Nestled tightly in amongst the new look Eagle St Pier precinct, this twee little cafe provides a fast, creative alternative for lunch goers in the city. Jude presents a strange combination of fast food and fine dining with its blend of super quick, pre-made meals amongst the surrounds of a beautifully decorated and relaxed (mostly) alfresco style restaurant.
Whilst I’m personally not 100% sold on the concept, it certainly seems to work pretty well if the constant line up of people was anything to go by. One hand, the lovely boutique-style, beachside inspired decor, sweeping river views and intimate design details of Jude lend it to being somewhere you’d settle in for a long boozy lunch with the ladies of leisure.
In contrast on the other hand, you order and pay at the counter from a selection of pre-made meals that get heated up and then you’re issued with a buzzer which goes crazy when your meal is ready to collect. And to top it off – it all arrives to the counter in a brown cardboard box of sorts.
My party of three were a bit perplexed by the whole process to be honest, but the customers kept on coming, so I’m thinking the owners might be onto a winner. The pre-made meals all look pretty damn tasty – there’s a great selection of daily salads, risotto balls, lamb balls, rice balls – balls of all sorts ready to be thrown into the microwave and then sidled up next to a salad. There are also gourmet pies, fish and chips, quiches, lasagnes, paninis and more.
Richo had the Jude curry special of the day – bite sized pieces of lightly fried pork atop a bed of satay rice ($12.90). Not my cup of tea – too much fried stuff, but Richo thought it was flavoursome and filling.
SS had the Thai chicken balls with salad and rice ($15.90), which looked pretty good. The generous clumps of chicken pattie and rice were in a nice Thai style sauce, accompanied by the Thai style salad of the day.
The menu boasts the ‘best burgers ever’ so without much contemplation I decided to take Jude up on the challenge. I’ve had some good burgers in my time and I suspected their claim to be a little bold. I chose the satay chicken burger with chips and salad ($17.90). The chicken pattie was pretty good – nice creamy satay flavour, good peanut sauce and some pleasant greenery on top. Was it the best burger ever? Errr…Nope.
We enjoyed our meals from our funny little cardboard boxes outside in the alfresco area which would’ve been lovely if it weren’t one of Brisbane’s coldest, windiest days this Winter – there’s no cat-swinging inside at Jude, so beware on cooler days and perhaps try to book ahead if you’ve got more than 2 or 3 people with you.
- Jude – 9/1 Eagle St, Brisbane CBD +61 7 3220 2201
