PawPaw Cafe

This is one of H.,'s favourite breakfast places of all time. Its a well known Brisbane fact that Pawpaw Cafe/ Foxy Bean and Green Papaya are owned by the same people and the girls and guys at work adore these establishments. Its a favourite haunt before and after work and a lot of us catch up there.

This was the first time I've ever gone. It took us a little while to find because I was wandering around Stanley Street from up around the South Bank end before we wandered out of the city and into Woolloongabba way. My Boyfriend and I were starting to get more than a little bit cranky from hunger and worried from the impending doom clouds looming overhead. Luckily I saw Green Papaya and I knew the end was in sight.

Not the flashiest of signs

Being observant helps since you have to enter from a sort of side door. The cafe seems quite insulated away from the bustle of the nearby road which is nice.

3pm finish, not bad

The place was pretty packed when we went at about 1pm.

The table in the centre is busy taking photos of their food

We got out menus and had a bit of a ponder on what to order.

Lunch stuff

The brekkie stuff!

Despite it being an all day brekkie place, we both went for more substantial lunch stuff! I really want to go back for the breakfast though because they have very interesting stuff on their menu. I decided on the delicious sounding fried chicken burger, consisting of a chicken thigh marinated in butter milk, lettuce, tomato, smashed avocade, sriracha mayo on a brioche bun. It also came with crispy fried shoestring fries with a side of tomato sauce.

This is what chicken burgers are supposed to be, when you crave them and daydream of yourself chasing down burgers, with legs, with a fork and knife in hand. Screw breast pieces, thigh is where its at. You can't imagine the earth shattering crunch when you bite down into this chicken, the flood of warm chicken juices in your mouth and the juicy tenderness. The rest of the burger was great too, but the star of the entire lot, as it rightfully should be, was that fried chicken.

The butter lettuce was crisp and fresh. The tomato, sweet and ripe. The avocado as a savoury item is something I'm not a fan of but my Boyfriend loved it when he had a bite of my burger. The bun was soft and buttery, squishing readily in your hands as you unhinged your jaw, snakelike over that first bite. The sriracha mayo was just spicy enough to leave you reaching for a sip of water, but not enough to deter further consumption. The fries were also good, crisp and salty.

I want to go to there

My Boyfriend got a panko crumbed snapper with shoe string fries, tartare sauce and mushy peas. The snapper was absolutely delicious! Firm, white flesh that flaked away and melted on the tongue. I really enjoyed the bits I had. I kept stealing the tartare to dip my fries in as well, although I personally felt it could've done with a few more bits of caper and gherkin to spice it up. I really liked the presentation of the bag and the chips! Just like you got a serve of fish and chips from your local takeaway shop at the beach, it was a really cute prop.

So crunchy

Unfortunately, the green mushy peas was a discordant note in this dish. I am of the firm opinion that mushy peas are designed to be eaten by babies or on pie floaters. Any other time, a little pop from a round pea is what is called for. Taste wise, it was sweet and slightly minty, but before we even delve into that, I noticed something. There's a hair in there!

It was very hard to photograph!

We just left the peas cause we were so busy eating everything else. We pointed it out at the very end and the waitress told us that we should've told her earlier. Not that anything else happened after she said that, she just literally said it and then we paid and left. Hmmm~

We came here after one of my night shifts for another meal! My Boyfriend ordered an iced coffee which came in a jar. That seems to be a big thing these days to serve things in jars, has anyone else noticed that? It was a very strong, slightly acidic iced coffee and I didn't have any more after my first sip. They serve Campos coffee here but my Boyfriend seemed to like it.

Hairy arm not included

I ordered the Israeli breakfast with a side of black pudding. This meal consisted of house made falafels, hard boiled eggs, dukkah, crumbly feta, a freshly made flat bread and a small side salad of mint, cucumber, red onion and tomato. There was also a small amount of tomato chutney which replaced the red pepper hummus as they had run out.

Mmmmm black pudding

I honestly thought there would be much more salad when I ordered this, like a big chunky bowl of stuff. Probably good since I was struggling to finish it. The falafels were dense with a very nubbly, crunchy exterior and a greenish, moist interior. While I liked these falafels, I felt that they didn't have the usual aromatic scent that they usually have of coriander and cumin. Which is odd as cumin is a very noticeable smell. The eggs were perfectly cooked, still slightly soft with a creamy yolk, none of that grey ring of doom. The flatbread was soft, stretchy and buttery soft, I'd have happily eaten that by itself. The dukkah tasted a lot like the one i have in my pantry. That black pudding is to die for, for offal lovers. Its so rich, chunky, fatty, iron tinged deliciousness. Such fat, chunky morsels of it too.

Very green?

 My Boyfriend grabbed the huevos rancheros with black beans, scrambled eggs, avocado, salsa fresco, chipotle sour cream, warm tortilla and a side of bacon. I thought it needed more protein, its the only reason he got a side of bacon with it. I sort of regretted it because of how pale and uncrunchy that bacon came out. He barely ate any of it, so I finished it off for him.

I had a bite and I didn't like it, I think it was the similar soft texture. There's wasn't enough contrast to hold me. My Boyfriend enjoyed it though and he finished about 2/3rds of it before he had to stop. The flavours were tasty enough with a thick black bean, creamy scrambled eggs, cubes of avocado, fresh zingy tomato, purple onion and coriander salsa and that sour cream. I just wasn't a fan.

Gross insides

Forcing it. I ate the egg.

There is this really weird corner outside of the cafe, where the window opens up and where you turn to get towards the entrance of the cafe. For some really weird reason, there is also a sign here and the curb is parkable. So this means that there is a huge window, an advertising sign and a car taking up this walkway. I kept looking up during our meal because on multiple occasions, someone would stand here and people would have to literally walk around the parked car or squeeze passed to get here. I feel like its almost a fire hazard with that sign being there.

 
PawPaw Cafe
Atmosphere: 7, really busy, bustling cafe. Its almost startlingly noisy when you first enter. I'm not sure I like that the entrance is right next to the tiny toilets and the entrance to the kitchen though, that weirds me out in a way I can't describe.
Service:6, friendly and quick to take away our dishes. Not as high as it could be just from that reaction, I didn't really feel reassured by her response when we mentioned the issue. Like it was a stock statement and not actual concern?
Food: 8, I would happily go here again, either for that fried chicken burger or to try some breakfast foods.