TL;DR: It's a quirky little place, this Riverbend, and from that quirkiness they have delved a likable image that is sure to attract a whole lot of clientele. Freshness is the key here, getting healthy and cooking a good range of meals helps in addition. None of the effort can be faulted, whether this is your cup of tea or not. The people of Bulimba have one hot spot on their hands, and expect many brunches from many folks here in the years to come.
Right in the bustling heart of Oxford Street, in the leafy suburb of Bulimba, not anywhere else would be as suited for Riverbend as it was right here. A paean to hospitality, and providing quality fare throughout, as much as it is a quirky mixture of a cafe, and a bookstore. Even if the food is not your particular hankering, what can't be denied is how well the atmosphere has been created, and the set up suits its location really well.
The stipulation this time around in getting to breakfast was to venture out to one suburb - or area of town - that has always proved to have at least one ace up its sleeve, along with a couple in hand. That was none other than the Bulimba/Morningside area, and this place might have been directly seeked out by the house mate. He read about it on many of the gourmand websites, and saw nothing but good praise for it. Hey, that is good enough reason for me to try somewhere new, and with that it was the usual wake up call on a Sunday before heading off for a spot of breakfast.
Nothing too wrong with the service, but with the way it has been built up in all the hype, most of it was the normal pedestrian mode. That is, general counter service, getting the number, and from there waiting for the orders. The staff here are pretty warm, and definitely make the clients feel welcome. Lots of effort is being put into it, and at the moment it can't quite get latched to the A-. They do check if your meal is alright, and bring you the waters - and that latter one always wins in my book.
What definitely is not getting faulted is the aesthetics and surrounds. The bookstore definitely will help, but even putting that to the side this is something different. It sticks out from the street, with the surrounds of bamboo and other plants, which surrounds one big patio. So many tables are fitted onto here, while still allowing it to be spacious. The counter is off to the side, helping the place feel that much bigger.
Their menu is pretty characteristic. This time around, they manage to fire from several cylinders at once with trendiness being in mind, plus health on the frontal lobe, and even the odd eclectic selection where they can. It becomes apparent from the get go with the menu, having all the fruity options right at the start. Then, it can either be seen as trying out as a delicatessen or showcasing favourite sandwiches with the several that follow - expect the cafe classics. And classics is what goes soon afterwards, giving the expected favourites for any breakfast/brunch out.
But after that, the menu grows the beard and starts getting more experimental, and getting an international flavour. The name of the game is generally make it hot, and the meals around here start becoming substantial. Right here was where the indecision in what to order reared its head. It was not exactly a meatlovers paradise beforehand, but it gets a bit more intriguing for them right here. There are some international influences within them, which adds excitement to eating out.
For anyone just wanting the "coffee and cake" sort of meal, they are well catered for here. In the cabinet is the general range of all the usual suspects when it comes to pairing with coffee, both sweet and non-sweet. Cakes, tarts, and slices abound, as does a few kinds of ready-made sandwiches.
Lunch is practically a retread of the breakfast and brunch menu, adding just a few other meals into the mix. These possibly will change overtime, regardless expect a selection of the usual lot when it comes to cafes.
For beverages, they got you covered. Tea (loose leaf tea), and coffee abound the menu. In the hot weather, something else may be preferable and that is sorted - juices, smoothies, all the regular sodas, milkshakes, and when it hits 10:00am, the bar opens. That means a range of cocktails, all sorts of beers, and wines, and it is possibly only the beginning there. They clearly are looking out for people here.
This time around, the choice was certainly a swerve. Acknowledged, often this is not something that I would go for, but at the same time I do want to expand as much as I can what I have sampled and eaten. Especially in a case like what was presented. It was a Parsian-style breakfast, one kind that I haven't tried before. On this platter, you get a boiled egg, a couple of small croissants, some condiments in the form of both butter and jam, a small serving of Greek yoghurt mixed with several types of berries, an orange juice, plus the choice of either tea or coffee - which is included in the price. Predictable as always, the choice went to coffee and it was a doppio.
It was not too bad. Trying to critique it here is a little trickier, being not as particular to some aspects including the boiled egg (more of a poached man, myself), and that breakfasts out are usually a hot affair for me. This was like being in another world, with another set of rules and dynamics to me. I can still adapt though.
Each component was more or less fine to pretty good. I can't really tell if it was bottled or freshly squeezed orange juice that they served with the meal, since it all just tastes a bit sweet to me these days. Plus, the jam is one I couldn't put my finger on whether it was home-done or store brought either due to the lack of big bits of fruit throughout it. Other than that, the remaining components proved pretty good.
Points to the boiled egg, getting served in an egg cup, with a garnish of some leaves as a bed. After getting to peel the entire shell off, the egg beneath was certainly soft, had that flavour only egg has, culminating in the yolk being nearly molten. Then and there, I can see the appeal to some people of having an egg be a snack for between times. Both of the croissants did pretty well with the condiments given, particularly the butter they used. This is the best kind, due to the combination of aesthetics where it can be shaped into anything, and the texture of the butter - this is so soft the butter knife goes through it even stone cold. This allows it to spread evenly over bread, or in this case croissant, and the taste is something else - you know it when you take a bite. With the yoghurt, it was a thick Greek-style one which was well suited since it helped infuse the flavours of the fruit - in which they chose strawberries, and blueberries, both of which are slightly tart.
Getting to their coffee, Merlo is the beans. In recent years I have softened on Merlo a bit, since the general average competence in creating the drink has only increased. It was apparent from the get go that for the coffee to be good, you needed a talented barista. Well, they had that right here and it was a nice enough coffee. It was rich enough, and strong enough for the time of day. That was all that mattered.
My house-mate went for the house signature flaky pastry. This is served in the shape of a cup, full of soft scrambled egg, and served alongside some roast tomato, relish, and a rocket salad. There is a choice of protein to compliment it, and he went with bacon. I had a bite of this, with the bacon being alright but the standout was certainly the pastry. When the eggs are as soft as a cloud, the chef has done his job well.
RiverBend definitely possesses a number of charms that gives it enough of a recommendation to check out. With both the river bank nearby, and the forefront of a big book store, the atmosphere and surrounds allow it to have an even more unique character than it usually would. It is a rare case where one of the trendy places that people would like to be seen - and of a certain demographic - does not come up as disappointingly bland, since they have a dynamic enough range for breakfast, and even lunch. It might not absolutely be my own personal preference, but putting aside all that bias, it is clear how shrewd the design and everything is for a dining experience that suits Bulimba really well.
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