Out of the Box at Qube, Ultimo

A spacious cafe near Broadway in Ultimo, Qube serves healthy, wholesome and photogenic breakfasts and lunches in a quiet setting away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

I'm meeting Mr NQN and Viggo for lunch and I'm running 10 minutes late. Normally it's not that a huge thing but since it's a workday I know that they will have to disappear as soon as their break is over so I rush to get to Qube on Bay Street Ultimo. Mochi, my faithful companion seems to know that we are in a hurry, rushing as fast as her little legs will take her. She pauses only to pee at a traffic light taking only as long as the light is red and then stands next to me ready to cross.

The only downside to bringing a dog to eat is that you end up outside where it is cold (a small sacrifice for their company). Luckily there's a large outdoor area with heat lamps. Viggo is a local here, he is here several times a week so he has sampled a lot the menu.

"Do you have that tea?" he asks and he orders a gorgeous decanter of Egpytian iced tea with flowers. There's enough for three or four in there and we share it along with a couple of other drinks.

The sticky chai latte isn't bad, it tastes like it was made with soy milk though which I didn't ask for as I prefer regular milk. The Tim Tam and Milo milkshake is very sweet, there is Tim Tam blended in with it but it tastes mostly of chocolate topping and not Milo which I was hoping for.

I know, what on earth possessed us to order a dish called "Very Very Healthy"? Actually it was the recommendation here and since we were in a hurry we just went with it. This is essentially avocado on toast with a mix of avocado and feta with tomatoes, rocket, pumpkin seed on two slices of sourdough. It's tasty and there is a generous amount of avocado and feta.

Because we were in a hurry I didn't notice that we had ordered two items quite similar to each other. The "Don't Even Ask" is a grilled halloumi stack with quinoa, homemade basil pesto, aioli, avocado, roast herbed tomato, dukkah and a poached egg on sourdough toast. I like the wholesome quality of this although truthfully I wish I had ordered bacon with it. Because bacon belongs on every plate :)

Viggo's favourite items here are the burgers and he has tried them all. There is choice of a beef, vegetable and pulled pork burger and he goes for the latter. It has twice slow cooked pulled pork, spinach, pineapple chutney, green apple, pickled red cabbage, fennel and American cheese with tamarind sauce and a side of smoked paprika fries (which I pretty much steal most of). There's a lot to the burger and it's a really tasty burger with an appealing sauce and layers of flavour. And props to the generous serve of fries too. Enough for a friend sitting across to pinch! ;)

It's time to go and we came, we ate and we left. All with just enough time for all of us to get back to our respective offices and for Mochi to go home for a nap.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you always steal fries off someone else's plate? Does it bother you if others steal your fries? Do you often go out for lunch if you have an hour for break?

This meal was independently paid for.

Qube

56 Bay St, Sydney NSW 2037
Phone: (02) 9212 0025
Monday to Friday 7am-4pm
Saturday 8am-1pm
Sunday closed