There's no fixed menu at this busy Logan Rd bakehouse: instead, a deliciously varied selection of cakes, tarts, frittatas, salads, pies, soups and saucer-sized biscuits is prepared daily, subject to ingredients and bakerly whim. Check what's on offer in the cabinet, then place your order to the clatter-and-bash coffee machine soundtrack. Sunny footpath tables to boot.

Simple and simply wonderful traditional Roman pasta, fish and meat dishes served in a gorgeous 1889 shopfront south of the city centre in Woolloongabba. Even if you're not here for a meal (there's a little wine store here too) check out the lavish lead-lighting, marvellous marble bar, and walk-around glass display cabinet filled with Italian vino vessels.

You’d expect to find this kind of subcultural underground cafe in Seattle or Berlin…but Brisbane? Breaking new coffee-cultural ground in Queensland, Brew takes the caffeine into the alleyways, serving simple food (tapas, pastas, sliders) to go with the black stuff. Wines, cocktails and bottled beers also available, for when you feel like a different kind of brew.

Yet another winning destination in Burnett Lane, hard-working Felix does things properly: proper homemade salads, tarts, baguettes, pies and cakes, proper coffee and proper fresh-fruit smoothies. Local and organic wholefoods all the way, made fresh every day. Night-time savoury platters and all-Australian beers and wines were about to commence when we visited.

This rude-red shipping container has planted itself in a nook below the downtown Brisbane skyscrapers. Beaut homemade burgers are the mainstay: choose your bun, your burger, your vegies, cheese and sauces, then search for a spare seat by the footpath. A real hit with the lunchtime city suits.

Another of Brisbane's new breed of hip laneway coffee shops, Bean is down a grungy, graffiti-spangled driveway off George St, surrounded by fire escapes, air-con units and cigarette-smoking office workers. You can grab a biscuit, a beer or an eggy breakfast here, but coffee is the main game. Live acoustic tunes Thursday evenings.

An orange and dark-wood bunker hunkered down by the Riverside ferry terminal, Groove Train is long, low, lean and groovy. Watch the boats chug to-and-fro as you tuck into wood-fired pizzas, wok fry-ups, burgers, calzoni, risottos and big salads. Gets moody and barlike at night.

One of the finest restaurants in the state, award-winning E’cco is a culinary must! Menu masterpieces from chef Philip Johnson include liquorice-spiced pork belly with caramelised peach, onion jam and kipfler potatoes. The interior is suitably swish: all black, white and stainless steel.

Wallowing in awards, this long-running favourite serves Brisbane’s best steaks, along with first-rate seafood and roast game meats. The classy semicircular dining room in the Eagle St Pier complex has floor-to-ceiling windows and river views.

A steep climb up from the riverside (or an easy drive to the door), this clifftop cafe has superb river and city-skyline views. It’s a casual, open-air pavilion: big breakfasts, burgers, battered barramundi and chips, salads, desserts and good coffee are the standouts.

On restaurant-lined Grey St, Ahmet’s serves delectable Turkish fare amid a riot of colours and Grand Bazaar and Bosphorus murals. Try a Sucuk pide (oven-baked Turkish bread with Turkish salami, egg, tomato and mozzarella). Deep street-side terrace and regular live music.

Looking for a classy restaurant in which to pop the question? This angular, concrete-and-dark-timber bunker by the river is for you! Start with the Moreton Bay bugs with braised leeks, then move on to the salt-crusted Yorkshire pork with sherry-glazed prunes and cauliflower. Flashy Stoke Bar is next door (for champagne after she/he says ‘Yes!’).

Paradise for gourmands, this small but lavishly stocked market has gourmet cheeses, a bakery-patisserie, fruit and veg, flowers, and lots of quality goodies. The fresh seafood counter serves excellent sushi and sashimi. The James Street Cooking School ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %07-3252 8850; www.jamesstcookingschool.com.au; 22 James St, Fortitude Valley; 3hr class $135-155) is upstairs.

Swing into this darkened, main-street Japanese joint for a quick-fire feed of gyoza (dumplings) or a ramen soup, best shared with a boozy bunch of buddies. Good fun, good prices, cold Kirin on tap and Koshihikari rice beer in the fridge. No bookings.

Aptly if unimaginatively named, this is indeed the place in town to eat Vietnamese, with exquisitely prepared dishes served to an always crowded house. Go for something from the ‘Chef’s Recommendation’ list: crispy beef strips with honey and chilli, or clay-pot prawns with oyster sauce. Great value for money.

Caffeine fiends sidestep milk crates and stacks of cardboard boxes down a little black-walled alley behind the James St Market for some of the best coffee in town. Food-wise it's substantial cafe fare (baked eggs, bagels, buttermilk pancakes). Takeaway bags of beans, too.

This modest, brightly illuminated hole-in-the-wall on the Chinatown mall cooks up solid, chilli-heavy Thai and Laotian, including pla dook yang (grilled whole catfish). It also does a mean curry laksa (nectar of the gods). Takeaway available.

The Brothers Kwan like to stay up late, sitting around their moody, renovated warehouse beneath disco balls and Chinese umbrellas, sharing plates of crispy tofu with lemongrass and chilli, Korean fried cauliflower and BBQ pork-belly sliders. Wash it down with a draught Kirin beer then head for bed before the sun comes up.

Inside James St Market, this upscale deli serves gloriously rich pastas, burgers, salads and soups, plus colossal panini and lasagne slabs. The fresh juices are a liquid meal unto themselves. Walls are lined with deli produce: vinegars, oils, herbs and hampers. You’ll feel hungry as soon as you walk in!

