Crosstown Eating House – 7.8
Logan Road, Woolloongabba
Like a bear rising from hibernation early, you know all is not well when you get a call from the GZA at 7.05am on a Saturday morning. Turns out the poor little fellow has had a nightmare about the Celtics losing (turned out to be a premonition) and he can’t get back to sleep. His instructions: meet him at the “Logan Road wig zone”.
The “wig zone” is actually the Logan Road coulter sack, home to several antique stores and the breakfast heavyweight, Pearl. But TCB head directly across the road and enter the two story, red brick Crosstown Eating House.
double flat
long mac
The menu is very interesting, with more interesting options than not, including morning peas with pancetta and poached eggs, smoked ocean trout, and the two most out of place breakfast items, which are obviously what TCB choose for this morning: the pad kra poa (the waitress doesn’t really get the joke when I laugh in her face as she asked me whether I want it with pork mince or tofu) and the fish taco.
Pad kra poa
The coffees arrive after an unnoticeable wait, and are passable editions of the predictably boring Merlo blend.
A quick debrief of the NBA playoffs to date, and the food arrives. The fish taco, a seemingly out of place item on a breakfast menu, is a tortilla piled with pan fired whiting, blackbean and tomato salsa, avocado and sour cream. As the GZA slopped it all over the plate and his hands, he reported that the fish, beans and salsa take it in a lunch direction, but the inclusion of fresh avocado and zesty lime bring it screaming back to breakfast. He was very impressed.
Grilled Fish Taco
Contrastingly, the pad kra poa, proved itself to not only seem out of place on a breakfast menu, but to actually be out of place on a breakfast menu. The dish itself was very tasty, with steamed rice, hearty green beans, a tasty pork mince creation topped off with lime and chilli. The problem was that once the fried egg was gone – and trust me, I tried to stir the yolk through the whole dish – it simply became a standard Thai dinner serving. Not exactly my metaphorical cup of breakfast tea.
TCB definitely appreciate interesting and out of the ordinary breakfast options, but unfortunately, Crosstown Eating House may have flown too close to the sun and become casualties of their own ambition.
This doesn’t mean it is not worth a visit, as over all it provides a good breakfast experience, but if you wake up as early as we did, there is a good chance that the usually packed Pearl will have spots available across the road.
Coffee: 7.0 Menu: 8.5 Food: 8.0 Service: 8.0 Ambience: 7.5
Reviewed by AMac & GZA
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