Salt

I haven't dined at Salt in Rosalie since before the 2011 Brisbane floods but this morning I found myself finally returning to the cafe which used to be one of my absolute favourite places for breakfast and coffee. I was catching up with a friend who suggested we meet at Salt and I was excited as I began reminiscing over all the great meals I had had there.

Arriving about 9am, Salt still had quite a few customers for a Wednesday morning but was nowhere near as busy as they get on a weekend. I had my choice of table and opted for an outside booth. One thing that has not changed about Salt is the way they structure their menu; offering additional lighter options for weekday breakfasts that are not available on weekends. Looking over the menu, it was substantially the same as I remember it with items incurring small changes based on the produce available. I wasn't much in the mood for a heavy breakfast even though the breakfasts I saw coming out of the kitchen looked amazing. I decided to order something smaller from the weekday menu and it being a warmer morning was immediately drawn to the bircher muesli as I remember it being quite good. I also ordered my standard skinny cappuccino and my friend who had already had breakfast opted for an iced coffee to cool down.

Weekday menu

Weekday & Weekend menu

The coffee's appeared with lightening speed and the muesli was quick to follow. The coffee was well made and had delicious froth and chocolate topping. The bircher muesli was amazingly presented and absolutely delicious. As I have mentioned in a previous post, Lure on Latrobe has my favourite breakfast muesli but I think Salt's has just over taken it. The marinated strawberries brought a nice sweetness to the yogurt and worked perfectly with the mango and raisins. I would definitely order this again. As all meals at Salt, the portion size was generous and I was left feeling extremely satisfied.

Iced Coffee

Skinny Cap

Bircher Muesli

I really enjoyed my breakfast and coffee at Salt and was reminded why I used to come here all the time. I can't believe it has taken me so long to come back but I definitely will not let another year go by again before returning!

Elephant Rock Cafe

As it finally starts to feel like summer in Queensland I made the most of the warm weather and headed south to the Gold Coast for the weekend. A relaxed weekend isn't complete without Sunday brunch so it was off to Currumbin to see what we could find. There were several cafes on the beach front including The Beach Shack and Deck Cafe (which were both very busy) but on this occasion we were headed to Elephant Rock Cafe.

Breakfast Menu

View

Elephant Rock Cafe overlooks Currumbin beach and has two levels which is great for the busy Sunday breakfast/brunch crowds. On this particular Sunday the weather was perfect and the cafe was busy but we were able to immediately grab one of the last tables on the lower deck. Looking over the menu I was impressed with the selections available but decided to go with one of my favourite Sunday breakfast options of corn and zucchini fritters with bacon, mushrooms, tomato and cream fraiche. On this occasion I also added a side of avocado and ordered my standard skinny cappuccino. My Dad was drawn to the savoury pumpkin pie with leg ham, asparagus and tomato salsa but decided to try something a little different for him and went with the breakfast bruschetta (pesto covered ciabatta with tomato, haloumi, mushrooms, rocket and poached eggs) with a side of bacon. Mum on the other hand decided to stick a little closer to her favourite Sunday brunch order and went with the bacon and poached eggs with tomato but instead of thick cut toast opted for the toasted Turkish bread. Both also ordered their standard skinny cappuccinos.

Skinny Cap

Segafreda

The blend of coffee used at Elephant Rock is Segafredo and was made well. The only criticism I have was the coffee was a little slow to arrive. It reached the table after around a 15 minute wait and only a minute or so before the food (which was quite quick to arrive). The zucchini and corn fritters were delicious and bacon were both delicious and crisp and worked really well in contrast to the cool, refreshing avocado and creme fraiche. The only criticism of the meal was they forgot my mushrooms but lucky for me Dad didn't want his which worked out well for me. Both Mum and Dad really enjoyed their breakfast with Mum saying that it was up there with the top cafe breakfasts she has had, Dad agreed.

Corn & zucinni fritters

Breakfast brushcetta

Bacon and poached eggs

Elephant Rock Cafe is a fantastic cafe with great coffee, food, staff and views! I would definitely return again for breakfast and have heard they have amazing burgers at lunch which I would love to try.

Ruby Cafe

Being the beginning of a new year I decided to try a new cafe to kick things off for 2012. Ruby Cafe located on Given Tce in Paddington opened in early December 2011 and was the breakfast destination of choice for the morning. Arriving at the cafe around 8.30am it was still relatively empty but within 30 minutes nearly every table was occupied.

Breakfast menu

Drink Menu

On arrival we were seated and supplied with water and menus. Looking over the menu I liked the look of several options but quickly focused in on two particular choices; the bircher muesli and the omelet. My two breakfast companions both liked the look of the bircher so I decided to go with the omelet for a bit of variety. Our hungriest diner decided to order two breakfasts; the bircher muesli and the coiled fennel sausage and the third diner also opted for variety and went with the classic of poached eggs on toast. Drinks wise, Ruby offers an interesting range of juice/frappes, smoothies and coffees. I decided to go with my usual skinny cappuccino whereas the other breakfasters decided to try the berry smoothie.

Skinny cappuccino

Berry smoothie

The drinks were only a short wait and the coffee blend used was one of my favourites, Vitorria. It was well made and quite sweet. The smoothie was good, not memorable, not bad just good. In my opinion the food was a little slow to arrive. I know I said the cafe was quite busy but a lot of the diners appeared to be having their morning coffee rather then breakfast, I put this down to the cafe being new. The breakfast arrived after about a 20-ish minute wait.

Pumpkin, feta & rocket omelet

Poached eggs on sourdough

The omelet was pumpkin, rocket and feta with ciabata and was really tasty. The serving size was quite small in comparison to the price ($16) and to other cafe omelets I have had which leads me to believe it was made with 2 eggs rather then 3. Nonetheless it was cooked perfectly and the ciabatta was perfectly toasted. The poached eggs on peasant sourdough ($9) was a very small meal. However, the eggs were poached perfectly, the sourdough was nicely toasted and the accompanying tomato and pepper chutney was flavourful. The coiled fennel and chili sausage served with tomato, fried egg and watercress ($15) was highly enjoyed by my breakfast companion. He also really liked the flavour the tomato and pepper chutney brought to the meal. The strawberry bircher muesli with pecan & hazelnut crumble with honey was an impressive looking meal and probably the best value breakfast at $8. However, its looks were slightly deceiving as if it hadn't have been for the pecan & hazelnut crumble and honey it would have been quite bland.

Strawberry bircher

Coiled fennel & chili sausage

All in all Ruby Cafe was a good way to kick off the new year of cafe exploration. It had some good points such as the interesting menu and flavour combinations on offer, attentiveness of the floor staff and the coffee and some not so good points such as meal size and speed of service. In saying that I'm sure speed of service will improve with time. As for meal size I understand that Ruby Cafe probably has high rent costs for its prime location but I would rather pay slightly more and receive a portion size comparable to the neighbouring cafes (Pandemonium, Anouk, Eurovida). In saying that I would still return to Ruby Cafe as there are a few more options I wouldn't mind trying.