There is something very peaceful about Riverbend – I used to think that it was the books – I love books and the thought of sitting and reading automatically takes me to a more relaxed state. However, after further visits I decided that the peacefulness really comes from the bamboo which surrounds the terrace. On a corner site, the towering plants rustle constantly in the leaves creating a soothing sound – add coffee and a book and life is good!
I finally decided to go there for a spot of lunch instead of the usual coffee and cake.
It seems that Riverbend is quite well known for its sushi and rice paper rolls (two separate plates, not one) so I thought I would bite the dust and give them both a try. I am normally not a fan of surprise sushi – I like knowing what I am ordering and what will be coming out on my plate especially when it involves fish!
The platter contained two salmon rolls, two tuna rolls, about 6 or so mini cucumber rolls and a couple of other randoms. They happened to run out of chopsticks during that morning so we had to use our hands or a fork which was a bit strange – I wasn’t quite sure why they didn’t just pop down to Woolies to buy some for the day but fingers and a fork worked well anyway.
Hmmm the rice paper rolls – They were good, and I was pleased that they contained chicken and where not just vegies, however they weren’t very tasty, which I think is a common quality of rice paper rolls so not a fault of the chef. I just do not think I am a big fan of rice paper rolls in general though I appreciate their healthy quality.
All in all the food was good – I just opted for options which wouldn’t have normally been my first choice because I wanted to try other tastes. It definitely did not reflect on the teahouse and I would definitely go back, probably for something else next time though.
On that note the lime pie was great – I’ve had many desserts and cakes from there which were really good. So is the coffee and atmosphere so definitely a keeper in Bulimba!
Bare Essentials:
Address: 193 Oxford Str, Bulimba, 4171
Phone: 07 3399 6788
Price: $$
Drinks: Licensed
W: www.riverbendbooks.com.au
Opening Hours:
Sun-Tue: 8.00-17.00
Wed-Sat: 8.00-22.00
