Salt, Nash Street, Rosalie

The Siuation:
Having eaten copious amounts of meat at Bardon's latest Brazilian BBQ Restaurant the night before, we were in need of something light for our breakfast. Unfortunately, after reading the menu we were tempted away from the light options.

Ordered:
Potato Gallette with smoked salmon, avocado, turkish bread, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce / Skinny Latte
Bacon and Eggs with turkish bread and roasted tomato / Skinny Flat White

Total Cost - $47.30

Service - 10 out of 10

Atmosphere - 8 out of 10

Food - 8 out of 10

Value - 7 out of 10

The Verdict: 9 out of 10... The service was speedy, friendly and unintrusive - everything you would expect from a top class restaurant. The food was HUGE and tasty, but I do feel that it wasn't as good as the food at Sassafras. The coffee here, however, was possibly the best coffee I've had in Brisbane. It helped that the man making it was totally HOT :)

Depot, Emporium Brisbane

The Situation:
Extremely hungover - more than usual. Breakfast was purely a necessity on the road to potential recovery. Of course, death was also an option lurking around the corner.

Ordered:
What else? The Depot Refuel Big Breakfast with 2 eggs, gourmet bacon, sourdough toast, mushrooms, house made hash browns, tomato, sausages. (We did have drinks, but I can't remember what they were. Hangover Brain had well and truly set in...)

Total cost - $39.60 (Total Bill was $50.00, including the mystery drinks)

Service: 6 out of 10

Atmosphere: 7 out of 10

Food: 6 out of 10

Value: 6 out of 10

Verdict: 6 out of 10... At the time I was satisfied, but that could have been achieved by a slab of any kind of meat with a coffee chaser. The sausages were... strange. The Hash Brown was crucified and perhaps double or triple fried. The service was non-descript and the money I forked over was a bit of an insult. It did the job though - but I wish I didn't have to pay for it.

Vagelis, Racecourse Rd, Ascot

The Situation:
Mother and daughter breakfast; were looking for a place with a reputation for being the best. After many google searches and trawling through various eating guides, the reputation was clearly kept by Vagelis in Ascot. Sporting Brisbane's "Biggest Omelet", Vagelis had quite a lot to prove.

Ordered:
Scrambled Eggs on Toast with thin toast, (side) hash browns, bacon & baked beans / Skinny Flat White
The Stack; A stack of thick toast piled high with Avocado, Smoked Salmon, Tomato and 2 poached eggs / Long Black

Total Cost - $56.90

Service: 8 out of 10

Atmosphere: 8 out of 10

Food: 6 out of 10

Value: 5 out of 10

Verdict: 6 out of 10... I was a bit disappointed. The Stack was just one piece of thick toast with some haphazardly arranged avocado, salmon and tomato; but the eggs were perfect. The side of Bacon was charged at $3 per rasher; we had 2 each, so $12 all up. While the service was adequate and the atmosphere was pleasant, this place was really let down by promising the world and only delivering a boring, tasteless replication of that.

The Chelsea, The Barracks, Paddington

The Situation:
Saturday, 11am. One of us was hungover and the other had already eaten breakfast, so a mixed bag was needed. One of us was looking for something resembling a big mac meal, the other was looking for something healthy, and not too filling, in order to facilitate a planned late lunch.

Ordered:
Spiced Avocado on Turkish toast with (side) slow roasted tomatoes / Long Black
Scrambled Eggs on Sourdough with (side) potato and feta hash and (side) pork sausage and (side) tomato relish / English Breakfast Tea

Total Cost - $40.00

Service - 5 out of 10

Atmosphere - 8 out of 10

Food - 9 out of 10

Value - 8 out of 10

Verdict: 7 out of 10... very much brought down by the service. Our waitress was in need of a wash and I was charged for a coffee I didn't have. The food, however, couldn't have been better (aside from slightly tough toast). Beautifully seasoned, fast to arrive and delicious. If they could just sort out their service issues, this place would definitely be close to a 10!

The Gunshop Cafe, West End

The Situation:
Mid week hum drum in much need of some livening up. A hump day breakfast is planned to take away the 'suicide tuesday hangover'. Added to the banality of a Wednesday is the fact that I woke up and thought it was Thursday. How disappointing...

