Au Cirque Cafe

Au Cirque Cafe
618 Brunswick St, New Farm



Woo! Another breakfast post. I've had a happy week.

I was going to go to Planet Matterz in Wynnum (recommended by Mochi) but saw they had no sweet breakfast item on their menu. Google provided me with some alternatives and I thought I'd see what I felt like in the morning to determine where to go. When I woke up, I needed sweet so we decided to go to Cirque, a cafe with an esteemed reputation for breakfast.

New Farm street art

It was quite a journey to get there. I'm the process of learning how to drive so whilst I can get around alright, changing lanes and parking are 2 skills that I currently do not possess. We unfortunately were on the wrong lane heading inbound and missed the Valley, ending up somewhere past the RBH. After a strenuous U-turn, the same thing happened on the way back and suddenly, we were on the wrong side of the river again.



At this stage, Hien took over and we at least got to the correct suburb. However, I misread a number on the address so we parked about 15min away from Cirque. Well, it's all good exercise, right? And the thought of breakfast is enough to get me climbing hills and marching long distances.


Even though we were really looking out for Cirque, I nearly walked right past it. The shop front is understated and has minimal signage. Upon entering though, we saw that most of the seats were occupied. This was a weekday morning, mind you. We squeezed in between 2 other tables and were given the menu.


The waiter was brisk and fast but very friendly and joked about how cozy the space was.

Mocha

We ordered some drinks to begin with. Hien was dying for caffeine so he ordered a mocha. It was creamy with a high foam and he said it was rather good.

Fresh juice with watermelon, apple and mint

I originally felt like getting coffee too but the long walk sort of warmed me up so I opted for a cold juice: watermelon, apple and mint. Have you ever noticed that most juices containing apple end up tasting like apple? This one had a sufficient portion of watermelon to taste like watermelon juice with a hint of apple and mint. Very refreshing and delicious. I had to stop myself from guzzling this down.

When we were seated, the waiter informed us of some daily specials and stated that today's porridge was served with a berry compote and toasted coconut. I was originally going to order porridge but 'berry compote' kinda put me off. Oh what the heck, I ended up ordering it anyway. And I'm glad for it!

Porridge - with berry compote and toasted coconut

The porridge was amazing. I had no preconception of what 'porridge' was in the Western world. At home, we think of porridge as watery rice with pickles (I guess this is more appropriately termed 'congee'). When the waiter told me it was made from oats, I was imagining the kind of oats I stew up at home. Nice but unexciting. THIS porridge however, was nothing like that. I don't know what kind of oats they use or what they do with them but they slightly resembled sago pearls? Rather than flat and chewy, they were smooth and round and very creamy. I was so taken by this porridge dish I tried to recreate it a couple of mornings later but it was nothing on the real thing.

Chow down - soft poached eggs, bacon sausage, roast tomato, mushrooms, potato and parmesan rosti, wilted spinach, onion jam and sourdough toast

Hien did the 'guy thing' and ordered Cirque's famed Chow Down. It is their equivalent of a big breakfast with the works. It was a decent serving though I've seen bigger breakfasts, I suppose this isn't somewhere you would go for quantity. Hien's feedback is that the breakfast was presented well and the mushrooms were great.

Oozy poached egg from the chow down

I really enjoyed breakfast at Cirque and would be happy to go back anytime. I was even thinking about making a repeat journey just a few days later but decided I should go easy and not spoil myself TOO much. Still, it's a mark of how much I liked the place.