FoodMeUpScotty: Breakfast Series

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Breakfast Series - The Foxy Bean

http://www.foxybean.com.au/

Recently a blogger buddy of mine was asked by the Courier Mail if Brisbane was the breakfast capital of Australia (see article here). It's a really good question and one worth contemplating. I know that from my recent visit to New York that the breakfast lifestyle is not universally adopted, in fact I couldn't get a decent breakfast in the month I was there. I have also spent some time interstate for work and travel and have found breakfasts to be pretty good, but a little hard to find.

The opposite is true in Brisbane, where I can't really keep up with all of the great breakfast joints around town. Over the weekend I finally was able to visit the Foxy Bean at Woolloongabba, which has been a favourite breakfast spot of some friends of mine for quite some time. The 'Gabba has rapidly become one of Brisbane's hot spots for dining and breakfast seems to be the new black.

The Foxy Bean is just outside the 'hot zone' of Logan Road and is tucked around the corner on Stanley Street. We had a general idea of where to find the Foxy Bean when we drove over to the 'Gabba to check it, but still missed it on our first drive through and had to 'do a lap' to find the place. Not that it's hard to find, we were just zipping by a little too fast! There was not too much street parking available, so to avoid another lap we pulled in just behind the Foxy Bean and found a park (and ignored the sign indicating we might be towed).

Walking into the Foxy Bean, I was a little surprised by how big it was inside. Originally a traditional Queenslander, the Foxy Bean has that feel of a converted house, with lots of rooms filled with dining tables of all shape and size. There is also a hallway that runs past the kitchen to a bit of an outside dining area. We were quite early and I was feeling a bit indecisive when asked to take any seat I wanted, shuffling between a few tables before deciding on one that gave me a good view of the action and had good lighting for photos!

The menu at the Foxy Bean runs a pretty traditional route for breakfast with the usual assortment of breakfast staples and a few interesting twists and a heap of 'extras' that can be added to any breakfast. While looking over the menu we ordered some drinks with SC ordering her customary half strength latte, while I opted for a berry smoothy. We had been warned by some friends who love the place that the smoothies lack a bit of flavour and I could see what they meant when my berry smoothy was delivered and I had my first sip. It really lacked flavour and was a bit insipid, it really needed either more flavouring or more fresh fruit. SC's latte was perfect and really hit the spot for such an early start.

I went for my traditional egg breakfast when I ordered the Free Range Eggs, Scrambled, with Ciabatta toast and Foxy relish, then added thyme field mushrooms, herb roasted tomato and chorizo. Ordinarily I would get bacon as well, but didn't like the sound of maple bacon and wasn't super hungry so I skipped it on this occasion. I was glad that I did because the serving was massive, with heaps of eggs and mushrooms. The scrambled eggs were bright yellow, were nice and creamy, cooked perfectly and tasted wonderful. I also really loved the mushrooms, which were large and seasoned well and had just with hint of thyme. I felt a bit ripped off with the tomato, they tasted great and had a lovely caramelization, but they were tiny! Best of all was the sweet chorizo, which also had a great caramelization and tasted perfect.

After conceding the eggs to me, SC decided to have the Buttered Brioche with honey lemon, ricotta, caramelised banana and flaked almonds, then added the maple bacon on top. The presentation of the brioche was nice, on a big wooden platter and artfully displayed to highlight the ingredients. The brioche was lightly toasted with just a hint of honey and lemon that provided sweetness and a little tartness at the same time. The caramelised banana was sweet and provided some interesting mushy texture to the toasted brioche and the whole lot was complemented by quenelles of yoghurt. It was a large serving and SC struggled to get through it all, especially the bacon which was just a bit too much for the dish.

While eating our breakfast, we had a good look around the Foxy Bean, especially at the wall art and the details around the room. It's definitely a funky spot and the uber cool fox couple add a level of sex appeal to the place. There is a bar in the main dining area, which would no doubt be a great spot have cocktails on a Friday or Saturday night, perhaps even a sunny Sunday afternoon.

We found the wait staff to be friendly and professional and I was impressed that our waitress took all of our order without making a note and then got it all correct with no errors. The service was also pretty brisk and prompt, so the kitchen was humming nicely. I would imagine that with a full dining area, it would still get food out in a timely manner.

Apart from the insipid berry smoothy, we really loved our breakfast at the Foxy Bean, which puts it in a list of many other wonderful spots for breakfast in Brisbane. Which leads me to the Courier Mail article about Brisbane being the breakfast capital of Australia. I personally think after watching the Brisbane breakfast scene develop over the last few years, it's not only the best breakfast location in Australia, but the whole world.

@FoodMeUpScotty