Sourced Grocer

It's never a good idea to go grocery shopping when you're hungry, and Sourced Grocer makes sure you don't have to. Clean and straightforward breakfast and lunch menus, and coffee from Fortitude Valley's very own Fifth Battery Roaster, will prep you to browse their wide, witty, and mostly local grocery selection. You'll find products like Boozy Duck Pâté and organic Hinterland Feijoa jams from the Sunny Coast, along with a selection of local and organic veggies, cheeses and meats stored in their all-access cold room. You'll also find overpriced Sriracha, which these days is up there with eggs as a pantry staple.

Along with its list of local ingredients, Sourced Grocer has also sourced the local Wayfarer wearers and skinny-jean lovers of Teneriffe into this hipster haven. Even the dining arrangement in the loft-like industrial space is designed to suit the style trends: milk crates, a staircase, and the window sill provide fashionably uncomfortable seating, and there are a few chairs at the communal table.

They've got the goods to back up their looks though, and if having the pattern of a milk crate indented into your bottom is the price of enjoying them, so be it. Levain bakery is yet again the bread supplier, and their sourdough does justice to the perfectly balanced Sourced Sandwich with smoky bungalow pork, Jarlsberg and spiced tomato relish. 

Unless you have a pet cat you bring out to dine with you, almost an entire tin of creamy sardines on the Cuca Sardines platter is a bit excessive. But presentation is half the battle, and the tin looks pretty nifty on a cutting board with a salty white pepper watercress and cherry tomato salad. You’ll have to decide your position before you become friendly with the accompanying bowl of roasted garlic doused in good olive oil. Are you there to make an appearance? Or are you there to enjoy tasty eats and the consequential uncool bad breath?