The Gunshop Cafe: Food Review

Being someone who usually sleeps in until the last minute in the morning, I don't always eat breakfast. But don't get me wrong, I do love eating breakfast - it is the most important meal of the day, as it gives you the energy to plough through the long day ahead. I especially love eating breakfast out, as cafes are usually more creative with their menus than I am at home. Creativity aside, I also expect better-tasting food than what I can make myself; afterall, what is the point otherwise of travelling the distance and paying the price premiums?

The Gunshop Cafe is located in West End, a suburb close to the Brisbane CBD. It is very popular with locals, especially on weekends, when there might be a waiting time for a table, if you come in the later morning hours for breakfast. It has won awards in the past, including Best Cafe in Queensland and Best Cafe in Australia in 2010. Naturally, one would expect then to have an exceptional dining experience here; however, I regret to say that I have not been overly impressed on the occasions I have dined at this cafe. The first two times, I went for lunch. On the first occasion, I think I had some sort of soup with toasted bread, because I was not that hungry. I recall the dish tasting alright, but afterwards, when I got home, I had a bit of tummy cramping and then diarrhoea. Strike 1. Now, I'm someone who likes to give second chances, and I reasoned to myself that maybe my tummy was just not feeling 100% that morning. So I went again a second time for lunch. This time, I ordered a mushroom risotto that the waitress recommended. I love mushrooms and I love risottos; surely I would love this dish, right? Wrong. I managed to find an image of it that I took with my old mobile phone at the time, so you can see for yourself what it looked like:



Mushroom risotto

As you can see, it was dry for a risotto, and not very visually appealing. I wouldn't care so much for looks, if it was delicious... but it wasn't. It was just okay. I didn't, and couldn't, finish it. Strike 2.

I was in the area with a friend last week, as we planned to have brekky at one of the cafes there that she  highly recommended. As luck would have it, the owners decided to stop offering a breakfast menu for that particular day, so we had to look elsewhere to feed our hungry tums. My friend wanted to go to The Gunshop Cafe. I considered the fact that this cafe had won Best Breakfast Restaurant in Brisbane for the past consecutive 4 years, and decided to give them another shot - Maybe, just maybe, the breakfast menu will wow me. Without further ado, let's go in.....

A spacious interior. There is also a courtyard out the back, where people can dine.

Fancy busts adorning the barrier between the kitchen and the main dining area

The very first time I came here, there was a slightly putrid smell hanging in the air, and I wondered whether it was because they seated us near the restrooms. I didn't experience this on the last 2 times I was here, so I will just take the first as an anomaly. The long padded seating against the wall was comfortable and the cafe had a nice, relaxed feel. The waitstaff were friendly and cheerful (probably because it wasn't as busy as it could be) and the time from order to food-on-table, although not speedy, was acceptable, especially since with breakfast dates, chit-chat time is of key importance.

The food

I ordered the toasted bagel with poached eggs and herbed hollandaise sauce, hot smoked salmon and asparagus, as well as a freshly squeezed ruby red grapefruit juice 'with a twist of mint'. I know grapefruit juice isn't meant to be sweet, but this was so tart that I didn't enjoy it at all. I would have sweetened it with a little bit of sugar if I was preparing it, in order to make it more palatable. I tried to drink it all anyway of course, because it costed me $6.50. 

My freshly squeezed ruby-red grapefruit and mint juice

When I see 'toasted bagel' on a menu, it usually means lightly toasted, so that the outside is crunchy but the interior is still soft. In this case, both halves of the bagel were toasted to a crisp, such that I felt like my oesophagus was being scratched every time I swallowed a bite of it. It was hard to cut through and hard to bite through. The poached eggs weren't the best I've ever had, and the yolks were not as runny as I like them to be (overpoached). As you can see from the photo, they weren't being very generous with the hollandaise sauce, and it was a bit gluggy in consistency too. The asparagus was dull and didn't look fresh. Worst of all was the salmon. This was the first time I've been presented with a thick chunk of cooked - no, overcooked - salmon when the menu says 'smoked salmon'. I don't know about you, but for me, smoked salmon is thinly sliced and, well, smoked, as opposed to fully cooked until firm and dry. I did not like this cafe's interpretation of it. Pas du tout. Strike 3.

Toasted bagel with poached eggs and herbed hollandaise sauce, hot smoked salmon and asparagus

My friend ordered the Canadian brioche French toast with caramelised banana, double-smoked bacon, candied pecans and maple syrup. I tasted a bit of it, and it was okay, but probably not something I would want a whole plate of. Of course, that's probably more because I'm the type who doesn't like to eat sweet things for breakfast, than because of the taste itself. Also, I like maple syrup, but the dish looked like it was fully drenched in it, which is also a negative for me. My friend seemed to enjoy it though.

Canadian brioche French toast, caramelised banana, double-smoked bacon, candied pecans and maple syrup

I have given this cafe three goes in all, but unfortunately, it has disappointed me time and time again. Three strikes - it's now permanently off my eat-out options list. The founder of this cafe also opened another one in Paddington, called Anouk, which I have also been to before for breakfast. Like the original business, it is quite a popular breakfast spot. Sadly, it also failed to impress me. I'm sure there must be some redeeming factors in the menu somewhere for others to like it so much. I suppose if you're not that picky about food like me, then you probably wouldn't mind the food.

For a smashing breakfast experience, I would highly recommend Bills (www.bills.com.au), which is owned by the fantastic Bill Granger, the next time you're in Sydney (the original one is in Darlinghurst, and there's also one each in Surry Hills and Woollahra). Actually, he has expanded his business to Japan and London (Granger & Co, www.grangerandco.com) as well in recent times, so you can try out his scrumptious menu, even if you don't live in Australia. I think his breakfast menu should be the same. I'm not sure about the lunch menu, but I'm sure anything created by Bill would be nothing short of fabulous. I'll do a proper review complete with pictures of his delicious food the next time I visit Sydney :)