Forest Lake restauranteur Van Nguyen has just opened Ca-Phé-La (pronounced Café La) at Inala Plaza, serving delicious Aussie and Vietnamese breakfasts and light lunches, with plans to introduce dinner in the future.
The spacious café is positioned on the outside of Inala Plaza between the Westpac Bank and the TAB. It features plentiful, covered, outdoor seating, plus internal tables positioned in front of a stunning bar, where staff create cold
and alcoholic drinks and a large range of coffees. The café also features a convenient takeaway coffee window to outside to ensure patrons can easily grab their coffee to go.
In addition to being a café, Ca-Phé-La is an event venue, boasting an impressive internal function space to cater for up to 70 guests. The total venue can accommodate 150 people. For her latest venture, Ms Nguyen has combined all of her experience in running coffee shops and restaurants to create a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere focused on quality service, good value and great food from both her homeland and her adopted country.
“I know people in this area love big Australian breakfasts and lunches as much as flavours from all around the world. At Ca-Phé-La I also want to celebrate the traditional way we cook many of our meals in my village in Vietnam,
which is in clay pots. We will always have clay pot dishes as staples on the menu along with Aussie favourites like smashed avocado on toast, cooked breakfasts, burgers, toasted sandwiches and more.“I have created a menu that emphasizes healthy and fresh food from both of my countries. We have started initially offering breakfast and lunch and functions, with a view to opening for dinner based on our organic growth.”
Ms Nguyen said the event space has been very popular and has already hosted some functions, with weekendbookings already locked in until the end of April and more being secured until June. “We have built a state-of-the-art entertainment system into our function space that features a sound system, kara
oke, a drum kit, a piano and sophisticated event lighting. This all comes with the space when people make a booking, making it super convenient for people to organise their event.
“We have also created unique artwork on the event space walls by a local mural artist that features copper leaf. When it is combined with our special lighting, the effect is really fun.” Inala Plaza Marketing Director Donna O’Neill said Ca-Phé-La was already gaining popularity and it offered customers another wonderful dining experience when they visited the centre. “We love the alfresco atmosphere of
Ca-Phé-La as it completely complements the relaxed, happy destination that Van set out to create with her vision.”
Ca-Phé-La is open from 7am to 2.30pm daily.