Not Melbourne, but not bad.

A rudimentary audit of antipodean cities would deem Sydney the most scenic, Melbourne the most cultured and Brisbane the most fortunately placed, as it sits between the Sunshine and Gold coasts and is tantalizingly close to the Great Barrier Reef. I was willing to forgo anything resembling a cafe lifestyle up here but have been pleased to discover Brisbane's got pockets of cafe 'hoods. One is West End, a few blocks from my place, where I've become a regular weekend visitor to the Three Monkeys Coffee & Tea House (above). Sprawling haphazardly with table-strewn hallways and softly lit kiosks and decorated like a Moroccan brothel, I half expect to discover a cadre of Middle Eastern men sharing a hookah as I pass through. Maybe next time ...