The Scenic Rim is a lovely area an hour or so inland from Brisbane, and today was a perfect day for a ride. The mix of rolling hills, wide-open countryside, and the winding, cool roads of Mount Tamborine means the area has something for all riders. There are plenty of places to stop for tasty, generous serves of food. And most important for those on two or three wheels, cool drinks on hot days: or of course hot drinks on cold days. There's nothing like a mug of hot tea to warm you up on the inside and to get the feeling back in your frozen fingers.
Today we went to my favourite place for lunch, the
Flavours Cafe in Boonah. It has a range of $10.00 lunch specials and a large menu of other temptations. I have always found the staff very friendly and the generously-sized meals delicious. The inside of this old building is decked out in interesting old photos, and other memorabilia.
There is also a fireplace for those cooler winter days: the perfect time to sample their roast dinner.
The large verandahs catch the breeze and that is where we choose to eat today. We both had the $14.95 chicken melt with mango chutney on Turkish bread, my husband ordered his with chips and couldn't eat it all. There is a free biker magazine called
Cycletorque to peruse while waiting for your order, and on the verandah is a supply of things to clean your visors and lube your chain if needed.
A short walk from
Flavours Cafe is
Ned Kelly's, where you can wander around for ages looking at and trying to resist all things biker related. The shop is huge, much bigger than their old shop in Canungra.
Talking of Canungra, another great motorcycle-friendly place is
The Outpost Cafe. We usually like to stop here for morning or afternoon tea, but their meals are excellent too. Like a lot of country places the meals are generous in size and you know the produce is locally sourced. I can personally vouch for several of their
pies. This cafe has a gift shop attached to it and it is bigger than
Flavours Cafe, which is good if you are riding with a large group. There is almost always a row of motorbikes parked outside this cafe, but there's plenty of parking behind the cafe if you can bear to leave your shiny, chromed machine out of your sight.
Just down the road from
The Outpost Cafe (where
Ned Kelly's used to be before they moved to Boonah) is
Bling 4 Bikers. The old
Ned Kelly's store used to be quite small but
Bling 4 Bikers has knocked through to the shop next door so it's now twice the size.
My third suggestion, although I have only been here twice, is the large and very popular
Bearded Dragon, a hotel that also holds functions and weddings.
This pub has free live music, and as we found out today, a market that runs from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm on Sundays. Unfortunately we got there at 1.25 pm so we shall save our meal with a market for another day.
The Bearded Dragon is a completely different experience to the
Flavours Cafe and
The Outpost Cafe. This venue is a much bigger concern and personally I prefer the smaller more intimate venues, but it's great for an 'Australian' experience with its setting in the countryside, and the Crocodiles and Dragons Reptile Show. It is also child friendly with lots of space for children to play.
So, those are my three suggestions for the best places to stop and eat on the Scenic Rim. Are there any other places I should know about for my next ride?
