Hard Coffee Cafe - Review

Mr P. and I are not huge beach fans, nor fond of high-rise buildings so we rarely head down to the Gold Coast even though it is only an hour's drive away.  We usually head down just to visit my family, or to pass through on the way to northern New South Wales to our fave getaway spots, and to visit friends.  We did recently go down to the Gold Coast City Art Gallery, and chanced upon the launch of their latest art exhibition called 'Gold and Greenstone'.  This is a look at 6 Maori artists either living on the Gold Coast, or with family connections there.  We were lucky enough to arrive just in time for the launch, which included a smoke ceremony welcoming everyone, and also Maori and Aboriginal dancers opening the exhibition.  We couldn't believe how quickly they started the fire!

fire making for the welcoming ceremony-did they have secret hidden matches?:)  

bush-stone curlew just outside the Art Gallery-you would never guess how long their legs are from this photo!  

But before we headed to the Gallery, our rumbling tummies cried out "lunch"!  I wanted somewhere quiet (well, as quiet as you can find on the Coast), so we scouted around and found Tedder Avenue, a rather swanky and rather quiet tree-lined street hidden away from the hustle and bustle, though the high-rises were in touching distance.  We did a quick eeny, meeny, miny moe and picked Hard Coffee Cafe.

these are the type of cars you find in trendy Tedder Ave.  

and what do you see in real estate agents' windows?  luxury boats!  

We wandered down the street till we came across Hard Coffee, next to a boutique that had incredibly expensive hats, shoes etc.  I was pining after the Phryne Fisher-type hat!

love that hat! see the high rises reflected in the glass?   

It was actually a bit nippy sitting in the shade so I opted for a hot mocha while Mr P. had his usual strawberry milkshake.  My drink was delicious!  So warming and chocolatey while still being coffee.

hot mocha $4.30

Mr P's milkshake already half gone:) $5.50

I am a sucker for a club sandwich so I went for that with grilled chicken breast.  It looked really cute, and was a hearty sandwich with lots of avocado, bacon and lettuce.  Oh, and tomato but I usually hand that over to Mr P. as I don't like tomato all that much. (It's a family thing; my sister doesn't like it either).

really fresh and tasty $15.40

Mr P. went with the daily burger special $12.50  

great value daily specials 

the lovely ladies of Hard Coffee  

Hard Coffee is open daily from 6am to 4pm.  It has daily specials, plus gluten-free options.  Usual suspects are smoothies, milkshakes, deluxe sandwiches, salads and juices.  On the Pickings scale, I give it 3.8 out of 5.

(image Wikimedia Author C. hahn)