The brand-new Sens Coffee QSV comes to Queen Street Village
The brand-new Sens Coffee QSV comes to Queen Street Village
Don’t you just love it when a new café comes to town?! Especially one which gives you all the right feels with its eats, sips, looks, and service, and boasts a couple of srsly successful ‘siblings’.
Well jump in your car, on the G, on your bike, or just grab a fluro orange e-bike off the side of the road – whatever it takes to get you to Sens Coffee QSV in Southport. New to the CBD and not to be confused with the other Sens Coffee Co in Como Crescent, Sens QSV (which stands for Queen Street Village) is already fast becoming a Japanese fusion favourite!
Taking up residence in Queen Street Village, this indoor / outdoor venue rocks a stunning Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetic and no, we didn’t mean wasabi…although there is a lot of green #SameSameButDifferent. “Wabi” stands for “rustic simplicity” while “sabi” means “enjoying the imperfect”.
It’s a Japanese philosophy that’s been around for centuries and is basically like a big ole blend of industrial, minimalistic, elegant and understated goodness. With a colour palette of muted greys, taupes, deep olive-green hues and other earthy tones, it’s a winner winner Japanese dinner breakfast or lunch (soz, no dinner here).
Think mossy green panelled-leather wall seating and mossy green panelled wall light fixtures which are literally #MatchyMatchy #GreenWithEnvy.
Set against the industrial grey walls, raw wooden floors, timber tables and chairs, and black bar spotlighting on the ceiling, it’s a beautifully paired-back modern space.
Head Chef Yuta Hosokawa started his career as a chef in Toyko at various restaurants, including Restaurant Paul Bocuse, a Michelin star slinging French institution.
After relocating to Sydney for a few years and further refining his craft, Yuta moved to the GC in 2021.
He became Head Chef at the ever-popular GOYA Café (previously also called Sens Coffee), designing and tweaking the menu to perfection.
Now busier than ever, he’s still Head Chef at GOYA, as well as at Sens Coffee Co, and now Sens Coffee QSV and we’re totally exhausted just thinking about a day in the life of Yuta…
So what can you expect from the menu here? A whole lotta darn delicious local meets Japanese fare, that’s what.
The signature High Protein Chicken Rice isn’t just insanely tasty, but totally protein-packing-peeps friendly. Imagine sous vide chicken breast (we’re talking a whopping 54g of protein) with house made Szechuan hot chilli oil sauce, shallot, coriander, bok choy, and dark sauce on steamed jasmine rice.
Sens also do epic takes on the humble hot dog, and we’re loving the Chilli Prawn Dog sick, with Thai style chili prawns, sliced cabbage salad, shiso and shallots served in a warm fluffy milky bun.
Taking it back a notch to the breaky time-slot, start the day right with a Slow Cooked Beef Cheek Benny, loaded with 8 hours slow cooked beef cheek, pickled apple, mizuna, and yuzu hollandaise on sourdough with lemon zest.
Or, if you’re after something sweet, how about a Lotus Biscoff Croffle. For those unfamiliar, a croffle is the lovechild of a croissant and a waffle, and this one has lotus biscuit, almond crumble, crème Chantilly and chocolate ice cream.
Beverage-wise, Sens QSV’s signature fresh juices and smoothies look as good as they taste, and you can’t go wrong with your coffee of choice brewed with Campos beans.
In this stinking heat, we’re partial to an Iced Matcha Latte with UJI matcha from Kyoto, which is the bomb diggity of matcha. Prepared using the youngest tea leaves in Japan, we are loud and proud ageists when it comes to our matcha.
With coffee connoisseurs and foodies long travelling from far and wide to experience (the OG) Sens Coffee Co and GOYA Café goodness, LBH – Sens Coffee QSV was always destined for VIP status. Like, FR.
Where: 129 Queen Street, Southport
When: 7am – 3pm, Monday to Sunday
Words by Bianca Trathen.
Images by Brittany Kreskas.
Keen to channel your inner movie buff and check out the latest blockbuster flicks? Perhaps you’re arty and prefer international films from arthouse and foreign productions? Or, maybe you just want to take the kids somewhere we’re they’ll actually sit still for a couple of hours these school holidays? All roads lead to one destination… and that’s the new Dendy Cinema in Southport’s Queen Street Village. Cue the popcorn emojis!!!!
In case you haven’t driven through Southport for a while, Dendy and Queen Street Village call the old Southport Hospital site home in this $550 million re-development project. The Gold Coast was chosen as the location of Australia’s newest Dendy as it has demonstrated a growing artistic maturity bolstered by a thriving film industry and local appetite for global cinema and discerning programming.
