We finally made it to Eight Ounce Cafe in Springwood, the Japanese cafe on Brisbane’s southside. I’d wanted to come for two years, since I was heavily pregnant.
A few things to know first if you’re going on a weekend.
Before you go
They don’t take bookings. We went on a weekend and there were a lot of people. We waited about 30 minutes for a table. I arrived early and could see seats, but when I asked, the staff said others were waiting and it could be half an hour.
Plenty of people were ordering takeaway, so if you’ve got kids and don’t want to wait long, takeaway is an option.
There’s no kids menu. If you bring kids, you’ll need to choose from the normal menu.
What we ordered
Ebi katsu sando. It looks really thick and solid. Inside is a big fried prawn cutlet, golden and crisp on the outside, with a large piece of crisp lettuce and citrus marmalade mayo. It has real weight when you pick it up. The lettuce and the citrus mayo stop the cutlet from feeling too greasy, and the sweet and sour mayo is a bit unusual.
Tamago ham sando. Because there’s no kids menu, I ordered this one for the kids. It’s two big slices of soft toast filled with creamy scrambled eggs, smoked ham and cheese, plus tomato relish and mustard mayo. The eggs are moist, and the ham is stacked layer upon layer. Two kids can easily share one. Soft toast with scrambled egg and ham is also an easy combination for kids to accept.
One sando came out wrong. We ordered ham and were given the fried chicken one. It was good anyway, crispy and not greasy.
Matcha delight bagel. This one photographs really well. A green matcha bagel holds a big piece of smoked salmon, avocado, mixed herb cream cheese, cucumber and rocket. There’s plenty of salmon and avocado, and the colours are pretty. The green of the bagel with the orange-pink salmon makes a fresh combination. The matcha flavour is strong, the cream cheese has fennel in it, and it goes perfectly with the smoked salmon. It’s solid and very filling.
Toriniku. This was the most unusual of the dishes. It’s a bowl of kombu rice topped with tender chicken thigh and leek, sesame and chilli threads, with a soy sauce chicken white-soup broth. It isn’t the usual Western cafe breakfast. It’s more like a bowl of Japanese comfort food. On a weekend morning when you don’t want the usual brunch, it’s a good alternative.
Ochazuke. I love ochazuke, and the weather in Brisbane is perfect for it. I’m from the northeast of China, and I can’t say no to any kind of rice in soup. The eel one and the salmon one are probably the best sellers.
The eel ochazuke is bigger than I imagined. The tea flavour wasn’t especially strong, though there’s umami. Someone else at the table found the tea flavour strong, and about upper-middle level. The salmon one looks pretty, and the portion is a little smaller than the eel. It tasted fine. There are lots of ochazuke options, and a little wasabi and sesame-like condiment is tasty even eaten on its own.
Prawn paste sando. The sauce is on the light side, and it was okay.
Drinks
Golden Harvest. Corn, matcha and coffee. It’s really good. The corn is sweet and fragrant, the matcha is rich, and they go together well. The corn juice coffee reorganised my understanding of coffee. It opened a new chapter, after the maple flat white lately. I’m now hunting for good corn juice to use instead of milk. If you’ve got a recommendation, leave a comment.
Yuzu matcha sparkling water. Also a good choice. Stir it well before you drink it, or the matcha is a bit bitter. It’s refreshing overall.
Hot matcha. I ordered it hot this time and it was too sweet. Next time I’ll try it iced, and I think it’ll be better.
Dogs, parking and the rest
The cafe is mostly semi-open, and dogs are allowed. The floor may have food scraps or fallen leaves on it, so if you’re worried, bring a small blanket for your dog to lie on.
Coles is nearby, and there’s plenty of parking on the road and across the road. It’s in Logan City.
Is it worth the wait?
The food and drinks were all good, but the wait is really tough. Go as early as you can, or get takeaway.
Also tried: NE
We also tried NE. It’s a place that had been sitting in my saved list, and I’d almost forgotten about it.
The prawn cake sandwich was really bouncy. The prawn cake has a springy bite, and the salad dressing has orange mixed into it, which tasted really fresh. The portion is enough for two of my meals, one each time.
The coffee uses ONA beans, the classic Raspberry Candy. It’s rare to find a place nearby that does single-origin espresso. The coffee is decent, with nothing wrong with it, and it’s a good way to start a morning.
Where it is
Eight Ounce Cafe, 2/10 Fitzgerald Avenue, Springwood QLD 4127. It usually opens around 7 or 8am and closes around 2 or 3pm, so check before you go.
More Brisbane days out: Capalaba Produce and Ted’s Corner and Snug in Coorparoo. The dates for the Queensland break are on our QLD school holidays 2026 page.