Ordered:
Scottish Haddock with Indian Spiced potatoes, Spinach and Poached Egg / Long Black
Canadian Brioche French Toast with Bacon, Strawberries, Pecans and Maple Syrup/ Long Black

Total Cost - $42.40

Service - 8 out of 10
Atmosphere - 8 out of 10
Food - 7.5 out of 10
Value - 6 out of 10

Verdict: 7 out of 10… the Long Blacks were perfect, the egg was poached exactly as it should be, but spending over $20 on breakfast can't be ignored. While my haddock was tasty, it was missing something, and the french toast was delicious, but potentially over crispified.

The London Club, Teneriffe

The Situation: Saturday morning. Slightly delicate stomachs from the potentially dodgy Thai food the night before. Needed something to line the stomach.

After sampling much of their wine list and other delicacies in the evening, I was keen to see what they could dish up for Breakfast.

Ordered:

• Spiced Avocado on organic bread with tomatoes and rocket / english breakfast tea
• Roast Field Mushrooms on Turkish Bread with asparagus, poached eggs and Bearnaise sauce / Skinny Latte
  

Total Cost - $36.00 - 15% residents discount

Service - 7 out of 10
Atmosphere - 6 out of 10
Food - 8 out of 10
Value - 8 out of 10

Verdict: 8 out of 10… the eggs were perfect. I asked how it was possible and was told that the head chef had cooked my breakfast. If only every chef knew how to poach an egg.

Bada Bing, Westfield, Chermside

The Situation: Very hungover, didn't want to go very far for some kind of nutritious breakfast, with a little bit of grease thrown in for good measure.

Ordered:

• Eggs Benedict with Salmon on Turkish Breakfast / skinny flat white
• Corn and Bacon Fritters with Avocado and Spinach; - special request - sausages on the side / cappuccino

Total Cost - $35.50

Service - 5 out of 10

Atmosphere - 7 out of 10

Food - 5 out of 10

Value - 6 out of 10

Verdict: 5 out of 10... I had to ask for my Eggs Benedict to be done again because they made it and let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes. Once I complained though, the new eggs were done in 3 minutes and we got free coffee to make up for it.

In a Pickle, Martha St, Camp Hill

The Situation: Saturday morning. Grumbling stomachs. Needed a good coffee to rise above the wet weather that had been around all week.

After sampling one of their yummy cakes on the counter, it once again left us trying to decide whether its really so naughty to have dessert for breakfast. The food on the menu was temptation enough though. Pancakes, potatoes, poached eggs…oh my! In a Pickle never disappoints...

Ordered:

• Avocado and Mushrooms on Turkish Bread; - special request - mushrooms cooked in pesto butter / flat white
• Grilled herbed polenta; served with spinach, poached eggs and a chili relish / Skinny Hot Chocolate

Total Cost - $31.00

Service - 8.5 out of 10
Atmosphere - 6.5 out of 10
Food - 7 out of 10
Value - 9 out of 10

Verdict: 7 out of 10…its all about the sauces and the pesto butter here…although I'm sure the cakes would have been good too!

Sassafras Cafe - Latrobe Tce, Paddington

The Situation: One of us was in need of some hibernation inducing goodness and one was in need of some fuel to later embark on a Sunday afternoon shopping trip.

Although we were initially tempted by the copious amounts of delicacies glowing with goodness behind the counter, we obediently chose some breakfast fodder in order to adequately assess this eatery...

Ordered:

• Chili Corn Cakes; with hummus, spinach, crispy bacon & tomato relish / Earl Grey Tea
  
• Vegetarian Big Breakfast; scrambled tofu, toasted turkish bread, relish, avocado, grilled tomato, grilled haloumi, housemade baked beans & mushrooms / Skinny Chai Latte
  

Total Cost - $41.00

Service - 8 out of 10

Atmosphere - 9 out of 10

Food - 8 out of 10

Value - 8 out of 10

Verdict: 8 out of 10 and the scrambled tofu was deeeelicious!