It was only the other week that I was lamenting the lack of bakery style coffee shops in Brisbane. I can remember as a kid of 10 or so occasionally tripping into city with a parental to do some (god awful) shopping for school shoes and part of the deal was that we would have morning tea at a bakery. We would all get freshly baked croissants, Mum would get a cappuccino and there was a certain ritual to it.
My point is, and I realise I’m getting all nostalgic, that I couldn’t for the life of me think of a place where you could do this today. I was racking my brains for somewhere that does freshly baked goods and a decent coffee, with some nice decor, tables and chairs and was coming up empty handed. And then someone suggested breakfast at Poppy’s Basket at South Bank this week.
Eh? Poppy’s what? Where’s that?
Oh. My. God. I cannot believe I didn’t know this place existed. It is exactly what I’ve been looking for and what’s more it’s been under my nose the entire time. *face palm*
Poppy’s Basket is clean, crisp, sparking bakery & deli on Grey Street that wipes away the gloom of the morning. On stepping through the door it’s as if my problems and stresses vanish and all is right. If the world was going to get bulldozed tomorrow, I wouldn’t care so long as I could be enjoying a coffee and perusing the menu at Poppy’s when it happened.
The staff are bubbly and willing to have a chat – even if they started work at 6:30am and haven’t had a chance to have breakfast yet and that sets the entire mood of the place. They’re happy to see you and possess a working smile.
I ordered a flat white ($3.5) and poached eggs, toast and avocado ($6.8). If you’ve eaten there before and wondering why you haven’t seen this on the menu it’s because it isn’t. While the selection of breakfast options is quite good, I just had a hankering for eggs + toast + avo and I took the risk of asking for it.
“Of course we can do that for you, not a problem”
Get the $%*& out.
It seems everywhere I’ve eaten recently has got a note on their menu saying that they do not accept alterations to their dishes even to the point of declaring that you must have your eggs fried. It’s very refreshing to find a place that does things differently.
Poppy’s is decked out in a bright casual style – lots of glass cabinets, smiles, and shelves stocked with gourmet knick-knacks but it’s clear they don’t take themselves too seriously as for on the centre of each table sits a large pumpkin. I don’t know either.
Coffees and brekky arrived before they were missed and on first thought the serving looked a little diminutive. One piece of thick toast, two poached eggs and about one third of an avo. I’ve been running this through my brain trying to work out if this was value or not and I think the problem that I’m having is that I don’t typically order something so light. Normally it’s a pile of bacon and sausages and runs about $12-$15, so a couple of eggs on toast for $6.8 is a little hard to compare. I’m going to reserve judgment on the price.
The eggs, however, were excellent. The yolks were a gorgeous bright orange colour, the likes of which I’ve never seen before. Apparently (so Google tells me) this means that they’re likely to be fresh and free range.
Poppy’s Basket is a little patch of happiness on an otherwise somewhat lackluster strip on Little Stanley St, and is a place I’ll definitely be heading back to explore more thoroughly.
-Nick
Poppy’s Basket
Bakery and Deli
166 Grey St
South Brisbane map
07 3844 0144
From 6:30am, 7 days a week