West End Coffee House

This place is right at the major intersection of West End. By the name, one might guess it serves coffee and breakfast fare, which is true. And indeed, I had some nice fruit and nut toast there. However, it also serves northern Thai cuisine, some for breakfast, and some for lunch. Note: lunch doesn’t start until noon, after breakfast ends, and they don’t serve dinner.
Importantly for a southeast Asian place, they clearly identify where the fish sauce is. And they do offer a taste-​awakening tofu laab that I was happy to eat, among other things. There’s limited seating, and the price/​portion ratio wasn’t great. But it offers a nice suite of fresh breakfast and lunch options.

My first breakfast & coffee in Brisbane, I’m glad that I made this choice. I had crispy fried egg with avocado & housemade bacon jam on sourdough toast and a macchiato. The sourdough toast was amazing, it was hard to pause for a talk while eating. Along with the food was the casual, artistic atmosphere of the place. I enjoyed having a break here.

I love this place. Dare I say I’m becoming a regular. The mix of Viet street food breakfast options (pulled pork fried rice OMG) and the quite excellent coffee makes this place a sure fire winner. Top it off with efficient friendly staff only too happy to help, and well you can’t go wrong.
Highly recommend the breakfast. Lunches are brilliant too. Try the fish stir fry. Brilliant.
Be aware that the kitchen closes at 3pm. Coffee n cake after that.
Saturday’s get crazy busy so get there before 8 or expect to wait. That said though, turnover is really good and they run a tight ship so the wait isn’t that long.
Pity it’s not open on Sundays! But hey everyone needs a break.

They serve Campos coffee and since I moved to Australia it is my preferred coffee.
They’re a friendly bunch and don’t just yell out your name or order when it’s ready, whether to go or have in they bring your coffee to you, they treat you like a person not a consumer.
Baked goods are meh, have not tried the menu items.
Atmosphere is minimal, older furnishings gives it character. People from all walks tend to hit this place up, suits, construction, students, artsy fartsy etc. All sorts give this place a kind of charm.
Note, unless you’re shouting friends coffee, minimum atm purchase is $ 10.
4 stars from me, I do recommend the place, not for food, but because it’s a chill spot.

The consistently great Campos coffee and the reasonably priced, delicious breakfast menu are the main reasons why I return to West End Coffee House time after time. The seasonal breakfast menu currently includes the usual basics like bircher muesli and avocado on toast but then there are the slightly more special items like balsamic mushrooms with goats cheese on sourdough and sardines on toast ($ 13). Surprisingly, given the name, West End Coffee House seem to specialise in Thai street food (based on the items generally written on the blackboard at the back which unfortunately aren’t available for breakfast) and this is conveyed in their breakfast menu with items like fried rice with pulled pork, nam pla, and a fried egg and sticky rice fritters with wok fried eggs and the greatest green chilli sauce. I regularly have the fried rice ($ 13), the tropical bircher muesli ($ 9) or a slice of GF toast with avocado and chilli jam ($ 6) with haloumi ($ 4 for 3 giant slabs) on the side. All are excellent.
Order at the counter, take a number and within 10 minutes your coffee and food will be in front of you. Well this has always been the case for me anyway.
Now I just have to find a time to get there at lunch time to try their delicious sounding lunch options!

WECH pours some of the best, if not the best, coffee in 4101. They use Campos beans, which are prevalent around Brisbane, so I don’t know what it is that they do different to other cafes but whatever it is I like it! The only thing that puts me off getting my morning takeaway from here more often is the price — I like to start my day with a 12oz (341ml) the best price for which is $ 3.50 (The Cheeky Bean or SW1) and the standard price is $ 4, so the $ 4.50 that WECH charges irks me a little, despite the quality of the coffee. The Regular 8oz has, I note, just gone up from $ 3.50 to $ 3.80, which is edging toward the ridiculous $ 4 you’ll pay for the same size at Tazza or Depo. Takeaways in single wall cups but this is not an issue for my delicate office worker chipolatas as they know what they’re doing at WECH.

Even though it does the staples, the best thing about West End Coffee House is that it also does a few things a little differently. Specifically, it needs to be commended for its inclusion of Asian flavours in its breakfast items. I had the sticky rice fritters with wok fried eggs and spicy green sauce. Once the yolk was running through the rice and the sauce, it was a taste sensation. As I told my dining companion, «This would make a great hangover breakfast,» adding a little regretfully, «pity I’m not hungover.» My only complaint is that the fritters were a little too bit — smaller and perhaps even flatter would have been preferable, but from the looks of my friend’s balsamic mushrooms, generous portion sizes seems to be the thing here! That’s all good and fine, but I felt it impacted upon the overall tastiness of my breakfast as that was an awful lot of rice. Good coffee, good service and good flavours. I hope Asian-​inspired breakfast tastes proliferate — there is nothing like a bit of fiery chilli to kick-​start your day.

The décor is very minimalistic and you’ll hear the vinyl record player in the back! It gives this place a very unique feel and I love it.
Their breakfast menu is different with some Thai influence which is a nice treat to all the «bacon and egg» style cafes. On top of that they do serve Campos Coffee and I did enjoy my long black. As far as breakfast goes I went with the Portobello mushrooms with goats cheese and a balsamic glaze on sourdough. Delicious.
I do have to say though, that I came here on a weekday morning and only a couple of tables were occupied and even though there were nearly «too many» people behind the counter, it took them quite some time to notice me. Even then I headed to the counter asking them for the breakfast menu. My breakfast came out pretty fast, but I could not shake off the attitude of some of them.

Consistently delicious campos coffee. Good local Thai food on a budget. Great flavours. Only one complaint, the quality of the meat and fish isn’t the best. I’d pay more for a tastier cut of beef in my yum neur.

