Cafe Catalina

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Posted 2016-12-13 by Jane Wong ⇒ follow

Where is ?

in Southport, which sits overlooking the Southport Broadwater, is literally located in the heart of Gold Coast - Southport recognised as the City of Gold Coast's central business district. Southport is an easy 10 minute drive from Surfers Paradise, providing visitors and locals alike some relief from the noise and crowds that come from being one of Queensland's most popular holiday destinations. For those living in Brisbane, Southport is just a 1 hour drive from Brisbane City - seeing as it's not too far nor too close, it makes for a great day trip out with family and friends.

What is the ambience like at ?

Despite being a popular choice for a cafe, the ambience of was both relaxing and peaceful, which makes for a pleasantly surprising contrast. This stark contrast could possibly be explained by the more than ample seating available both indoors and outdoors (particularly the latter), which gives patrons the feeling of spaciousness even with a lot of customers visiting at the same time. Plus, with sitting overlooking the Southport Broadwater, it'd be hard to not feel relaxed with a view like this.

There is both indoor and outdoor seating to choose from, although, as previously mentioned, there is a bigger selection of choices for those who opt to sit outdoors. It's worth mentioning that all outdoor seating choices at is located on a wooden deck, and has ample cover to shield patrons from direct sunlight. As for those who choose to sit indoors, it's interesting to note that the wallpaper names many different beaches in Australia - how many have you visited, and how many have you been wanting to visit?

What food and drinks does offer?

Despite being named 'Cafe' Catalina, this little gem of an eatery also doubles up as a restaurant and bar! Open bright and early 7 days a week at 6:45am, is open until at least 5pm each day, and even stay open till late on Fridays through to Sunday, bringing customers dinner accompanied by an extensive range of drinks at their in-house bar. What's even better is that hosts Happy Hour every Friday, and (live) Music on the Green every Sunday from 3pm onwards.

The breakfast menu at is served till 11:30am, which is when they switch over to the lunch menu. All the classic breakfast options are available here at , from something simple and light (e.g. toast and preserves, seasonal fruit salad, spelt maple and almond muesli), to something slightly more filling (e.g. free-range eggs, avocado breeze, french toast), to a full-blown breakfast meal (known at as the 'Full Aussie' or the 'Full Vege'). For those bringing little ones with them, has a 'Little Guys' menu for those 12 years and under. There are also fresh pastries available at the counter.

Seeing as was fairly busy at the time of our visit, I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the food came, especially seeing as it was cooked fresh to order. In fact, their menu even states "please tell us if you are in a hurry and we shall do our best to deliver your meal as quickly as possible"! My friend ordered the 'Catalina benedicts', 's take on the classic egg benedicts dish - free-range poached eggs, baby spinach, house hollandaise, on vienna sourdough toast. I opted for their simplest and probably their lightest dish on their menu - Turkish toast with butter. The food looked great, smelled great, and of course, tasted great too!

Now, no meal would be complete without a drink to accompany the food - luckily has an extensive drinks collection to match its equally extensive range of food items. Drinks include, of course, coffee (more specifically, Dimattina Coffee , a family operated, award-winning coffee roasting business creating custom signature coffee blends), classic teas, herbal teas (e.g. Australiana, G.L.E.W.), chilled drinks, fresh fruit smoothies, and Rush Munro's Milkshakes (including their classic 'hokey pokey' flavour). We opted for an iced coffee and iced chocolate, because it was such a hot day - it was the perfect solution to combat the heat.

And of course, dessert! has Rush Munro Ice Cream , New Zealand's oldest ice cream maker, available for customers to purchase. Rush Munro has been crafting 100% natural ice cream since 1926, with each batch of ice cream hand crafted and batch churned to create the "award-winning great tasting ice cream that your taste buds will love". Go treat yourself today!

What other facilities does offer?

One of the most unique facilities that offers customers at no extra charge is a massive green (artificial) grassy area that makes up part of their outdoor seating area. It's a great place for children to play (although they are to be supervised at all times), meaning that they can keep themselves entertained while parents have a much-deserved break.

Are dogs welcome at ?

They are more than welcome - in fact, according to one of the signs in the cafe, "pets welcome, children must be leashed"! Jokes aside, has more 'dogs are welcome here' signs than I've seen at any other cafe, and trust me, Eddy and I have been to a lot! Pets even get "special" treatment and are allowed straight onto the deck where the outdoor seating is located, whereas everyone else has to go through to the main entrance and wait to be seated. In addition to communal water bowls provided with fresh drinking water, go one step further with their friendly staff giving out a Schmackos treat (or two!) to all doggy patrons. Thanks again , Eddy really enjoyed his free treats!

Any final comments?

We had a lovely morning with great food, relaxing ambience and impeccable service (to both people and dogs) - thank you for having us, , and an extra big thank you for the free treats and of course, attention and pats!