Monday, March 22, 2010

Breadtop in Brisbane

Breadtop, Garden City
Kiosk K218, Westfield Garden City, Upper Mount Gravatt



My first experience of Breadtop was down in Sydney. I remember that my friends and I spent the whole trip on a full belly because there were just too many things we wanted to eat. The moment we walked into Breadtop, I didn't even care because I wasn't the least bit in the mood to eat anything. We bought a tray of stuff out of novelty and it wasn't until later in the day that I had a chance to appreciate the actual taste.



When I saw a Breadtop open in Garden City a few months back, I felt a level of excitement disproportional to how much I actually cared about the shop. What I mean is, I wasn't someone who recently moved to Brisbane and was craving Breadtop from Melbourne or Sydney and felt a sudden sense of nostalgia upon seeing a local store opening up. I was just excited because I dig food and I like Brisbane having more options.


Mount Gravatt isn't easy for me to get to though so it wasn't until last weekend that I made good of my excitement. I needed to go to the bank with my parents (specifically, a branch at Garden City Shopping Center) so I suggested grabbing a few bread items for lunch. They were less than keen on the idea of bread for a meal until they saw the actual kiosk.


Breadtop has the same appeal as a candy store: it's bright, busy, clean and chockas full of nice things to purchase. You grab a tray and wander around picking this and that. There are plenty of sweet and savory purchases including conventional Asian bakery-style items (e.g. sausage in a sweet bun or taro bun) plus some that I haven't seen elsewhere (including a curiously pitch black 'charcoal bun').

Mini baked cheesecake

We got a whole variety of items and also picked a mini cheesecake to have at my birthday dinner later on that night.

Cheesecake texture shot

Breadtop provides beverages in the form of standard bottled cold drinks (coke, iced tea, water) as well as hot drinks (coffee). I wanted a hot Hong Kong milk tea but they were sold out :(.

The lady at the counter wasn't the friendliest bakery chick I've met but she was super efficient. I guess in a shop as busy as theirs, that is what's important.

We found a table nearby to start munching on our purchases.

Assorted baked goodies

Chicken pie interior

Inside of chicken and mushroom donut

My favorite was the chicken and mushroom filled donut and the chicken pie with puff pastry topping was a close second. The crab meat bread and cheese and ham bread were delicious but very, very oily.

Coconut tart (minus a bite)

The garlic bread had an attractive green coloring and was REALLY packed with garlic. I wasn't a fan of the coconut tart (really dry and average) but the chocolate mousse was pretty good. Everything was so cheap!

Tiny cup of chocolate mousse

Chocolate mousse texture shot

What my family are in agreement on is the lack of serviettes. My dad and I circled around the kiosk and could not find any. These bread products are oily! Dignified eating requires wiping. I, especially, am a terminal face wiper (I frequently find that after a meal, I've not only destroyed my tissue but those belong to my dining table neighbors) so I need paper. Apologies to Breadtop if we missed their supply somehow but my dad ended up rushing over to the food court and collecting serviettes from: Michelle's Patisserie, McDonald's and Subway. Nice work dad.

4 comments:

  1. OMG I am soooooo going there today if I can!!!

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  2. Haha, I went to the city store today and will try them tomorrow.

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  3. I visited the store at Australia Fair in Gold Coast. Fantastic !! I ate so much bread. Very good quality. Very similar to Bread Talk of Singapore

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  4. No doubt, they are among the best asian bakery in Brisbane. However still maintaining the Asian style service, not friendly.

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