Dendy Southport boasts 11 stylish cinemas with a stunning foyer to relax before or after your film. The second-best thing about Dendy (we’ll get to the first in a moment…) is the broad range of curated content, with something for everyone from the highly commercialised Hollywood-star-infused flick, to family films, and award-winning movies and film festivals. The Dendy Arts program encompasses the very best theatre, opera, ballet and world art events captured for the big screen. Ooooh so cultured!
Now it’s time to talk and draw your attention to Dendy’s numero uno drawcard – each and every cinema is fully licensed!!! Not just one or two, ALL.OF.THEM! That means no more paying a premium price for the privilege of sipping on a sav while you enjoy a movie and really, that’s all the motivation we need. While you’re at the candy bar stocking up on all your cinema essentials, grab yourself a world-famous handmade Dendy choc top with premium ice cream, coz every movie day is cheat day.
There is an unprecedented number of major films either showing or scheduled for release and we are pumped!
Right now you can catch Elvis, Top Gun Maverick, Minions The Rise of Gru, and the Buzz Lightyear origin story – Lightyear. From Thursday July 6th get a healthy dose of Hemsworth in Thor: Love and Thunder, from Thursday 21st July global best-seller Where The Crawdads Sing co-produced by Reese Witherspoon will kick off, and Dr Who Fans rejoice with a double feature: Dr Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D (1966) showing from Sunday 10th July.
Dendy Arts will be screening National Theatre Live’s award-winning play, Prima Facie from Saturday 23rd July – 27th of July. The Met’s Live in HD Turandot opera is playing from 9th July until 13th July and Exhibition on Screen’s documentary, Canaletto & the Art of Venice, will air on July 16th, 17th and 20th. We feel important just thinking about attending these screenings.
To celebrate the school holidays, you can catch the latest family films for just $11 (until 10th July). While we’re talking about the kidlets, every Thursday at 10am you can catch REEL BUBS sessions for $11 (under 5s are free), when the cinema is a wee bit quieter. There’s also Budget Tue$days, Senior Wednesdays, and Student Thursdays with $9 tickets. Winning!
The Queen Street Village is serviced by the G:Link light rail with the Nerang Street station on the doorstep, as well as car parking accessed from Nerang and Queen Streets (currently only Nerang Street access open). And watch this space peeps because to complement Dendy, a range of restaurants and food outlets will soon be opening along with a children’s playground, IGA supermarket, chemist and health and beauty services. Translation, it’s shaping up to be our CBD’s stylish new one-stop-shop for all things entertainment, culture and convenience. Woo-hoo!
Where: Queen Street Village, Nerang Street, Southport
When: Daily sessions
Words by Bianca Trathen.
Were you born with a sweet tooth? Same and srsly mum and dad, could you not have tweaked our DNA to favour lettuce and carrot sticks? This makes driving past a patisserie and not stopping in for a cheeky sugar hit a totally foreign…and downright offensive…concept. So, when we spotted Delothor Patisserie, that glorious little gem in Southport’s Davenport Street, it made our day/week/month/you get the picture, we were ex.ci.ted. Pumping out sensational Asian inspired pastries, desserts and drinks, our enthusiasm exploded when we realised it’s a double decker scenario, with not one but TWO levels of pure pastry pleasure. Our blood pressure may go up a few digits, but we are so DOWN with our adorable new patisserie BFF.
Founders Alexia Kang and her cousin have a backstory that will motivate many-a-budding pastry guru, and we love that sort of thing. Starting small by renting a teeny tiny side of a commercial kitchen to bake their goodies, the initial blood, sweat and tears soon paid off. Word spread like wild flour of their pastry prowess, demand soared, and the rest as they say is history. Snapping up a prime position in the GC CBD and enlisting JIC Projects to create their dream space, not only does this involve a lot of acronyms, but it culminated in the dreamy Delothor space.
With a predominantly white, sage, and moss green colour palette, #WeDie. The juxtaposition of different textures and finishes also has us fangirling, incorporating all the usual on-trend (and utterly irresistible) suspects; vertical veejay panels, 3D slat wall panels, wooden floors, textured subway tiles, and sleek marble surfaces. Extra points are awarded for the feature arches because they are our design equivalent of pastries. Translation, we are #ForeverObsessed.
Downstairs you’ll find cabinets consistently filled to the brim with fabulously flaky goodness, which you can either grab and go, or pop upstairs to savour the moment in-house. Personally, we err on the side of the latter because it’s a way cuter setting than our disorderly desk, plus we don’t have to share.
