Blackboard Coffee

If you’re looking for hearty food that has you coming back for more, this is the place for you. We’ve frequented Nola on several occasions, bringing different people with us each time (all of whom loved every bite).
With everything from your Po’Boys to Dirty Corn and Sticky BBQ Chicken Wings. There is something for just about everyone. Oh and do yourself a favour and try the Pumpkin Pie with the cinnamon spiced Cream.
I’ve tried just about everything so far and I must say I’m a huge fan of the Green and Bean Stew with the chicken and smoked sausage as well as the creole soft shelled crab with a side of dirty corn and kale. For a mere $ 15 you leave with a satisfied belly and smile on your face.
The staff are lovely and the atmosphere relaxed. What more could you ask for.

You can read this review in a loud crying, wailing tone if you wish…
I have previously said that Blackboard is one of my favourite places in all of SE Qld. We have been several times for breakfast and been blown away by the service, the hipster touches, the quality ingredients and the amazing menu.
Unfortunately we had a bad experience at lunch the other day. Wahhhhh!!!
I’m gutted.
My partner and I ordered our lunch and his was served fairly quickly. At that time, the waitress informed me that mine «hadn’t gone thru the system». So I watched Anthony eat his lunch. Then, mine was served. (more wailing) It was a fish burger (a special that we wouldn’t have even known about except that we happened to ask the waitress, «any specials?») My burger was very ho-​hum — nothing to write home about or to the usual Blackboard standard of awesome flavours.
I felt confident leaving that they wouldn’t charge us for the missed meal. They did charge us for it. I felt deflated. The honeymoon is over. Let’s hope all of this has stemmed from a new employee being under-​trained. She needed more support and training. (more crying)

I’d had a nice coffee and muffin catch-​up here a few months earlier, but coming back for breakfast was a huge disappointment.
We waited quite a while for service, so much so that we weren’t sure whether we had to go order ourselves. As Pete mentioned in an earlier review, the fact that it’s table service isn’t very obvious. They seemed busy to be fair, but I feel like the layout sort of hides some diners out of view. Once we ordered, the meals came out quickly, but they failed to failed to live up to the expectation set by a wondrous sounding menu and a pretty hefty price.
My bacon husk, American hash, fried egg and homemade sausage was the biggest let down. Everything was soaked in oil, with a visible pool collecting all over the plate. It would have tasted okay, if it wasn’t so heavy and moist, any sense of life was drowned out of this plate. The homemade sausage was quite bland and lukewarm. It was confusing to taste, like unidentifiable flavourless meat, with pockets of paprika and other spices turning up in every other bite. My dining partner (who also had a lackluster meal) tasted the sausage and immediately found the same problem,
After grabbing the bill, the waiter didn’t ask about our dining experience. While I doubt I would have been brutally honest, it still felt a bit disheartening. I was left with the impression that Blackboard does enough to stand out as something unique and vibrant in a sterile environment, but falls short on delivering quality service and great dining. At least the coffee was decent.

Blackboard is an enigma. A light, open plan café with amazing food, and equally good coffee, in the cultural wasteland that is Varsity lakes.
We arrived on a Friday afternoon, took our seats, and after some confusion around table service (it is) ordered coffees, and I took advantage of the all day breakfast menu, and asked for the ‘farmer’ (poached eggs, rosemary potato hash, bacon and sourdough).
The coffees came out first, and were fantastic. Using Brisbane’s Cup Coffee beans, they make a great cappuccino.
The food was also excellent. The open plan kitchen allows you to watch the chef make your breakfast as you quiet your stomach’s rumbling. The eggs were ‘just so’ and oozed out decadently over the twice cooked bacon. The potato hash wasn’t dry, and the rosemary wasn’t overpowering.
As we left, I grabbed a second coffee, knowing that I was a long way from my next good one.
If you’re in the area, Blackboard should absolutely be on your to do list.

Best coffee in the area, get a raspberry chocolate muffin as well!

«Little Boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky, little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same.» The opening theme song to TV Show WEEDS, sums up how I see Varsity Lakes. Yet, among fresh buildings with their cookie-​cutter appeal, sits the glistening subway tiles and urban chic of Blackboard Specialty Coffee. With a menu of filter, single origin and regular blends of coffee you’ll find yourself at home ordering a take-​away or perching upon their wooden seats to take time to sip your coffee. If you head home hungry from Blackboard it is, from my visit and viewing the size of the food brought to our table, your own fault. For under $ 20 your plate is presented with a bounty of fresh food. I opted for the Anglers Breakfast (roasted beetroot, spinach, dukkah-​roasted salmon on a slice of sourdough). For $ 16.50 this is value. Value with flavour. They do an all day breakfast, too. This could be a good thing, or in my instance, it just made deciding what to have off their menu that much harder. Thankfully, there was no 5 hour slow roasted lamb left.
And a note of the coffee: it was okay. Really it was my own fault for ordering a milky flat white that muted any notes of the bean. For that I have regrets. With the range of beans and blends they have here don’t make the same mistake — venture for a single origin or filter to make the most of your trip here.