The Fresh Food Markets aside, Fyshwick doesn’t have a big reputation as a foodie destination. But there are more than a few great cafes tucked between the kitchen shops and furniture warehouses if you know where to look.
One of these is Two Hands on Lyell Street. When I used to work in Fyshwick it was my favourite place to grab lunch. It still is, if I’m on that side of town. The food is fast, filling and relatively inexpensive, but it’s also made with high quality ingredients and prepared with care.
The other great thing about Two Hands is that it doesn’t feel like Fyshwick at all. The exterior is painted a lurid blue-green with white, pink and blue-green awnings. Inside, the art-adorned walls are orange, a vintage world map hides a crockery rack and there are several glass domes covering freshly baked biscuits and cakes on the front coutner.
The main lunch menu items are burgers (from $11), wraps (from $12) and salads (from $13.50), as well as a specials board that changes daily. On my visit the specials included Cajun fried fish, Thai green mango salad and chicken parmigiana with smoked leg ham and eggplant, all for under $15.
While the specials sounded good, I was in the mood for a big, juicy burger. I settled on the $11 classic burger (grilled beef patty with aioli, tomato relish, onion, mixed leaves and fresh tomato on a lightly toasted focaccia bun) and added a side of hand cut chips for $2.50.
It was a sunny day so I grabbed an outdoor table. With flowers in the window boxes, plenty of shade from a couple of leafy trees and retro plastic floral tablecloths on the tables, it’s a very pleasant spot to eat lunch. It’s also a very popular spot – even at 11.30am when I visited, only one outdoor table was free.
After ten minutes my order arrived and it smelled so good that I almost forgot to take a photo before chowing down. The burger had a thick beef patty – the kind that’s partial to escaping out the other end whenever you try to take a bite; slow-cooked caramelised onion and a very tasty tomato relish (if it wasn’t homemade, I send my congratulations to the manufacturer for fooling me). I probably didn’t need to scoff down the chips too, but I’m glad I did because they were delicious too.
You can probably get a slightly cheaper burger and chips at a chain burger joint, but why bother when you can get food this good, and this fast, from a local small business?
What: Two Hands
Where: 3/30 Lyell Street Fyshwick
Opening hours: 7.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday
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