Now the question on every Delothor-goer’s lips is “what should I order?”…and “how many should I order”? “In one sitting….”? Well, we’re singing the praises of the Buttercream Macarons and bonus, you can buy a few to take back to the office to spoil your colleagues and jokes, you’ll inhale the lot. If Fresh Cream Cake is more your jam, they don’t make ‘em much better than this…and soz Nanna, that includes you #CiaoInheritance. Another crowd fave is the humble Strawberry Croissant, perfect for breakfast on the run, morning tea, lunch, an afternoon snack, supper, dessert and yeah, it’s ver.sa.tile. To well and truly churn your butter, pair your choice with an expertly brewed coffee or tea, and live your best pastry-and-caffeine fuelled life.
So next time you’re Southport-bound, passing through, or actually going nowhere near the place, pastry-pining peeps take head; Delothor is Gold Coast for patisserie perfection.
Where: 29 Davenport Street, Southport
When: 8am – 8pm, Tuesday – Sunday. Closed Monday.
Words by Bianca Trathen.
Have you ever walked past an art gallery, paused to take a peek, only to scurry off before making eye contact with the very cultured looking human working inside? Well one super savvy GC duo is changing up the traditional art gallery stereotype so that we mere mortals do in fact move past go and collect $200 (sans the $200).
Imagine feeling relaxed and inspired, finally getting up close and personal with those Slim Aarons plastered all over your Pinterest boards. Better yet, imagine being able to sip on a specially crafted artisan cocktail as you admire classic and contemporary works and yes, this is definitely scratching an itch. Introducing FINEPRINTCO Art Bar, expertly fusing a gallery space with a private bar, and guaranteed to make any gallery trepidation vanish faster than Milli Vanilli’s career.
The brainchild of St Barts, Gallery One and FINEPRINTCO founders Leanne Pearce and Jasmine Smith, these ladies are certainly no strangers to the wonderful world of art. With a mission to redefine the gallery experience, they are listening to client feedback, broadening their market, and creating something truly unique here on the Coast.
Demonstrating that you can visit a gallery, get customised assistance to align your personality with the perfect artwork (a margi print should do it), and kick back with friends for a relaxed PM tipple, this one’s a keeper. And, with more people than ever before creating an inner sanctuary vibe at home using the likes of art, we declare this concept Expert Level: Genius. Oh and we weren’t kidding about the Slim Aarons’, which are sold exclusively by FINEPRINTCO in Australia and New Zealand #micdrop.
Aptly brought to life by the fit-out and design ‘artists’ at Zero 9 Constructions, the intimate space is nothing short of perfection. It’s vibrant yet restrained, allowing guests to appreciate the art but also the elegance of the venue design. Using marble and concrete in an open plan layout to best showcase the artworks, warmth was added with a bespoke timber bar and hand-designed wallpaper, accentuated with gold leaf detail by in-house artists.
It’s also ideal for unique, customised private events and corporate functions, hosting up to 40 people. A great idea for your work end of year get-together, you’re bound to score brownie points from the Big Cheese for the suggestion. Plus you can spoil yo’self with a little artwork Christmas pressie for your lounge which LBH, is always easily justified when you’re several cocktails deep.
Speaking of, it’s time to unpack the beverage menu and yes, this is our favourite part too. Serving the finest Australian and International spirits and wines, Bar Manager Rumtin Nouzat has created a suite of signature cocktails designed exclusively for the venue. And, each one is inspired by the work of Slim Aarons and srsly, could this get any cooler?
With possibly THE most innovative and exciting cocktail list we’ve seen (and believe you me, we’ve seen our fair share), you certainly won’t leave thirsty. We strongly recommend Life in the Bahamas (both literally, and the drink) with Caribbean rum, toasted coconut, salted mango and habanero. Equally satisfying is the Sundowner with triple juniper gin, rose vermouth, strawberry, rhubarb, and bubbles. To stop these refreshments from going to your head, tuck into one of the divine Antipasto Platters or if you’re planning a function, feel free to BYO caterer.
So if you love your art, your sips, and your chillaxed catchups with friends, FINEPRINTCO Art Bar marries the three effortlessly. Cross our h-ART-s and hope to…see you there.
Where: Brickworks, Shop 302, 107 Ferry Road, Southport
When: 12pm – 7pm Wednesday – Saturday & 12pm – 4pm Sunday. Closed Monday & Tuesday.
Instagram: @fineprintco_artbar
Website: www.fineprintco-artbar.com
Images by Brittany Kreskas
Words by Bianca Trathen
