A customer who enjoyed a $23 breakfast at a Coolangatta cafe left a $500 tip, leaving the owner and staff feeling “unbelievably ungrateful” at his random at of kindness.

Owner of Bellakai Coolangatta, Anna, said she was very surprised by the gesture.

“Shock, deep shock, honestly!” she told Scott Emerson.

“We sort of collectively stood around speechless.”

She said the man mentioned he “had the means and wanted to help” when he came to pay.

Staff asked him several times about the tip.

“He asked [the staff member] not to make a fuss and please not to point it out until he had left.”

Anna said she felt “unbelievably ungrateful” and wanted to thank him.

“Who offers that amount of generosity to people they have never met before?

“He really doesn’t understand how uplifting that is, we’ve had so many people out reach via social media, so many positive comments and it’s really obvious people want good news stories.”

Press PLAY below to hear how it all unfolded