Since it opened in March, Snug has won a loyal following – and not just among Coorparoo locals. The cosy cafe is now a destination venue; people travel across the city for the welcoming vibes, caramelised honey bread and the work of art that is Snug’s prawn omurice.

“We truly couldn’t ask for a better mix of people,” co-owner and chef Leaham Claydon tells Broadsheet. “Everyone is showing up: the locals – some pushing 80 or 90 years old – the younger Asian crowd coming out from Sunnybank. We’ve had people tell us they drove an hour-and-a-half to get here.”

“There was a lady who came all the way from Adelaide to try one of our dishes,” adds co-owner Jianne Jeoung. “But it wasn’t on the menu that day – she was apparently very upset.”

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With all those fans and only so many seats, it makes sense to extend Snug’s opening hours. Rather than add a couple more hours in the afternoon, Claydon and Jeoung are dimming the lights, turning up the tunes and running Snug as a wine bar in the evenings from Friday to Sunday. The nocturnal identity was always part of the plan. “We wanted to do the wine bar first,” says Jeoung. But the slow liquor licensing process meant it was easier to open as a cafe while finding their feet.

That extra lead time gave the couple an opportunity to refine their idea to suit the small kitchen space. Snug the bar has a whole new after-dark menu.

Dishes are all sharable small plates, and about half the menu is served raw. “In Korea, when you’re drinking, there’s obviously a lot of raw seafood involved,” says Jeoung. “And I think it works out really well in Queensland weather as well.”

Raw options include oysters (with or without a sharp smoked tuna mignonette), Korean-style beef tartare with gochujang, and an abalone dupbap sushi bowl. As for hot food, there are two standouts: mandu dumplings filled with sweet potato and corn, served in a heady shiitake broth. And Snug’s beloved salted honey bread, this time with an almost-too-big dollop of garlic butter on the side. (Bad news for brunchgoers – the lush, glistening honey bread is now an evening-only dish.)

The sole dessert is a summer palate cleanser of diced mango and milk pudding topped with misugaru, a sweet powder made of roasted grains. Don’t expect the menu to stay stable, though. Claydon and Jeoung plan to switch things up regularly, the same way they do with the cafe food. “We get bored of things really quickly,” says Claydon. “Someone commented on our Instagram, ‘I can’t keep up with all the new stuff you guys have,’ and I was like, ‘Fuck, neither can we!’”

There’s a one-page drinks list focused on Australian and French wines by the glass, along with Aussie craft beers, a classic Korean lager and a couple of canned spritzes from Adelaide’s Delinquente Wine Co (best known for its Bizzarro Bitter Aperitivo). The plan is to add cocktails once they have more fridge space.

Following the lead of small bars in Seoul and Tokyo, Snug has a minimum order of one dish and one drink per person when sitting inside – with the honey bread on offer, that’s an easy bar to clear. If you’re going with friends, you can book the central counter seats by sliding into Snug’s DMs.

Snug’s daytime success and after-dark alter ego prove it’s the kind of venue Brisbane needs more of: a small space filled with big ideas, run by young operators who've chosen to take risks in the suburbs rather than jam another cafe-bar into the CBD or West End.

They’re also currently setting up an old garage beneath the Pilates studio next door as an event space, and toying with expanding the evening opening hours.

“I think once we get through Christmas, we’d love to do … an approachable offering on Mondays. Something a bit cheaper, a bit more fun, maybe targeted at the hospo crowd.”

Snug
321 Chatsworth Road, Coorparoo
No Phone

Hours:
Mon & Tue 6am–3pm
Wed closed
Thu 6am–3pm
Fri & Sat 6am–3pm, 4pm–10pm
Sun 7am–3pm, 4pm–9pm

@snug.bne