2 of 3 Quirky Cafes: Shucked


Here's my second of three great and quirky Brisbane cafes for your delight!  

This one, Shucked - named for shucked coffee beans - is like walking into your cool best friend's living room and unexpectedly finding a bunch of top barrista coffee nerds hanging out there, nonchalantly whizzing up cups of coffee with a perfect crema every two minutes. Totally relaxed. 

Shucked is tucked into a lane in the previously coffee-poor suburb of Newstead, rendering the original hole-in-the-wall outlet an instant success and necessitating expansion into a larger, lighter, high-ceilinged brick space. Owners Naomi Mawson and Mark Ferguson opened a year ago, with the aim of creating a cafe with 'great coffee, great food and great service' similar to their favourite haunts in Melbourne, and now find themselves running one of Brisbane's best and most popular coffee stops.

The place has an instantly laid back feel, furnished with a high long communal table graced with mismatched wooden stools and a delicate glass cold-filtered coffee apparatus that drips away slowly all day, filling the pot below with smooth, clean-flavoured black coffee. There are couches too, for lounging, and smaller tables if you don't feel like being communal.

I love the walls - lined with contrasting panels of original rolls of 70s wallpaper (shipped all the way from New York), in geometrics, florals and mustard tones, and I really get a kick out of the pheasant, poodle and red cat salt and pepper shakers, and the lace doileys, all secondhand finds that make Shucked totally original and take me straight back to my seventies childhood.

And the coffee - a unique blend from local coffee roasters Blackstar - is smooth, full-bodied and packed with flavour. I'm no coffee expert but this coffee is great, and a second cup is practically a given as soon as you take your first sip. They even stock legendary Aeropress coffee presses, and I am now the proud owner of an amazing device I'll be taking back to China to brighten up my otherwise dark coffee days in Shanghai.

Even more excitingly, the Mawson's have just appointed a new chef who is adding some amazing dishes to their breakfast and lunch menu - smoked trout with shaved fennel and pear salad, sardines on toast with beetroot mash and fennel flowers, along with sweet favourites like melting moments and the triumphant warm banana and walnut cake served with a shot glass of maple syrup and espresso ricotta. 

Shucked is just a great addition to Brisbane's coffee scene, and well worth a trip to Newstead's little back streets to spend an enjoyable hour or two sipping top quality. You'll feel instantly 15% cooler the minute you walk in the door. Guaranteed. 









Shucked

9 Creswell Street, Newstead
Brisbane

Open seven days for breakfast and lunch
Weekdays from 6am, weekends from 7am

Ph +617 32574567



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