Gold Coast Breakfasts were one of the big winners on the dining scene in 2014.
Brekkie is the new ‘meet up’ meal. With diners chasing fast, healthy ‘wholefood’ meals (sometimes with a touch of naughty thrown in) that are tasty and inexpensive, meeting for breakfast ensures a capped spend plus no alcohol.
“Lot of breakfasts are eaten out!” says one of our survey respondents.
“But isn’t breakfast just eggs and bacon?” you ask. “No way!” we say.
Here are some of our favourite breakfasts which have more than a twist of difference. From classic to cutting edge, from cultural experience through to food philosophy, each one pushes boundaries. Try them and let us know what you think!
Baked egg pita from Taboon
Dippy Eggs from Paddock
Tagines at Taboon, image sourced from www.taboon.com.au
Organic sourdough, scrambled free-range, avo + organic labna image: Paddock Facebook page by @bianca_eats
The Paddock Bakery
Where: 20 Hibiscus Haven, Burleigh.
There’s something timeless and elemental about bread. It’s a food item which dates back to the Stone Age, the most widely consumed food in the world whose very name itself denotes staple nourishment.
At The Paddock in North Burleigh, the wood-fired oven forms the blazing heart of the house. It’s on display with the rest of the working bakery behind floor to ceiling glass. Together with the garden dividing the restaurant and car park, it’s an obvious embodiment of farm-to-table dining.
The oven is also the key to The Paddock’s evolving menu. Using carefully sourced local produce – Byron Berkshire bacon, Nimbin Valley cheese, organic labna, Pepe Saya butter, free range eggs, as well as house-made sauces, it’s bread which forms the central core of the menu. Breakfast dishes include Bacon and egg roll, Rustic Avo on Sourdough, Beef Diggity (a top-end hot dog) through to the ever-popular Dippy Eggs. These ‘Eggs and soldiers’ are a reminder of childhood, a ‘back to basics’ breakfast served in an egg carton, reminding us where our food comes from.
From these hens, with these hands, we bring this food to the table.
“Give us this day our daily bread…”
Taboon
Where: Easy T Centre, 514 Christine Ave., Robina.
Phone: 5562 5005
Since its opening, Taboon has established a reputation for fresh, vibrant modern Middle Eastern cuisine. Consistency has been the key to its success, together with the freshness of its food.
Owner Steven Isaacs brings his experience as a restaurateur and manager both in Sydney and the Middle East to Taboon. There’s attention to detail in the decor, from the stone taboon oven, the centrepiece and heart of the restaurant, to the authentic hand-painted tagines. Food preparation does not cut corners either: the pastries and flatbreads (so essential to this cuisine) are baked daily on the stone floor of the taboon, dips and desserts are handmade, all meat is Halal and food is prepared and cooked to order.
Feeling like a lazy weekend breakfast with a difference? Then you can’t go past Taboon’s different take on morning fare: Sahklab porridge with spiced apples and almond kadaiff, Shukshooka (eggs in spicy tomato sauce), roasted field mushrooms with Middle Eastern salad and pita, or baked eggs on zahtar pita with Middle Eastern salad and yoghurt sauce – our idea of a fabulous breakfast!
Commune
Le Cafe Gourmand
Commune
Commune
Commune
Where: 1844 Gold Coast Highway, Burleigh Heads.
Phone: 07 5520 3377
Commune definitely has the funky alternative vibe to match its name. Owned by Mitch and Nerissa McCluskey, when it opened, Commune set the standard for many other health cafés which followed it and acted as a training ground for staff who have since moved on to open their own venues! Commune is the epitome of an eco-friendly, environmentally aware café, serving wholesome healthy food, great coffee and freshly made juices, all in generous serves.
With its eclectic mix of vintage furniture, recycled timber furnishings and haphazard artwork, this slightly left of centre café feels right at home on the southern end of Gold Coast.
From the tiny kitchen come all sorts of breakfast goodies: bacon and egg rolls, brekkie wraps and tortillas on the weekend. On display is a range of freshly made salads and sandwiches, natural and bircher muesli, banana bread, walnut loaf, and other sweets and cakes. We love the Corn fritters, piled high with avo, tomatoes and a poached egg, doused in their spicy house-made tomato relish. The Campos coffee is smooth and delicious and the freshly made juices delight customers walking in from a day at the beach.
