Samson & Sophie

Food was absolutely delicious and the Staff were all lovely. The popular little café lived up to expectations. Will definitely be coming back!

So today is my first time at Sampson and Sophie, and first impressions of this little hole in the wall café is excellent, with its hipster charm I was surprised that the service is friendly and personable.
The coffee is a little on the weaker side for my taste but I like my coffee quit strong. I have ordered the Shepard’s Pie as there is a chill in the air and need a bit of a winter warmer (if you can call cloudy and 22 degrees cool).
The meal arrives and I have to say with the first mouthful I was transported back to dinner at my grandmothers, generous portions, excellent flavours… simply perfection. It is easy to see why this place is always so busy… I think Sampson and Sophie may have themselves a new regular.

I love a quirky café but this place has gone a little too far. There is literally grass on some of the tables (it’s supposed to be there). It looks awesome but the functionality of actually eating at these tables isn’t so great. We got seated at a repurposed sewing table with the sewing machine built in. Again, it looks awesome but my partner couldn’t actually fit his legs under the table… Seriously it’s a Saturday morning I don’t want to think about whether my legs fit under the table, I just want a coffee!
The food, service and coffee were all awesome! I just think sometimes places try to be too unique… I get it, you’re trying to stand out but man, functionality should always come first. I don’t want grass in my coffee or a sewing machine in my groin…

I’d read reviews of Samson & Sophie. People loved the eclectic air of the café; the quirky furniture and re-​purposed BBQs as tables; the recipe card as table numbers and the giant pegs to hold them. They weren’t so in love with some of the meals and service. Aren’t those last two the things that you actually go to a café for? So you can imagine my reservations when I was told we had a reservation. We were heading out to celebrate Bronlynn’s birthday with the breakfast club. Samson & Sophie is virtually all outdoor seating and a booking for 11 gave us a table made of an old door with two trestles underneath that would comfortably seat six and an assortment of chairs and stools designed for 20 something hipster backsides. We squashed in and reviewed the menu.
There was the usual assortment of bacon, egg and smashed avocado combinations as well as some more unique offerings such as Roast Pumpkin Fritters ($ 18.90) and Kasundi Eggs ($ 18.90). When our coffees were delivered the waitress asked that as we were such a large group, was it OK to deliver the meals as they were made rather than delivering them all at once? Yessss… I suppose that would be OK, as clearly we weren’t actually being offered the second option. ‘Uh Oh’, I thought, but in the end the meals came out quite soon and in very quick succession. I had Fritter Envy as soon as the Pumpkin Fritters arrived. Yes, Fritter Envy is a thing. I am so very often disappointed by doughy, flaccid, bland fritters at breakfast that I have given up on ordering them. Bronlynn said she had similar misgivings but the fritters were light, crisp and most important of all, well seasoned. With that fresh salad on top, they were the star of the breakfast table. Definite Fritter Envy.
Our typical breakfast orders of Slow Cook Beans w Ham Hock ($ 16.90), Our House Cook Up ($ 18.90) and Wrapped Up breakfast wrap ($ 12.90) were all well received. The Sardines were curious. Billed as Cuca Sardines w Poached Egg & Sourdough, the sardines were delivered in their tin, with the lid peeled back. They were attractively presented, sitting alongside the poached egg and sourdough but I couldn’t help wondering about a few things. 1. Were they heated? 2. Was there sufficient toast? Surely when you order what is essentially sardines on toast you’re expecting them to be warmed and with enough toast to enjoy them with. So I asked Steve, who had ordered them, what he thought about his sardines and this is what he told me: ‘They weren’t warmed, which was a bit of a surprise. Having said that, they were very good quality, so that made up for it. Yes, disappointed about the lack of toast — I ended up eating the remaining sardines without. It would have been nice to eat them all with toast. I love sardines but wouldn’t be getting it again though — the cost was as much ($ 16.90) as some other dishes that required far more preparation than the sardines.’ So there you have it. A simple explanation on the menu that Cuca Sardines are a brand of sardines and they come served as is could do a lot to improve customer satisfaction. Buyer beware.
Despite some misgivings, Samson and Sophie ended up being a reasonable breakfast venue. Their processes could do with some tweaking — a sign telling people to order at the counter, tables set up for the number booked, better menu descriptions. I thought the meal pricing was on the higher end of café breakfasts in Brisbane but when you’re out to enjoy a morning with friends, a few dollars here or there seems irrelevant.

Awesome rustic café with gorgeous food. The cakes look amazing. It’s great to be able to go for a café that does fresh juices for people like me that don’t drink coffee.
Very nice, welcoming staff.
My friend had the baked eggs with sausages in a tomato Spanish sauce. It looked and tasted amazing. Good quality sausages used.
Only negative I could say would be the small, pokey tables…

A cute on-​trend for the rustic look café offering fresh and delicious café fare. Samson & Sophie, located in the leafy Teneriffe, is a small café and I can see how on weekends this spot becomes too crowded for comfort. Thankfully, I was able to visit Samson & Sophie on a weekday morning when only a handful of locals were enjoying their morning coffee in the seats surrounding mine. The atmosphere was calm and peaceful — it was a prime location to enjoy a cup of chai tea and their ham, cheese and mustard toastie. These guys own a few other cafes in the Brisbane ‘burbs and there’s a similar feel and focus on local ingredients across all the venues.

Best breakfast in Brisbane. Victims of their own success, it can be a little difficult to get a seat sometimes! Great people, excellent service.

Holy lots of stuff in a little store!
The boys from Alcove certainly have the knack for knowing what yuppies want.
Breakfast is pretty good — coffee ok — but everything is quite expensive.

Finally a new café in Brisbane that really has some personality abounding it before you even so much as take that first slurp or coffee or bite into your biodiverse baked goods!
This friendly looking nook in Teneriffe is definitely worth a stop by even if it is just gaze upon all the treasures that are so thoughtfully displayed within this hipster barnyard chic abode… Plus the coffee’s delightful to boot!

We had a lovely breakfast at Samson and Sophie on Saturday. The place was very busy with local residents and the staff were busy and friendly. Our food was delicious and we were happy with the service. Unfortunately the seating at this café makes it a 3star establishment not a 5star one.
The tables are small and wobbly. I noticed the staff constantly trying to sure up tables. Wobbly tables and small hard seating means that a customer can never really relax. I found myself gingerly cutting food to save spilling coffee. Also, a woman attempted to squeeze next to us to get to her table. Because these tables are so close her bottom ending up grazing my toasted sandwich. Eew!
Samson and Sophie is not the only café that has not invested enough money or thought into seating and tables. With the whole «recycled» «upcycled» «home grown» furniture in vogue comes a feast for the eyes but a pain in the ass. I laughed at one couple who negotiated sitting at a converted weber bbq table that had grass growing out of it. (Yeah WTF? trendy, but not practical)
Why do people adopt cafes as their regulars? Because they feel comfortable and «at home» in them. More cafes including Samson and Sophie need to walk in the shoes of their customers — or is that sit in the seats of their customers?

This little place has only been here this week but it feels and looks like it has been here forever. A very clever quirky and unique fitout, it’s really appealing. The space is full of edible and non edible goodies. Jewellery, herbs, hand lotions all for sale. It’s not a big space but they’ve packed a lot in. The seating area is compact and shaded by umbrellas. Very adorable recycled tables too.
The menu is simple and very tempting. Lots of raw food/​healthy food options. Coffee was nice, well made, good clean latte art and a mellow flavour.
And finally the service was friendly and prompt. I can see this place becoming a bug local favourite, full of personality and character.