Duo - West End

There is nothing better to bring in a nice relaxing weekend other than a gourmet cafe brunch, especially after a long night out on Friday doing multiple market and dessert crawls. My morning was made all the more better after my sleep in, with an invite to try out the food at Duo at West End. Having just recently celebrated their Second Birthday and launched a new menu, I was really excited to try it out.

 

With both seating inside and outside, I was glad to have been reserved an indoors table. Menus and water were provided very promptly.

With quite a selection of traditional and modern favourites in the menu, it took a fair while for us to decide what we wanted, but once we did, we placed our order at the counter.

Drinks came out fairly quickly after that.

Both my companions had a latte in a mug. They found the milk to be rich and creamy with a good nutty coffee that wasn't bitter or acidic. The highlight for all of us was the adorable love heart cookie that was on the side of each of our coffees, it was super cute and we really enjoyed it.

I had a mug of skim cappuccino with a shot of hazelnut. It also came with a cookie heart. I really enjoyed the coffee, especially the milk which was frothed up to be rich despite the fact that it was skim. The coffee was fragrant and really perked me up.

Halfway through our coffee, our food came out. Needless to say, the spread was epic.

My first companion had the Southern Benny. Comprising of pulled pork, chipotle hollandaise, poached eggs, spinach and pickled cabbage on a bagel, it made for a wonderful breakfast. The pulled pork was slow cooked and melts in your mouth, while the hollandaise gave it an element of creaminess, the spinach kept it fresh and crisp while the cabbage gave it some tang. Compared to the bread we had in our breakfast, the bagel was heavier and denser. My companion really liked this and found it very filling. She also really enjoyed the aesthetics of the dish and its pretty colour contrasts.

My other companion and I shared a Brekky Platter for two. The platter comprised of eggs, bacon, mushroom, house made beans, avocado, haloumi, grilled tomato, hash browns and toasted ciabatta.

Before we delve into the substance of the platter though, I have to take a moment to make mention of the ciabatta that was served with the platter. These two were probably some of the best slices of bread I've had in my life. With a crust that's crisp but not too hard as to scrape my mouth, and a fluffy but still substantial open crumb that just took my breath away, it was heaven in my mouth. It tasted so good that my companion actually couldn't wait to eat his and took a bite before I could even get my first photo.

Back onto the platter, we had two eggs fried and two poached. The poached had a perfectly runny yolk whilst the fried had a crispy outside and bottom. The serving of bacon was very generous, with at least six rashers. Unfortunately though, we found it to be a bit saltier than we would have liked. The avocado was lightly seasoned in oil and spread very well, I only wish there was a bit more. Both tomatoes and mushrooms were well cooked and had a wonderful flavour to them. I loved the crunchy hash brown and the well caramelised haloumi. My companion found the house made beans to be a highlight, with the freshness of herbs and crushed tomato.

To top off this splendid meal, we also ordered a side of crispy chicken bites. These were meaty and crunchy, but the wedge of lemon really cut through the heaviness of the dish. We couldn't get enough of these bites of delectable chicken-y goodness.

Was really impressed with the calibre of food at Duo, which definitely makes my top 3 for brunch places in Brisbane. Even writing about it now makes me want to go back soon for another round of eggs and that ciabatta.

Espresso and Matcha were invited guests of Duo, but as always, my opinions are solely my own.

Price Range: $20 - $25pp

Taste: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Environment: 8/10