Ortem

The dark haired barista KNOWS how to brew an excellent coffee. Long black, perfect temperature, great extraction, simply rare to find such a combo. The food is also excellent but wow the coffee on Feb 2024, give her a raise.

Visited there in a Sunday morning and food was excellent and Loved their service. I enjoyed their Bene and it was yummy. Poached eggs were excellent and in perfect balanced texture. It was crowded a little bit but got the coffees first within a couple minutes. Lovely helpful team and a little bit busy environment. Street parking available.Highly recommend.

Updated: ⭐ Fine-Dining-Level Food in a Cafe ⭐
Visited for a brunch over the weekend. I must say the food was excellent. Both items ordered from the menu were professionally presented and the flavours were complex and matching the whole dish. The textures were also matched with soft items paired with some crunch.
Couldn't be happier.
To my surprise the wrong order taken from us for a simple drink weren't replaced straight away. This could be simply prevented by reading our two items of drink back to us or to basically replace the wrong drink after it was delivered; right away. I was happy with the food so I didn't bother insisting.
Had a chat with the head chef and thanked him personally for the great dishes served.
Checkout the photos 🙂

1st visit
Been here for a training booked on the 2nd story of the cafe.

Pretty spacious with 3 air conditionings and a drink fridge.

The catering was also quite good with plenty of options in the self service on tea, lunch and afternoon tea.

2nd visit
Had some lunch this time. Food was great though I personally prefer the breaky menu 🙂

My partner is a Toowoomba local and we decided to try this cafe. Wow, we reckon this is the best cafe we've been to, not just in Toowoomba but all around. The food is fantastic and has a reasonable size for the cost. Coffee just hits the spot and it's a great little spot with a good atmosphere and lovely staff.

Had breakfast with good friends at Ortem this morning. I purchased the bacon and eggs with sour dough bread and lemon lime and bitters to drink. The meal was great the drink was refreshing and the service was friendly and professional even though the place was definetly busy the servers kept up a great pace and were efficient and cheerful. Lots of emergency service personnel stopping in to get discounted drinks which was great to see!

Had a beautiful night with the girls tonight. Plus the meals were superb. So elegant and beautifully presented, while being very tasty. Congrats to the chef and friendly wait staff. Will definitely head back there soon.
Here's only a few of what we ate.

Five stars, let's get that straight from the outset. Food was great, company was good. Atmosphere? Buzzing. Seats are mildly uncomfortable but if you nab a spot on the bench then you're set. Most impressed by their willingness to accommodate a custom order - had the avo on toast but not on toast, rather I opted to have it on one of the delectable croissants from the display. More than happy to oblige, service didn't show an ounce of frustration. Perfect score on service. Every staff member that passed us checked on our satisfaction. Definitely satisfactory. Full of humans but not too loud. I recently had an experience where this was an issue - not here. I guess the open space works well for that.
Menu is short but I don't mind so much, makes making decisions easier. Would be nice if there was a croissant on the menu rather than just in the display but I guess you can't please everyone. Specials all sounded amazing and I'm disappointed in myself for not trying the "cookie monster" shake special. I disappoint a lot of people though so I guess I know how that feels now. I have it on the best authority other than my own that the choc chip pancake special was excellent. My colleague got the veg Benedict. Interestingly when ordering this, he was immediately offered bacon with it. Maybe it's vegan bacon, who am I to judge?
Perfect scores make for difficult reviews because like what do you need to say? Everything was great. Definitely go here.

This place made be the best latte I’ve ever had. The hunters breakfast was delightful and perfectly cooked.
The young girl in training was lovely and took my order with pride!
Thankyou. We shall be back!

We ate here for my birthday lunch today while in town visiting from Moreton Bay and everything was absolutely fantastic! We started off with a flat white coffee and a pot of chai tea, both of which were delicious! For an entree we had the toasted Brie with honey and garlic bread, and again it was just so incredibly good! For mains we had the brisket burger and the jerk chicken burger and again, both were great! We finished off with the freak shake which this month is a pavlova shake and it was a perfect way to end our meal!

The service was also so good! Plates were cleared in a timely manner, water bottles were replaced when they got low, and everyone was so kind and friendly! We are so happy we found Ortem on Google, it was a perfect birthday lunch!

The freakshakes are always stunning and this year's carnival of flowers special was so good. Whether it's the drinks, food, or service it's clear great care is taken.

Great food and nice staff but we always have to flag down the staff to get service. We have waited close to 20 mins for someone to take our order, this isn't a once off but a regular thing.

Still worth it though

Great atmosphere and delicious food. Plenty of options. Good coffee. Plenty of free street parking. Indoor and outdoor seating options.

Once in a blue moon, you find a cafe or restaurant that truly ticks all the boxes. Ortem, I'm pleased to say, is one of those places.

As first time visitors, we were optimistic that our expectations would align with the many positive reviews.

The cafe has a trendy, inviting appearance and plenty of seating, both inside and out. One large square table inside was brilliantly utilised and allowed multiple patrons, alone or in pairs, to sit 'together' without ever bothering one another. Funky music plays in the background and there's chatter and laughter aplenty.

We were instantly greeted by a friendly and professional lady who, after we were seated, promptly provided not only menus but also a bottle of water and glasses. Her superior service was maintained throughout our visit and she ensured we were consistently attended. She was one of several staff we encountered, all of whom were polite, sociable and keen to make you feel welcome.

As for the meals, what can I say? They were AWESOME! My Bacon and Roast Pumpkin salad, with added BBQ Bourbon Pulled Pork, was divine. My wife was equally impressed with her Roast Sweet Potato and Zucchini salad, topped with Chipotle Chicken. We shared a bowl of thick cut beer battered chips (again delicious!) and washed it down with a coffee and pot of loose leaf peppermint tea.

Dessert was a shared Blondie slice....I'm not sure of the exact details on this one (macadamias for one, I'm pretty sure) but it was great and the perfect way to end the meal and our Ortem experience. It also signalled the end of my eating for the day as I was still full that evening.

In summary, we completed a 3 hour return trip to eat at Ortem and it was totally worth the effort. I am excited about coming back to try the other salads or even the risotto!

What a fantastic lunch! Roast Vegetable Salad. Great lunch & great service.
Highly recommend.
Revisited today - 3rd Feb 2024 - fantastic!

Very attentive staff, quality food. Nice coffee.
Also their location has good parking.
Another thing I noticed is that they have got good music playing at the right volume, a detail many cafes do not get right.
Cleanliness is also on point.
I’m glad I came here

Love this place!!!! Food is always amazing and the chai is the best I've ever had!!
Staff are always lovely and very friendly. The only place I tell people to go when they ask where's a good spot!!

Had an amazing experience, the food and coffee were exceptional. While the staff were friendly and extremely helpful. Nice to have good customer service for a change.

Went there for a Klub meeting and Christmas dinner. The atmosphere was wonderful, the food was simple but superb ( small servings though), the staff were very friendly and obliging.

One of my favourite spots for Brekky, Brunch or a Business Meeting is Ortem! Ortem has great coffee and the menu choice will satisfy the Vegetarian to the Eggs Benedict lover and even to the budding healthy eater like my husband. Highly Recommend Ortem for all your occasions from Business Coffee Meetings to your casual catch-ups with loved ones and friends.

The smoothest mocha I’ve had in years, and the eggs benny salvaged what had been previously a terrible morning. Lovely relaxed atmosphere, decor that doesn’t take itself too seriously (made me smile though), staff were friendly and helpful and FAST despite showing no sign of rushing. I’ll be back.