Le Cafe Gourmand
Where: 2545 Gold Coast Highway, Cnr Cronulla St., Mermaid Beach.
Phone: 5572 7793
Le Café Gourmand is a boulangerie (bakery), pâtisserie (pastry shop) and café all rolled into one. Owner Rémi Baron is the friendly French chef with the sunny attitude. Born in Nantes on the west coast of France, his decision to take a break for a year-long holiday in Australia changed his life forever. Luckily for us, settling down on the Coast, he saw a gap in the dining market for a casual French café serving affordable French-influenced cuisine.
Being the sole chef in the café, Rémi’s seasonal menu is, by necessity, concise. However, that doesn’t mean that the quality is sacrificed. Our dish of choice is the Breakfast cocotte with eggs, mushrooms, spinach and cauliflower velvet, one of the café’s signature dishes. It’s a gorgeous little French breakfast, the cauli creamy and delicious, the egg perfectly poached and topped with garlic buttered crumbs. It’s the perfect size, surprisingly filling and (in a word) addictive!
In winter, Rémi adds a Big Aussie Breakfast to the menu: bacon, sausage, spinach, potato, baby tomatoes, herbs and a poached egg, served in its own little pan. The front verandah with its brightly coloured chairs is the perfect place to bask in the winter sun, but there’s more seating inside.
The Chef’s Choice Platter: three types of open face smørrebrød
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42 Fifteen
Where: 5 Davenport St., Southport.
Phone: 0423 307 425
Nestled in the middle of the ‘soon to be Chinatown’ precinct of Davenport Street, the café’s an outpost of times gone by – recycled timber, family memorabilia and the old-fashioned values of home-baked food and warmly embracing service. With a double owner chef partnership of Peter Batley and partner Julie Rogers, their passion for bringing great food and service to Southport shows!
“Southport is overcrowded with franchises,” Peter tells us, “so we wanted to offer something different. This is a happy family environment.”
A Braffle and coffee deal for $7 if you’re on the run (a brekkie waffle of baked beans, crispy speck and ricotta) is tempting, but we have trouble choosing between Toad in a hole (winter menu) and the Pork Belly Tacos. The award-winning Dimattina coffee is smooth with a great crema, but for me it’s overshadowed by the food, pure and simple, and Pete and Julie’s ‘can do’ attitude which shines through! For food, service, and value for money all dished up with a huge bucket of family love, this is one of the best little eateries around.
Delikatessen
Where: 2 Elkhorn Avenue, Surfers Paradise.
Phone: 5531 6075
Chef Chris Howard reinvents Denmark’s most famous dish, the smørrebrød, in his Surfers Paradise restaurant Delikatessen. Originally a working class meal taken over by the bourgeoisie and nobility, smørrebrød drew on the tradition of serving meat and fish on bread instead of plates. It’s always a joy to see and taste Chef Chris’ creations, served up on wooden platters. Reminiscent of artists’ colour palates, they make us conscious of the mantra ‘eat all the colours’. Sauces duck and weave across the plate, playing with the edges of the sandwich, tempting us to venture past the bread to the tastes beyond.
There are breakfast platters available at Delikatessen, eggs your way with smoked salmon or bacon and sausage, bread and/or pastries, but we’d rather brunch on the Chef’s Choice Platter: three types of open face smørrebrød. Chef Chris tells me that he uses a local low carb bread because it’s very filling, so people need to eat less of it. Your open sandwich may include pork and apple sauce; prawns, yellow beetroot, asparagus and caviar; ham, beetroot, asparagus and egg; roast beef, roast pumpkin and dill. Add edible flowers, a few extra condiments, and you have a feast! Simple, delicious, nutritious and full of flavour! I bet the Vikings’ food didn’t look this pretty!
Blackboard
Caffe Republic
blackboard
Caffe Republic
Blackboard Shop
Where: 7/240 Varsity Parade, Varsity Lakes.
