A happening foodie scene, awesome laneways and tons of incredible street art - no wonder Toowoomba is being referred to as little Melbourne! We decided at the last minute to go away for the weekend and check out the street art trail through the Toowoomba CBD and a couple of restaurants we had heard a lot about.
Here's what we got up to!
Brunch in Brisbane on the way
After a bit of a sleep in, we hit the road and stopped for brunch at Snag & Brown in Annerley, which is one of our favourite breakfast spots. They make gourmet sausages and hashbrowns (among other delicious stuff). We both got the aptly named "Snag & Brown" which included the sausage of the day (Beef & honey) and the sweet potato & rosemary hashbrown, served alongside some perfectly poached eggs, sourdough toast and housemade relish. Once we were fueled up we headed to Toowoomba via The Big Orange fruit store at Crowley Vale to grab some fresh, delicious stone fruit.
See more about Snag & Brown here: https://snagandbrown.business.site/
Toowoomba street art trail
Dotted throughout the Toowoomba CBD are over 80 pieces of street art on the sides of buildings. We started on foot and followed a map we found online. It was 36 degrees and I was wearing brand new shoes that weren't super comfy, so after about 2 hours, we decided to jump in the car to see the rest, which were a little bit further out of the main area.
The murals were super impressive and really cool and I am glad we had the map, as some of the laneways are quite small/hidden and we definitely would have missed quite a few if we were just walking around. Make sure you allow about 3-4 hours to follow the art trail and see all of them.
Link to the art trail map we used here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1hQE8SiTZ3RFUhnKJ7c3D-ATVUVJHhn4D&usp=sharing
Korean BBQ dinner
We didn't have lunch as we were saving ourselves for the awesome dinner at Kajoku and we were lucky we didn't as we were in for a feast. Kajoku is a Korean/Japanese fusion restaurant in the middle of town with little BBQ grills in the middle of the tables.
We ordered some Gyozas and Honey Sesame Korean fried chicken to munch on while we waited for our pork belly, teriyaki chicken and vegetables to cook on our grill.
Absolutely everything was delicious.
We finished strong with dessert - I had the Chocopie and Noel had the Skillet Brownie with sizzling soy caramel sauce. We also discovered Korean DemiSoda which is now my new favourite drink! I highly recommend the peach flavour!
If you don't feel like cooking your own dinner, they also have an extensive menu of other stuff that all looked super delicious.
Check out Kajoku restaurant here: http://www.kajoku.com.au/
Potters Boutique Hotel
Booking at the last minute, I was surprised to find a highly rated and well-priced option available. We booked the Executive king Room and had a patio with views of Toowoomba city. The hotel was clean, quiet and in an awesome position, just next to Grand Central Shopping centre. The bed was super comfy and we both had a great nights sleep here. If you stay here on Saturday nights they offer you a 5 pm check out on Sunday, so you can really make the most of your weekend here.
Check out Potters Boutique Hotel here: https://pottershoteltoowoomba.com.au/
Laurel Bank park/morning coffee
Laurel Bank Park was just around the corner from our hotel and on Sunday morning we went for a morning walk through the park and to find a coffee for Noel. The park was quiet and the gardens are nice year-round, but especially around September when the annual carnival of flowers is on. We got drinks from Urban Grounds cafe and sat in the park to watch the doggos that were out for their morning walks. It had cooled down a lot and there was a great breeze, so it was really nice spot to be.
Check out Urban Grounds cafe here: http://www.urbangrounds.com.au/
Brunch picnic at Picnic Point
After checking out from the hotel, we picked up a brunch picnic platter (you need to pre-order these) from Urth cafe and headed up to Picnic Point. The picnic pack was huge - it was only $40 and it easily would have fed 3-4 hungry people! Even though the car park was quite busy there were plenty of tables available and we picked a great spot near the lookout to enjoy our snacks. There is also a cafe here if you would prefer this to bringing your own supplies. There was a bunch of cute doggos here too!
See the options available at Urth Cafe here: https://pottershoteltoowoomba.com.au/
Link to picnic point cafe here is you prefer: https://picnic-point.com.au/
We had a great weekend and were super impressed by just how cool Toowoomba was!
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