Rafter & Rose

Rafter and Rose is Ipswich’s cutest and arguably best café, tucked away in a tiny historic shop and a picture perfect laneway in the Top of the Town heritage precinct.

From Ellenborough Street, wrought iron gates open into the rustic lane with its vintage lamps, flower boxes and cobbled brick wall. Patrons can take a seat here at pallet tables with pots of herbs or step inside the side door into the cosy Provincial style interior, where there’s a smattering of tables, a basket of pumpkins, a chilli plant, book shelve and a shelf of vintage-recipe jams.*

A compact menu of delicious home-baked meals, including all day breakfast (with nothing over $15) can be found hand-written on a roll of butcher paper on the wall.

Everything at Rafter and Rose is made onsite and a real treat, from the daily baked muffins (such as date, lime and sour cream) and banana bread to the savoury tarts (with fillings like pancetta, mushroom and haloumi or vege Mediterranean), condiments and preserves. Ingredients are sourced/grown locally and are organic where possible.

On the menu expect to find dishes like French Toast Brioche with fruit maple and ice-cream, premise-baked croissants, Granola, the House Toastie, Eggs Bennie with salmon, bacon or ham and the highly recommended House Brekkie – bacon, jam, avo, rocket and two eggs.

To accompany there’s well-brewed Uncle Joe’s house blend coffee, loose leaf teas, luscious fruity iced tea, lattes, chocolate and coffee and the house specialty – a refreshing and healthy Hemp Smoothie.

And on a trivial note, the laneway looks across at Ipswich's BCC Cinemas, with the side of the building a time capsule of faded posters featuring movies and stars - Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz and Pierce Brosnan - in the 90's.

Need to know – Rafter and Rose is dog friendly – dog can be tied up in the laneway, with bowls of water provided on request.

*Customers can purchase one of the jars of jam which are based on vintage French recipes from the jam-maker’s grandmother. 

The menu may have changed since our visit.

And, for more great things to see and do in Ipswich, visit Discover Ipswich HERE.