Brunch at Moose and Gibson

Moose and Gibson
http://www.mooseandgibson.com/

I first heard about this place through the interwebs when I got back from Europe but it's taken me a long time to allocate a suitable weekend to visit.

Marc is not really a brunch person and his often gloomy attitude about it makes me much rather go with my girlfriends. Tracy was more than up for the task and we met up at 11 last Saturday for the perfect combination of meal + gossip.

Moose and Gibson has an all day breakfast menu and lunch that start at 11:30am. I was more attracted to the breakfast items so I didn't need to dawdle for half an hour to access the lunch options. We ordered coffee to start with and then settled our food order.

Latte

The coffee at Moose and Gibson was very good. It was smooth and rich without too much bitterness. There was a jar of raw sugar on the table and I got carried away telling a boring story about how I have the exact same jars at home. What can I say, I'm domestic and these things excite me.

Spiced labna - labna with sumac, cumin and herbs, oven-dried tomato and dusted with gingerbread crumble on sourdough

The labna caught my eye straight up because it sounded like a nice, light way to start the day. I discovered labna (the spelling confuses me as there seems to be multiple accepted variations) when I made it myself according to Julie Goodwin's recipe. It was so yummy and versatile and when you consider it's simply concentrated Greek yoghurt, it must be healthy too.

The version here was exactly what I was in the mood for. The labna itself was lightly spiced with sumac and cumin. I liked how the citrus complimented the plate by adding some fresh zinginess. It was topped with a gingerbread crumble, which was interesting but the glutton in me wished it was bacon crumble instead. My only real complaint was that the portion was quite small. I know, I know it's my own fault for not choosing something heartier. And I am quite porky nowadays so I probably eat more than I should. I actually did leave with a full stomach but I had a second lunch not long after.

Baked potted eggs - with rich herb tomato sauce, chorizo, olive tapenade, baby spinach, and ciabatta with truffle butter

I tried a bit of Tracy's baked eggs because she was vague on feedback and wanted to see what I thought. Her own verdict was that it was good but different to what she expected. I grabbed a bite of chorizo and found the tomato sauce to be quite sweet. It might have been too sweet on its own but with the chorizo, it matched nicely. I'm inspired to make my own baked eggs at home now.

 

I liked that Moose and Gibson is popular but it wasn't too packed. The coffees and food came at reasonable times and the service was friendly. The menu options all sound tasty and interesting without having any element of pretentiousness. I would describe the dishes we tried as 'things you can make at home but somehow much better'.