Blue Duck Cafe

I was wondering through St Leonards looking for a spot of lunch and saw a sign indicating a café was up a set of stairs. Like the bold adventurers of old, I ascended.
I did not find darkest Africa, nor the frozen wastelands of the Antarctic. I did find a fairly typical business-​lunch café, serving mostly Malaysian food. It was large and well-​spaced, and the specials menu looked like a good deal so I stayed.
Service was pleasant and very fast; they were churning people through pretty quickly. For $ 10 I got some OK slow-​cooked spiced pork belly on bok choi with spiced rice, more than enough to fill me up. Not fine dining, for sure, but pretty good value for money.
They had a passable pinot noir on the menu, too. All in all, pretty decent.

Walking up the Pacific Hwy I saw a sign, «Blue Duck Café», and figured that as I was looking for somewhere new, this would do perfectly. They only problem was… I couldn’t see the café. Surely they would have taken the sign down if they closed right? At which point I noticed the fire escape like stairs leading up. Feeling game I tried them, and thus the café appeared.
Its large round feel makes it seem probably a bit larger than it really is, but the wooden flooring and modern look really have a great balance.
Serving Jack and the Bean coffee, I had high hopes as I have had this brand turned into a really nice dbl mac before. Was not to be today. While not over espressed, the coffee tasted green, and was not helped with the overly generous addition of milk.
Looking around the room I don’t see too many people drinking coffee, but it is lunch time I guess… Anyways… I would likely not come here for the coffee… however … in the far corner they have a couple of comfy chairs on table 1, which by chance has a power outlet next to it. That in combination with the free wifi has its own kind. of attraction … :-)
Café Summary
— — — — — — — —
Passion for Coffee — ⁷⁄₁₀
Coffee beans — Jack and the Bean
Crema (1=burnt, 10=velvet) — ⁷⁄₁₀
Special coffees avail? — N/​A
Special Features
— — — — — — — —
Toilets
Power outlet near table 1
Free wifi

St Leonards is a weird suburb. It almost seems like a camp in the Wild West, set up purely for gold prospecting or the construction of a railroad. Everything is slated towards the working population. Even the golf café on Atchison St honours this — no Timezone or Intencity here, just businessy golf. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Blue Duck Café has the market cornered on the outdoor dining options, providing the best area to enjoy some sun amongst the office towers. If you venture a few blocks away, the suburb opens up into small one storey houses, but this café has a wide open patio area meaning that you don’t have to retreat too far from work to get some fresh air. The restaurant also has a large dining area inside for those unfortunately inclement days.
Blue Duck serves a range of Asian cuisine along with the requisite breakfast staples and runs a lunch special daily for either takeaway or eat in. These are usually super cheap for the area and are generally a soup dish or dumplings and wontons, a warm welcome from the stalwarts of the Forum. All important with the 10am coffee run, the barista is prompt and the dessert cabinet has been known to lure in myself and friends for some caramel slice.