FRESH IDEAS
This little cafe is all about creating community (and really yummy buttermilk pancakes)
THE MARKET PLACE CAFE
SHOP 71, 2 ARBOUR AVENUE, ROBINA
Open: Monday to Friday 7am–2pm, Saturday 7am to 1pm Book it: 5609 7701
IT'S just a short stroll from Robina Town Centre, but few shoppers are aware of the sunny corner cafe on nearby Arbour Avenue. Next time you need a break from the retail rush, take the exit near Target and wander around the lake to find a pocket of peace where you can pause for a coffee or quiet brunch.
With alfresco settings on the sidewalk and big stacker doors thrown open, The Market Place Cafe’s leafy outlook is echoed inside in fiddle-leaf figs and devil’s ivy. The all-day menu is looking just as fresh, with the spring selection debuting last week. Regulars will be relieved to know the buttermilk pancakes with shaved honeycomb and grilled banana will survive another season, joined by the equally Instagrammable coconut chia pudding pot topped with fluoro pink pitaya.
Order a classic smashed avo, or dodge the bread with a breakfast bowl brimming with quinoa, avo, poached egg, heirloom tomatoes, haloumi and spinach. A salad of watermelon, fetta, smoked trout and olives is a refreshing lunch option, but you don’t need to be confined by the clock – owner Sarah Schaeffer says she’s been surprised by how many people order cheeseburgers at 10am.
That flexibility seems to extend to menu substitutes, with the team only too happy to tailor my chorizo tacos to taste when I asked. Head chef Daniel Thompson makes the cafe’s muffins, cookies and gluten-free brownies, part of an ever-growing grab-and-go food selection.
The Market Place Cafe is the only Queensland stockist of NSW roaster Glee Coffee, an easy to drink brew with a welcome natural sweetness.
“They’re almost artisan in the way they produce coffee and we’ve really embraced their way,” Sarah says.
The corner near the counter is devoted to a cluster of gifts and homeware, including blooms from Posy Lane, Miss Pots pouches, kokedama plantings, candles and cards. This small-scale symbiosis is just the start of Sarah’s dream to evolve the business into a community concept based on an old-school marketplace. “Our long-term plan is to buy some land and build a place for people to come together and help each other, but for now we are starting small and building the brand. We have a really beautiful space that we’d like to use more for private functions and workshops or to rent out space to like-minded businesses or people with a skillset they want to share.”