The best patisserie this side of Toulouse? Something to think about as you grab a nutty coffee and a bag of the namesake chouquettes (small choux pastries topped with granulated sugar), a shiny slice of tarte au citron, or a filled baguette. French-speaking staff.

This hyperactive little neighbourhood cafe has woken up the slumbering lowlanders of New Farm. Brunching mums and dog-walkers cram into the tight shopfront for Spanish sardines on toast, breakfast burritos and terrific pastries, cakes and tarts. Staff are on the ball, and will do their best to squeeze you in.

This uber-stylish 22-seat restaurant-wine bar features seasonally inspired Gallic fare. Patrons sit at the narrow bar and enjoy amuse-bouches (hors d’oeuvres) such as oysters and Alsace foie gras, followed by the likes of pork cutlets with mustard mash or duck breast with pumpkin, gingerbread and licorice jus. Great for a special occasion.

On the riverbank level of the Brisbane Powerhouse is casual, breezy Watt. Order up some duck salad with sweet chilli, rocket and orange, or a smoked ham-hock terrine with lentils and cornichons. Wines by the glass; DJ tunes on Sunday afternoons. Eat in the bar or the pricier restaurant.

The smell of hickory hangs heavy in the air of this American-style BBQ joint. The menu includes tender short ribs, pulled pork and charcoal chicken (with vodka barbecue sauce), along with requisite sides like coleslaw, mac-and-cheese and fries. In-house joke: 'The trouble with barbecue is two or three days later you're hungry again'.

Awash with prayer flags and colourful cushions, this karmically positive, unfussy restaurant serves authentic Tibetan and Nepalese fare such as tender fhaiya darkau (lamb with vegies, coconut milk and spices). Repeat the house mantra: ‘May positive forces be with every single living thing that exists’.

With a counter full of fresh mud crabs, Moreton Bay rock oysters, banana prawns and whole snapper, this old-time fish-and-chipper has had a facelift but is still the real deal. The $9.50 cod-and-chips dinner is unbeatable.

'Change the way you eat fish and chips' is the motto here, a busy seafood shack on an unforgiving stretch of Vulture St (hell for parking). Sourced from sustainable fisheries, the product here is fresh and filling (try the sardines on sourdough). 'This is restaurant quality at less than cafe prices!' says one happy customer.

In the open-sided understorey of a shambling old Queenslander, Burrow is a Baja California cantina crossed with a student share-house: laid-back and beachy with surf murals and wafting Pink Floyd. Try the hangover-removing Bill Murray cheeseburger (heavy on the Jarlsberg); or a Big Voodoo Daddy pizza with jerk chicken, Cajun sausage and bourbon BBQ glaze. Craft beer, too.

A neighbourhood fave, West End’s own bean roaster has top coffee, a simple breakfast menu (wraps, spanakopita, eggs Benedict), wailing Roy Orbison and regular spoken-word and ukulele nights (not at the same time...). Grab a cold-pressed coffee on a hot day.

'Happiness never decreases by being shared.' So said the Buddha. And the hungry hordes at Chop Chop Chang's seem to concur, passing around bowls of pan-Asian street food and bottles of sriracha chilli sauce with smiles on their faces. Try the caramelised pork with tamarind. Open later on Friday and Saturday nights.

With cool tunes, quirky lighting and happy staff, this peaceably repurposed gun shop has exposed-brick walls, sculptural ceiling lamps and an inviting back garden. The locally sourced menu changes daily, but regulars include Hervey Bay scallops with crab, zucchini fritters and saffron yogurt; and excellent brioche French toast for breakfast. Craft beers, Australian wines and afternoon pick-me-ups available.

Up-tempo, eternally busy and in a prime West End location, the LGT is a great spot for a big Greek feast and some people watching. Launch into a prawn and saganaki salad or a classic lamb gyros (souvlaki), washed down with a sleep-defeating Greek coffee. It's kid-friendly, too.

Woven tablecloths, red walls and candlelit tables create a snug atmosphere at this standout Turkish restaurant. Share an 'Istanbul Sublime' meze platter (grilled halloumi, kofta meatballs, garlic prawns and more good stuff), or tuck into the excellent lamb ribs.

This old-timey neighbourhood shopfront was vacant for 17 years before Scout showed up and started selling bagels. The vibe is downbeat, affable and arty. If the breakfast bagel doesn't tempt, order some Macedonian beans with feta and roasted cherry tomatoes and watch the kids scribble chalk drawings on the footpath in the sun.

Tasty Tibetan fare beneath paper lanterns and a massive pair of Tibetan Buddhist horns suspended from the ceiling. Try the bakra ko tihun (goat curry on the bone with pumpkin and squash). And if you've never tasted Nepalese rice beer, here's your chance.

Authentic Italian gelato in dinky little tubs or cones, perfect for a promenade on a humid Brisbane evening. Try the classic salted caramel or Dutch chocolate, or a lighter seasonal fruit sorbet (terrific feijoa!). It's down the hill from the main Paddington strip in the cute Rosalie shopping enclave.

Keeping Paddington awake, this roaster-cafe is one of several Merlos around town (a local success story). Bite a biscuit or sniff at some slice, but what you’re really here for is the coffee: a bag of beans to go or a quick-fire cup, strong enough to get you through 'til the next one.

Pizza and pasta just like they make in Rome, served on an outdoor piazza (or inside if it's too humid). Pizzas come either rosse or bianche (with or without tomato base), and are thin and crispy. Great staff, Peroni beer on tap, and kid-friendly too (also just like Rome).