Pearl Cafe Revisited for Breakfast

Pearl Cafe - revisited
28 Logan Rd, Woolloongabba

An old favorite with an old friend! Perfecto. Mochi graced Brisbane with her presence over the last weekend and I was lucky enough to be able to catch up with her over breakfast. We pondered over what the appropriate venue would be... should we try something new and exciting or revisit somewhere we've always loved? I thought it was a no-brainer. Pearl Cafe was one of Mochi's favorite coffee and food spots when she was living in Brisbane and I first heard about it through her. My previous post was from 2011, so it was time for an update anyway.

We met up at 8am on Sunday, which I learnt is considerably early since Pearl was only just opening. I was glad because parking in that little complex can be a nightmare and I've also had experiences where Pearl was packed and we had to wait for tables. At that time in the morning, neither was an issue. In fact, I took up a table inside, decided I didn't like the lighting (or lack thereof) and shifted outside again.

If it's ever boring to revisit an old cafe because of the repetitive menu, that wasn't a problem for us at Pearl. I know that we hadn't been in a long time but from what I gather, Pearl also changes its menu seasonally so boredom isn't allowed! That was good in that I paused and considered every appetizing dish description, but sad when Mochi wanted something familiar and sweet (I've tasted the best ever french toast from Pearl in the past) and they only had muesli and this fried donut dish.

Soy latte

I've been testing the waters of being lactose intolerant (unsure if I am or not) so I ordered a soy latte. It was delicious! It gave me hope that soy milk in coffee wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing... only, when I came home and tried it myself on my Nespresso, it tasted foul. Pearl must have a magic touch.

Iced long black

Mochi ordered an iced long black with extra ice to counter the hot weather. It was a rediculously hot weekend and we were sitting outside (at my insistence) but somehow still pleasant. Good company and good food does that for one's mood.

Bircher muesli - with stewed stone fruit, summer berries, barambah yoghurt and flaked almonds

Mochi ended up choosing the muesli to satisfy her early morning sweet tooth. It was served soft and pre-soaked and topped wih stewed fruit, fresh berries, yoghurt and extra milk.

Mushroom special with cheese bread, slow-cooked egg and fresh rocket

I went for the special of the day, which was mushrooms on cheesy toast, with a soft-cooked duck egg and fresh rocket. The serving size was massive and despite having breakfast so early on (and doing 1hr bootcamp that afternoon), I didn't regain my appetite until dinner time.

Oozy egg shot

The cheese bread was delicious and egg yolk oozed over mushrooms works wonderfully well. Rocket helped to lighten it up a bit but it was still quite a heavy dish.

The food was delicious, as per our fond memories of Pearl. Mochi summed it up with "Pearl Cafe doesn't disappoint". My only critisism of the menu is that it's labelled as 'Sunday Brunch' and really, that's exactly what it is. Pretty much all the items, minus the toast and perhaps the muesli are too heavy to be conventional breakfast items. They're better suited for late morning, lunch-replacements, which is fine because that's what they claim to be... but what about breakfast?

We felt slightly rushed by the waiter who kept coming over to check how we were going and then set the bill on our table. The place wasn't packed and there were plenty of empty tables. I'm not sure if I'm reading the "hurry up and pay and vacate" wrong but one of my absolute top cafe hates is being rushed. At restaurants and eateries, I can understand, and anywhere that's really busy... but to me, cafes are for relaxing and enjoying and chatting.