Indimex Cafe

Indian and Mexican aren’t really the first two cuisines you would think were likely to geographically meet, but two worlds serendipidously collide at Indimex Cafe.

Indimex sign — The sign and the service counter/bar.

There’s a lively punch of colour in the decor, from the almost pop art-style picture of two moustached men, one turbaned and one sombreroed, on the sign, to the furnishings and murals on the inside walls. There are painted wooden tables, and cheerily coloured chairs. At the tables along the sides, there are also large carved wooden bench seats with patterned cushions. It is, perhaps, a visual representation of the approach to flavour here, boldly vibrant. There was modern pop music playing over the speakers (think One Direction and Rihanna), but not too loud.

Indimex table — One of the decorated tables. Learn about spices..

It is mostly al fresco dining, in a covered outdoor area, with the option for them to turn on fans if it is stifling. There is the occasional breeze that goes through otherwise. There is some seating inside as well, but also non-airconditioned. It has a similar setup to Groovy Dessert Bar and Five Boroughs, which occupy the same stretch. It got a bit warm on the 27 degree day we were there though.

Indimex couch — A carved wooden bench, made comfortable with colourful cushions.

The items on the breakfast menu are available until midday every day, with the funky items (which are the fusion ones) available until 1430 every day. The page of typical breakfast items has the usual rather safe options like bacon and eggs, eggs Benedict, and the big breakfast. The All Day Funky Brekkie page is where the interesting stuff is. Things like the Bombay Benedict brekkie, which comes with chicken Tikka pieces and curried Hollandaise sauce (had it before and it was delicious). This time, we picked the Indimex Burrito Brekkie and the Indimex Chimichanga Brekkie.

Indimex mural — The bright mural on one of the inside walls.

Before the food appeared, we had caffeine. The flat white was thought to be pretty good.

The chai latte had nice amounts of spice and a mild sweetness, as opposed to the overly saccharine mix you sometimes get. It was also milky, not runny. There was actually a masala chai option that I didn’t notice, with flavours of ginger, cardamom, and rose. Perhaps next time..

Indimex chai — The chai (not the masala one). You can see the layer of spices.

The Indimex Chimmichanga Brekkie was a crispy flour tortilla parcel filled with chickpeas, accompanied by chorizo and bacon (not inside the tortilla as I had initially interpreted the menu as saying), topped with house-made guacamole, and either scambled, poached, or fried eggs. The chimichanga tortilla was crisp on the outside. The filling was reminescent of vegetable pakoras, with potatoes and curry spice. There was a mix of slightly spicy, saucy chickpeas on top of the chimichanga instead of inside the tortilla, unlike the menu description. As a whole, I think it worked better though, as the chimichanga then had more Indian flavour in it. The chickpeas were still slightly firm, and that added texture. There were good serves of the bacon and chorizo, and the roasted tomato added sweetness. The guacamole was smooth. We had it with poached eggs, and they had properly runny yolks.

Indimex Chimichanga Brekkie — The Indimex Chimichanga Brekky. Somewhere under that pile of other things (eggs, chickpeas, chorizo, bacon, guacamole, mushrooms) is the actual chimichanga.

Indimex chimichanga — The egg cut, so you can see the runny yolk, and the chimichanga cut so you can see the vegetable filling inside.

The Indimex Burrito Brekky has chorizo and bacon wrapped in a burrito, covered in chipotle sauce and melted cheese, topped with sunny side up fried eggs, and served with sour cream and house-made guacamole on the side. The burrito was filled with a good amount of spicy chorizo and bacon pieces. The entire dish was baked so that it had a layer of melted cheese over it. Definitely comfort food. It was a dish that packed some heat, but fortunately had the sour cream and guacamole to cool it.

The Indimex Burrito Brekkie, eggs hiding the cheese-covered burrito. The dish was out-of-the-oven hot. Guacamole and sour cream in a cooler dish.

We had also had lunch there a while ago, and had a seafood platter. They don’t do that in its entirety any more, but do have some of the components as separate dishes, like the moreton bay bugs and the madras chilli prawns. They had been cooked just right, and had good spice flavours.