Phone: 5575 7538
Blackboard Varsity is a hip, vibrant and understated dual ‘dine in or take away’ food venue – one of the most exciting enterprises in town! Hugely popular with Bond Uni students and locals since it opened, the restaurant gives the feeling of a huge overblown country kitchen where all the grown up kids have gathered for brunch. The effect is cunningly achieved through rough-hewn timber fascias, irregularly-edged white tiled pillars, with timber and angle iron tables on a rustic polished concrete floor, achieving an understated relaxed elegance.
In a seasonal all-day menu focussed squarely on the finest ingredients and their provenance, breakfasts can include a vibrant plate of seasonal fresh fruit with Barambah organic yoghurt and honeycomb, house-cured spiced salmon dressed in its own pearls on a bed of avocado labna and rye, or a green breakfast with avo, herbs, almonds, hens’ eggs and sweet potato. Add a side of pancetta if you wish. You’ll be eating the best produce available from local suppliers, including Kyogle bacon, Bangalow fresh curd, and Nimbin Valley goats’ cheese. Gluten-free options are clearly marked.
Caffe Republic
Where: Bronberg Plaza, 138 – 162 Slatyer Ave, Bundall.
Phone: 07 5539 3060
“The qualities of an exceptional cook are akin to those of a successful tightrope walker: an abiding passion for the task, courage to go out on a limb and an impeccable sense of balance.” Bryan Miller, New York Times, 23 October 1983 (as quoted on Caffe Republic’s website).
If it’s paleo you’re after, there’s no going past Caffe Republic! Owner/Chef Peter Dufty is testament to the power of good food and exercise. 30kg lighter, his menu reflects his lifestyle without preaching about it. A classically trained chef (ex Versace start up crew), he opened his own restaurant three years ago to achieve lifestyle/family balance, much to the joy of locals.
Caffe Republic’s menu always contains a ‘nutritionally analysed’ paleo specials board, while still catering for mainstream diners.
Check out the Caveman Breakfast: a Pork and fennel patty with crispy bacon, grilled mushrooms, eggs, spinach and relish, or take a look at the specials menu which!
Hard Rock Cafe
Grocer and Grind
Hard Rock Cafe
Delikatessen
Grocer & Grind
Where: 1 Sunshine Boulevard, Broadbeach Waters.
Phone: 5527 6223
In an amazing value-added refurb of an ordinary corner store, Grocer & Grind’s industrial trendy brown and copper shades are lightened by huge bifold windows which open up to a fresh breeze. All the furniture’s custom designed: coffee beans trapped forever in resin tops will never be roasted, tables and chairs trendy yet comfortable enough to spend a few hours in! There’s an aisle or two of organic groceries, that last minute quinoa you need to add to dinner and a few organic fruit and veg.
The all day menu treads a fine line through the middle of all the food fads with something healthy for everyone. If you can pass up on the Spiced Quinoa Porridge, the Truffled Eggs or Organic Bircher Muesli, then head for my favourite, the Super Green Brekky Salad: raw broccoli, avocado, kale, herbs, nuts and seeds served with a poached egg and a slice of sourdough. Fresh, organic and local! Yum! You’d better dine early, though, because the good news has got around…
Hard Rock Café
Where: Cnr. Cavill Ave & Surfers Paradise Blvd., Surfers Paradise
Phone: 5539 9377
Fancy brunch in a temple with a rock ‘n’ roll twist? For breakfast after a hard day’s night, the last thing you need is a drought! It’s time to kick start your day at the Hard Rock Café.
Whether it’s a Rock Solid Breakfast, Star Studded Bircher Muesli or Big Sugar Stack Pancakes that you’re after, the crew at Hard Rock will attend to your needs. They’re full of attitude for early morning starters, with smiles and kind attention heading your way. If you need to shake the cobwebs off there’s bottomless coffee or even a Bloody Mary as an all night chaser!
Everyone has their secret hangover cure and ours is protein. Our favourite is the Kick Start Your Heart Brekkie Skillet packed with potatoes, onion, capsicum and Andouille sausage (just like a Chorizo) topped with eggs, cheese and a side of tortillas, washed down with a Kir Royale (a gentle hair of a dog). When your eyes finally open, check out the stars on the walls! You’re dining in great company!
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