The Burrow for Breakfast and Lunch

The Burrow
http://theburrowwestend.com.au/

I wanted to go to The Burrow as soon as I first head about it. I didn't know exactly what was on offer but my imagination conjured scenarios of pizza and beer in a den-like environment. How could that combination be anything less than totally awesome? From that first mention onward, I kept hearing positive reviews of The Burrow that only served to further fuel my desires. One particular review mentioned cider spiders and that was it... SOLD. Forget every other cafe/restaurant/bar on my ever-increasing 'must try' list, The Burrow bounced to the top.

My experience of The Burrow to date falls short of what I want it to be. So far, I've been on 2 occasions but once was with a mate at lunch and the other was solo, having breakfast. I'm still yet to experience the after dark vibe (with the aforementioned beer and cider spiders) but hopefully, what this post will do is shine a light on the other side of The Burrow. Maybe whilst everyone else is writing about the night time buzz, I can share what the place is like during the day.

I'll start with lunch because that was my first time at The Burrow. Mork and I hadn't seen each other in aaaaages. In fact, it had been so long that major life milestones had passed and we had no idea. He didn't know I had braces, for one thing, and they've been on for at least 3 months. We were well overdue for a catch up.

The Burrow had a fair amount of people eating in the restaurant when we got there around noon. I was surprised to see that it was where Ottoman Restaurant used to be but the building's been reworked well. The atmosphere is lovely. As soon as we walked in, the place felt friendly and relaxed.

We had a look at the menu and ordered at the counter. There are plenty of long wooden benches to eat at and during the day, the building is bathed in natural light. I suspect there may be an upstairs area too but I haven't explored that yet.

Hillibilly chilli pizza - with speck, chilli pumpkin, cherry tomato, pesto and mozarella

Mork ordered the Hillbilly Chilli from the $10 special lunch pizza menu. I asked him for his review, only to be told "I'm really bad at reviews". I persisted and found out that he spoke the truth. His review was that "It's got a good... bottom. And there's some... topping". I prompted with questions about the quality of the base and flavor of toppings. The general feedback was positive. I asked him if the serving size was adequate and he said "it's a good size for one person. But then again, I wasn't that hungry today so I'm not sure".

Vege burger - with chickpea stuffed mushrooms with gruyere cheese, baby spinach, semi-dried tomatoes and pear chutney, served with beer-battered chips

My pick was the vege burger. It was a fat burger loaded with vegetarian goodies. Rather than a patty, the body of the burger is a fat field mushroom stuffed with chickpeas and cheese.

 Close-up of vege burger

The pear chutney was too sweet for me but overall it was tasty. I refuse to think of vegetarian options as a second best to anything with meat. I love veggie burgers and pizzas! The chips were really crunchy and great too.

Banana smoothie

I was having trouble chewing that day (braces; also explains why I didn't try any of Mork's pizza and provide my own, more descriptive review) so I also ordered a banana smoothie. The menu describes banana and honey but I specifically requested banana only because I didn't want it to be too sweet. And they obliged. The smoothie was just what I needed. It was refreshing and nourishing and thick but not too thick (I dislike anything that requires effort to force up the straw).

I enjoyed The Burrow so much that I went back for breakfast only a week later. It's a nice stroll from where I stay in Brisbane now and it's open early on the weekends, perfect for me since I lack the gene that enables people to sleep in.

I might have been the first person in that day (I seem to do that quite a bit with cafes... I belong to the group of customers that justifies their early opening hours) because people were still moving chairs and signboards around.

My breakfast order included a coffee (duh) and some scrambled eggs on Turkish.

Latte

The coffee was actually quite good! I say that in a surprised tone I guess because I had pidgeon-holed this place to be more of a bar venue. Maybe it's more of a cafe venue. Who knows, who cares. The coffee gets a tick from me.

Scrambled free range organic eggs - with Turkish bread

The scrambled eggs were cooked perfectly and the Turkish bread was just toasted so it was crunchy on the outside and warm on the inside. I think I was hung over that morning (not unusual for weekend mornings) so this was like a healing hug for my stomach. Loved it.

The service at The Burrow on both occasions was great. The staff seemed genuinely nice and happy. One my solo breakfast venture, the guy even asked if I was cold and wanted the door shut. I find that very thoughtful!

I totally recommend The Burrow for food, drinks and catchups. I haven't been for dinner/late night snacks yet but it's definitely on the cards. It's rare for me to eat somewhere and want to go back for repeats because every repeat is a lost opportunity to try and blog someplace new. I think The Burrow is not only worthy of repeats but may just become my new West End go-to (taking over from The Three Monkeys).