A lingering leg injury has meant for discomfort while sitting, countless trips to the physio (oh, my wallet) and, most upsettingly, no cycling. The upside to this is that I'm becoming a more confident driver and thus exploring a larger distance range of Brisbane. And by exploring, I of course mean eating. Goodness Gracious Cafe has been popping up on my Instagram feed for some time with pictures of their menu offerings piquing my interest and making my mouth water. With a tagline of 'fresh and local food' and with several gluten-free options, I was sold.

I made a breakfast date with Y for a Sunday morning and with both of us being early risers, we aimed for an early one and arrived at 8am. Goodness Gracious Cafe defines suburban cafe with its location in Graceville in a cottage-style shop and busy patronage at this earlyish hour. Although there is a carpark behind the cafe and ample street parking, the closest park we could find was at least one hundred metres away. When we entered the cafe, it looked as though all of the tables were already taken but luckily there was one table for two by the window that had just become free. It was a hot Summer day but thankfully the cafe is air-conditioned.

drinks menu

After being given water and handed menus we placed our coffee orders - I ordered a long black and Y, being a new convert to it, ordered the cold drip coffee. As we waited for our coffees, we perused the menu. Apart from her excellent company, what I love about breakfasting with Y is that she also likes to share meals so we tend to share and often one savoury, one sweet. The all-day menu at Goodness Gracious changes seasonally, as per their ethos, and the current menu includes the general breakfast staples plus a few extras, all with an interesting twist. For example, the Avocado on Toast ($12) comes with almond and dill butter, creme fraiche and lemon dressing. We were tempted by the Spiced Chickpeas with sauteed spinach, slow roast tomatoes, haloumi, puffed wild rice and poached eggs ($16) but the corned beef hash that was in the Green Eggs and Ham ($16) along with the salsa verde scrambled eggs, peas and jamon crumb won me over. Both of us being mad muesli fans, we also decided to get the Granola and Fruit with honey chia Coyo, ginger ancient grain pecan granola and poached fruit ($12).

cold press coffee; long black

Despite the busy nature of the cafe, our coffees didn't take long to arrive. My long black was nice and strong without any bitterness and Y appeared to enjoy her cold drip. As we waited for our meals, we chatted and watched several plates of delicious looking meals go past which did not help with the mounting hunger we felt! It felt like forever before our meals arrived but in reality it wasn't that long, especially given how busy the place was and I think it just felt long because everything going past looked amazing! Eventually our meals did arrive and on particularly pretty plates too and we eagerly dug in.

I'm pretty sure even Sam-I-Am would approved of these Green Eggs and Ham. Based on the description, I thought that this would be a very loose interpretation given that the jamon crumb was the only ham-like part of the meal but it arrived with several slices of leg ham tucked underneath the scrambled eggs laced with the green salsa verde. The eggs were soft and creamy, as scrambled eggs should be. I don't recall the salsa verde adding a strong additional flavour but regardless, they were decent eggs. The corned beef hash had a good ratio of shredded corned beef to potato and had a nice crispy exterior. The vibrant green pea puree was silky smooth and my favourite part of the dish - well seasoned and brought everything else together. I really enjoyed eating all of the components of the dish altogether. The only thing missing for me was some kick and so I asked for pepper as it wasn't available on the table. The waitress came back and told me that it was currently being used and would bring it over as soon as it was back....but it never arrived. I attempted to slowly eat the meal in anticipation of it arriving but in the end gave up. While still delicious without, I think some freshly ground pepper really would have made the dish for me.



After scraping every last morsel of my plate of Green Eggs and Ham, I moved onto my 'dessert' of Granola and Fruit. Presented in a large stoneware bowl, it was visually appealing in a rustic way with a translucent half poached pear poking out and several stalks of pale pink rhubarb laid on top of the golden toasted granola. Underneath the granola was a generous serve of creamy white CoYo (coconut yoghurt) with chia seeds mixed throughout. I'm very specific about how I liked my granola - crunchy, not overly sweet, a good mix of grains, seeds and nuts, and just a sprinkling of dried fruit. This one ticked all the boxes for me with only a light honey flavour and a great mix of what looked to be oats, quinoa/millet, buckwheat, almonds, pecans and dried cranberries. The heavy use of grains and nuts ensured that there was good textural crunch factor to complement the soft coconut yoghurt and chia mix. The perfectly poached pear added a light sweetness and held its shape well. The rhubarb was only lightly poached to ensure its shape was held but it did make cutting it up tricky. However, once managed, the tart flavour offset the richness of the coconut yoghurt perfectly. Altogether it was another perfectly put together meal with all components marrying well with one another.

Green Eggs & Ham ($16)

Granola & Fruit ($12)

The cafe was still pumping when Y and I got up to leave, with a short queue waiting for tables. According to @yelpbne, who I ran into on the way out, the cold press had just ran out so you may need to get in early if you want it! Although their Instagram indicates they've got new bigger brewing equipment... Overall I really enjoyed my breakfast at Goodness Gracious Cafe and am eager to return to try more of their delicious sounding menu.

The menu, current at the time

http://www.goodnessgraciouscafe.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/goodnessgraciousbne