A nice start.

The lunch menu was a bit sparse and didn't offer anything I was interested in, so I went the Vego Nosh, comprising poached eggs, avocado, mushroom, roast tomato, potato rosti & toast.  I figured since this cafe was listed in the Naked Guide the toast situation would be higher than the usual standard.  The kids both ordered bacon & eggs. My mate ordered the Little Beans Special Salad with roasted beetroot, baby beets, roasted walnuts, fetta, baby watercress, mustard greens & house dressing.  That would have been my second choice.

Bacon & eggs was fairly basic:

...however only one out of 4 eggs was runny.  Shame.  And the packet butter was molten.

Next came the Vego Nosh (with a strawberry on top. What the?).  I was relieved by the sight of my half roasted tomato.  Excitedly, I cut into my poached eggs and BOTH yolks were hard.  Gah!  I had to trade a soft poached egg with a generous child in exchange for post-breakfast gelato. The things I do.

Sadly, the packet potato rosti also disappointed.  It was so deep fried that it there was no soft potato on the inside, it was oily and crunchy all the way through.  Like a big, fat, oily, packet hash brown.  Wait a minute.  It was a big, fat oily, packet hash brown. More potato crisp than potato rosti.

The mushies, spinach and avocado were all fine so I concentrated on those.  My toast was also sub-par due to the fact that it was merely bread whacked on the grill so lacked the necessary crunch that toast should have (in my opinion anyway).  It was just like bread popped on the grill for a minute or two.  Funny that.

My friend's salad was lacking in the volume of baby watercress that she had expected and the bed of mustard greens (rocket) had seen better days and was starting to yellow (as was the watercress).  I know that it's really hard to keep lettuces perky for more than a day in the heat of summer in Queensland, but I don't think food businesses should use this as an excuse, particularly when we're paying $17.50 for the privilege of the salad.  More disappointment unfortunately.

The atmosphere was relaxed & friendly as was the service, however I don't think I'll return. Maybe for a take away coffee. Or I noticed that the cafe is now open some nights and has live music, so perhaps with its relaxed vibe its a better spot for a few drinks & some late night groovin'....

Little Beans Cafe & Lounge Bar

5/ 2215 Gold Coast Highway, 

Nobbys Beach

Ph: (07) 5572 0844