Of all the times J & I have dined out, I must admit, we have never really gone out to try breakfast at any cafes or restaurants (ok, maybe once or twice). Yes, we would plan to go out for a nice breakfast on the weekend, but for one reason or another, it never ends up happening. Either we'd sleep in til late, or decide to go play tennis and simply sip on a 'up & go' as our breakfast.
But last weekend, we finally did it! We got up bright and early and decided to head out for a good breakfast (though, we still ended up leaving the house at 10:30am...)
Our cafe of choice for this (rare) occasion was the infamous Gunshop Cafe, located in West End.
We had been to The Gunshop Cafe for coffee at night, but had never actually tried their breakfast or dinner menus. Having spoken to fellow foodie friends, they all said I should try it for breakfast because their food is really good. Honestly, I wasn't 100% convinced, because every other time someone told me food is 'really good' at a restaurant, it usually turns out to be a disappointment. So I had to try it for myself before deciding whether The Gunshop Cafe is in fact really good.
We got there at around 11:00am and my gosh was it busy! A queue had formed outside the small cafe entrance and we were the third in line waiting for a table. It took half an hour for us to be seated, but I didn't mind the wait, as long as the food made up for it!
J ordered a skinny flat white to start. The coffee art on top was pretty and the coffee wasn't too bad. It would have been nicer if the coffee was stronger and hotter though (maybe we will ask for 'extra hot' next time?). But we weren't about to let a so-so coffee ruin our excitement for what was to come.
Skinny flat white
I wanted to try something different and ordered a mocha. If you are more of a coffee drinker then I'd suggest you order a normal coffee, as this mocha tends to be on the sweet side and tastes more like a hot chocolate with only a hint of coffee taste.
Skinny mocha
Next, it was time to order our meals.
A friend of my recommended the Canadian French Toast because it was one of the nicest French toasts she's had in Brisbane (I believe her because whenever she went to a new cafe she'd always order French Toast off the menu). Seeing as though I had a disappointing experience at Aquila with their french toast (click here if you'd like to see a photo), I really wanted to give it another go, but at another cafe, and I am so glad I did!
I've always been a fan of sweet and savory flavours mixed together and I was really impressed with this dish! The saltiness of perfectly cooked, cripsy bacon, mixed with the natural sweetness of the caramelized bananas, crunchy walnuts lightly coated with sugar, and perfectly deep-fried brioche with an egg coating, all finished with drizzles of maple syrup. Seriously doesn't get better than that.
J was a little jealous of my french toast, but her dish was just as good! J ordered the toulouse sausages with sweet potato hash. Since I was nice enough to share my dish with J, it was only fair that I got to try some of her's too.
The sweet potato hash had a different texture to what I've had at another cafe, but tasted just as beautiful, nevertheless. Crispy on the outside (but not oily!), soft and mushy on the inside.
The toulouse sausages tasted like homemade sausages, made from fresh herbs and pork meat which was seasoned nicely (not too salty). When eaten together with a bit of the poached egg, sweet potato hash and the tomato relish, the explosion of flavours in your mouth is just amazing. I couldn't help but nod my head in approval as I ate a forkful (several, actually.. ha!) of this delicious dish.
Toulouse sausages | sweet potato hash | a poached egg | rocket | bush tomato relish
While the dish may look small, do not be fooled! J & I were very full by the time we had finished our meals. So much so, that we actually skipped lunch!
Overall, it was a very pleasant breakfast experience for both of us, and we will definitely come back again! The dinner menu looks rather interesting too, and I will report back once I've had dinner here.
nom nom nom:
- great food
- great atmosphere - perfect for catching up with friends without being rushed to settle the bill because they need your table for the next customer
uggggh:
- hot drinks need to be hotter
- only opens until 12:30pm for breakfast on Sundays
Dinner at Gunshop is pleasant. Personally I think the Breakfasts are really overrated as there are so many great Cafes in West End. I am always bamboozled by the weekend crowd queuing for this place.
ReplyDelete@SkekTek,
ReplyDeleteYes I know what you mean about Gunshop being overrated. While the food was nice, I think I am going to venture out and try all the other cafes in West End first, before deciding whether to return to Gunshop again for breakfast. :) The queing was not fun at all.
What cafes do you recommend? :)
Cheers!
Just an update on Gunshop, my mum went there for dinner last night and the service was appalling. They waited an hour and a half for their food, no apologies. After the floods the floors were renovated and buffed to a high shine but she almost fell over as they are super slippery. Another reason to give it a miss!
ReplyDeleteYou won't be sorry if you try other places in West End! Where to start with other cafes? If you are looking for breakfasts, Roundabout is great value, where you can get a brekky + coffee combo. Tempo has some really interesting Brekky combinations and lovely specials. The Music Kafe does the best sugar/carb hit brekky for the "morning after". My personal favourite is Blackstar for phenomenal organic fairtrade coffee and fresh organic food cooked simply.
If you want dinner rec's I have heaps of those too! I have lived in West End for 10 years so have had the chance to sample pretty much everything :D
Ohh yikes! That's not good to hear about Gunshop :(
ReplyDeleteOh a more positive note, I went and tried Atomica for brekkie today! It was quite nice. I will take note of the cafes you mentioned and visit those soon :)