Henley Kiosk at the Beach
The Esplanade
Henley Beach South Australia 5024
T not available
OPEN Wednesday to Monday 7.30am until late afternoon — dog friendly
Often when the words don’t flow or the previous day was overly long and hard we head for Henley Beach, where regardless of the weather we find calming and restorative influences. On a violently windy and rough day it is the para–surfers who supply wondrous entertainment, whipping and bouncing across the waves, flipping and spiraling into the air with a grace and skill that only true athletes manage. In the early cool of what promises to be a scorching day the low tide mornings can offer the pleasure of watching dolphins skittering playfully along the shallows spraying a sparkling wake of tiny glittering silver fish in their wake. Then there are the languid calm days when we walk to the mouth of the River Torrens tp join the pelicans standing in line and singly on any available vantage point watching the scenery with apparently as much appreciation as us. It is a good place to take the dog for a walk and there is a comfortable safe friendliness that will get you a ’good morning’ as you walk along the beach. It is also a place we like to take overseas visitors who live in crowded cities far from the ocean and enjoy their wonderment and appreciation of our open space and clean air and unpolluted blue skies. It is their wonderment that this is free and for everyone that brings home just how we often we forget the good things our city offers.
One of the pleasures of a walk at Henley Beach, apart from the ice cream at the start of the walk, is the reward of one of Adelaide’s best coffees. Owner Joe Weber, as his gleaming espresso machine attests, is a dedicated barista who doesn’t leave his station. On weekends when they are frequently jam–packed with a seating capacity of somewhere around 80 there is an unwavering quality in their coffee and you don’t have to wait forever to get it. The only difference being that is taking the orders is son Joseph and daughter Bianca is controlling the coffee flow, setting up the saucers handing over the cups and keeping Joe focused. Their systems are impressive and their calm and efficiency a lesson that could well be applied to many of Adelaide’s espresso bars where the quality of coffee falls apart at the slightest sign of business.
The weekend crowd is hugely mixed with sweaty lycra clad cyclists, Mums, Dads, singles, young, old, kids and dogs. There’s plenty of water for dogs placed around in recycled ice cream containers and the kids usually prefer playing on the beach.
A couple of years ago Joe started to cover the walls with photos of his customers and this has become so delightfully out of hand that they are now plastered on about a third of the ceiling. It is possible to envisage the colourful embellishment snaking onto the exterior walls by the end of the year.
This is a simple beach kiosk selling old–fashioned generous breakfasts, $14 for a full breakfast and $10 for a hamburger for a real one with the lot. Everything is cooked on a fish and chip shop style flat top grill and their hamburger is still our top choice for the morning after. Joe has not given way to silly posh chairs that would totally out of place and they continue to have plastic chairs and backless benches and in winter a clear screen protects from the wind without ruining the view. We love it!
WINE unlicensed
Owner — Joe Weber
