St Shoebill

St Shoebill breezed into Ipswich’s Top of Town precinct in late 2020, bringing a fresh contemporary fit-out to the historic Ellenborough House building – and serious coffee kudos. Owners Sam and Kim Ladson are proudly one of just two outlets in Queensland pouring the highly award-winning Ona Coffee from Canberra. In fact, the café is something of a coffee lovers’ emporium. You can buy any of the roastery’s 15 specialty offerings here and taste four of them – Smooth Operator, Raspberry Candy, The Hitman and The Founder on any given day. You’ll also find other specialty brands on the shelves here, such as hot chocolate from Melbourne’s Mork Chocolate and the Byron Bay Tea Co. range. The all-day menu offers bright, fresh and interesting options such as Japanese okonomiyaki and spiced savoury mince on toast. The Dusty Farmhouse Avo includes Yarra Valley Persian Fetta, fresh Mint and Dukkah on sourdough. For lunch, there are delicious bao buns with your choice of filling – pork, chicken, beef or tofu. Sam and Kim ran a successful café on the Gold Coast before moving to Ipswich, where they are restoring a century-old home and raising son Henry. They have been delighted by the community’s response to their café.