Since I was staying in West End and West End Coffe House is my brother’s favourite coffee place around the area, I decided to try it. I’m happy Brisbane has a solid coffee culture, I’m talking in a general sense but I’ve had a great coffee-​experience all around.
I had the ice coffee at West End Coffee House — the server/​barista was a friendly guy and my coffee was good too. The place gave off a nice neighbourhood vibe that if you work/​live around the area, you naturally go there every morning as regulars.

Such delicious, authentic Thai food. Such dedication to fine Campos coffee. I honestly cant get enough of this place. I’d love some free wi-​fi. The only reason I don’t come here more often (you know — only three days a week at the moment) is that I can’t always have meetings there. The seating could be more comfortable too. Consumables-​wise though — this is the absolute perfect place for me. Simple, solid, flavoursome food and coffee, always spot on. I just love it.

I visited on a pretty busy Saturday lunchtime after a recommendation from a friend. I was happy I ventured.
The place is quite small but not cramped, the service is quite good although not as friendly as I would have hoped, but it was a Saturday and this can always be forgiven at busy times. I ordered a flat white and thai beef dish, both were lovely. The food was a little on the spicy side and as I am quite sensitive I couldn’t finish it all, but it was very fresh and you could tell. The menu’s are quite cool on pieces of cut out cardboard, although more variety wouldn’t go astray.
The atmosphere is relaxed, I particularly appreciated the music playlist. They had vinyls playing, with golden oldies Krawfwerk popping up. My friend and I stayed for a couple of hours chatting. I would recommend this place to people who want good fresh food, high quality coffee and a chilled atmosphere.

I’ve been to West end Coffee House or WECH (as I’ve decided to call it) a number of times now. When you walk past the place doesn’t strike you as especially inviting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not uninviting it just never stood out to me as somewhere I needed to visit. Which was clearly wrong as it’s now my default choice when meeting up with someone in West End.
There isn’t really room for groups, this coffee house is best for duo’s or threesomes. When you look around people seem relaxed and huddled together over drinks exchanging stories.
I’m not a coffee expert, so I can’t grade it on that scale but all the coffee I’ve had here seemed great to my untrained taste buds. The service is speedy, friendly and they accommodated my weird food requirements without batting an eyelid. The result was delicious. I can’t fault the place

Delicious Campos coffee made by cool cats who listen to sweet vinyl tunes in this small and cosy space. I am addicted to the ham, avocado, cheese and tomato toasties on their breakfast menus, and I haven’t yet run into strife with sweet-​talking them into still making me one around lunch time (if it takes that long to finally drag myself out of bed). I’m pretty sure they lace the toasties with some illegal substance (or maybe it’s just the seeded mustard and olive oil).
This is not a space for a big group of people, but just perfect for one or two. Order at the counter and then nab a table and enjoy the atmosphere — you don’t pay until you’re done. This means that they’ll even tolerate you waving your hand and asking for another coffee when the first one’s finished. My only heartache is that they aren’t open on Sundays, and yet I always find myself craving those toasties on Sundays. Go figure. (I hear the «no Sundays» rule may change in the future…)

West End Coffee House is my best tip for great coffee in Brisbane. The owner is super passionate about his coffee, taking it as far as a coffee machine that has baristas drooling and a complex system for purifying the water!
They play cool tunes on the turntable mounted on some classy breeze blocks, ranging from jazz classics to roots manuva, the owner will (if you share my level of addiction) remember your order and simply give you a glance when you arrive to let you know it’s on it’s way…
You may think it’s a strange mix, but they also serve fantastic thai food, especially if you like chilli…
I admit I have developed quite an addiction for their blend of campos — meaning I regularly wear myself out so I have an excuse to get another coffee.
super cool, simple and great coffee, puts it ahead of West End’s other coffee venues which in the ‘coffee suburb’ is quite an achievement.

West End Coffee House does sell great coffee, that’s for sure. But it’s the service that really gets me every time. It’s not your tired, ‘customer service’ routine. For the most part, it’s kind of awkward.
For some unknown reason, there is usually a friendly stand off between myself and the owner whenever I order a coffee. He usually looks at me for a couple of long seconds saying nothing before I crack up laughing, point casually at him, and say ‘hello’- and quickly stutter out my order. Please do not misunderstand me, I love this type of transaction between barista and customer. I can almost expect to have a good laugh when I go in there– who wouldn’t frequent a place that assures them a good time? At the very least, it’s this logic that keeps me coming back. That, and the fact that the coffee is great, the food is so so yum, and so so cheap, and that there is always pretty art on the wall for me to fantasise about purchasing. Oh, and you can trust that there will be some good tunes playing. The owner has a record player in store, and a small, fine collection of musical treats that he’ll play while you dine.
There is a general consensus among locals that this is THE place to get a good cup of coffee in West End.

West End Coffee House
(or the HAUS OF GREAT COFFEE as I refer to it.)
is my favourite café in Brisbane.
In fact I was in two minds about posting this review,
1) More people = less fruit toast for me
2) I am a pacifist and would not want to break out into fisticuffs over
the limited seating.
…But this place truly deserves the recognition.
I really admire and respect the owners,
you can tell just how dedicated they are to their craft.
They pride themselves on excellence and they do not disappoint
(The owner once remade my coffee THREE TIMES until he was satisfied it was worthy of serving.)
They use fresh Campos beans
(which I much prefer over the robustness of Blackstar’s blends)
and offer some of the best value and most delicious thai food for lunch
(All under $ 10!)
They have also recently ventured out into hosting art shows,
so I expect many more great things to come from this lovely café.