Campos

A day off in Brisbane.  It’s a Tuesday. What to do? 

Confession: on a typical day off I will actually go to my work. Why would anyone do something so crazy? 

Because I work in a coffee shop, of course. A nice, quaint, simple spot that do fantastic Belaroma coffee. There’s a small menu, a friendly clientele of locals and a consistent standard.

I dropped in for a takeaway coffee…. and now, with nothing on my important “to do” list (apart from the obvious…pay my Vodafone bill, go to the gym) I decide to do one or both of my favorite things.

1) Go to a café and write;

2) Go see a movie alone.

Where to start? Considering I love coffee, I haven’t gone to an enormous amount of celebrated coffee spots in Brisbane. But that’s good, because now I have a lot of exploring to do.

I get in my car, Friday, (that’s her name) and I head off for James Street. My friends and I have been going to James Street Bistro for years, but as we got a bit older and wiser, we realized we had no idea why we were being loyal customers. The coffee is not that great, the hot waiter we all loved stopped working there ages ago, and the service got steadily worse and worse. 

But nevertheless, I decide to hit James Street and have a proper explore. Though I have a vague idea where I’ll end up....

Campos Coffee. 

Of course I knew the coffee would be good. It’s Campos. They supply coffee to an incredible spot near me, “The C Word”, which only do bagels and coffee. But that’s okay, because they do both perfectly. The coffee I had here at the actual Campos café, I have to say, I think that “The C Word” may actually make it better. I said it. It didn't have the same flavour explosion that I experience with my coffee from "The C Word". This coffee tasted much more subtle. Not necessarily bad, but for myself personally, it wasn't quite as nice. 

Service at Campos was professional and slick. Not a bad thing at all. I, however, prefer to go somewhere where I feel like the waiters are enjoying themselves and are pretty relaxed about their work. That’s, after all, why people go to cafes so much these days, isn’t it? To relax, chill out, take a break from the mundane work their days are filled with. You get a caffeine fix and have a chat or read the paper. I felt, sitting at Campos that the atmosphere may not be for me, exactly. While getting my Mac out, I felt a little awkward; as the tables are so close together inside I was sure the guy next to me was reading my every word. But still, it’s full of people and there’s a line waiting for takeaways, so they are doing something important right. Coffee.

One of the waiters just delivered my Orange and Poppy seed muffin. I gave her a nice smile and a “thanks” and I got nothing back. Not a smile or a "you're welcome". 

I think that service is as important as coffee. There’s no point in having a delicious coffee if you don’t even feel welcome where you’re having it. And having said that, I just took a break to have a bite of my lovely looking muffin, and I dropped it on the floor. (Important to know about me, I’m a complete klutz.) And, here’s why that’s important. Because I SAW a waiter SEE me…DROP my muffin. And…did nothing. Quickly averted his eyes and kept walking. Now, I wouldn’t be so judgmental about this, except that I do his job. I work in a café, buddy, and I tell you, if I saw a customer drop their food, I would go straight over and help them, offer them a new edible item, etc.  But hey, maybe his girlfriend broke up with him this morning and he REALLY doesn’t want to be at work.

Coffee:

Delicious, smooth. But I have had better.

Food:

On the floor. 

Value:

A muffin and coffee only cost me $7. Really great value. 

Atmosphere: 

I am the kind of person who likes to sit in for a decent amount of time, writing or reading. I don't think Campos is the best spot for this.

Service:

Professional.

Now, to fill the rest of the day!