TL;DR: It does have a bit of that Italian spirit, and they are one place that manages to utilise a special view - right in the palm of their hands, mind you - to the best that they can. The whole vibe is that it can be pretty special, yet any guest is able to come on in at any time they like. Service is pretty lovely, the food is fresh and good quality while not having an unobtainable price for most people. For breakfast, it does pretty well. If that is the bar for what the food is like later on, then a reason is here to be optimistic.
To whomever managed to get a hold of the old Jetty and transform it into how it is today, so far the job being done is pretty good. Only in this part of town, can something that has the location be utilised so well that you feel that you are special coming to it while also having and outlay to its surroundings be accessible by merely waltzing in at any given time. It beckons diners right in through its doors, makes the most of its decor and surroundings, plus something so casual still has the necessary eye for details - it might not be award winning Italian, but the efforts are definitely admirable.
Bullimba proved to be such a winner not too long ago, and from that suburb alone there are several restaurants on the short list to try out. With breakfast being such a big deal in the general Brisbane area, it would make a whole lot of sense that they would be in on it for a piece of the pie - and that has been all too apparent in previous months. From what I can recall, my house mate remembered this place as a landmark from its position from the river. In keeping it in mind, it was off to some background information which led him to find that it had a decent breakfast menu. After all that, the usual Sunday tradition went forth - complete with the usual rude awakening. After all that, off to Bulimba it was.
It was a quiet time of day, yet that did not stop the waitstaff from proving their worth with customer service. The moment that you walk in the door, they welcome you in pretty quickly taking you right to your seat. Going on from that, they got all the basic aspects down pact starting from getting the waters right away (that has practically become vital for me, small detail but it all adds up) and even starting the clients up with drinks. They were pretty friendly folk, who are diligent in their approach. Operations all went diligently, and they even asked us how the meal was. All up, customer service was pretty good and did as much as they could. A bit hindered with not a lot of clientele, I am optimistic they have a good system going once customers begin pouring in.
A lot of the appeal of iL Molo is the location, in which they make the most out of it. A waterfront view is always a nice touch, which get amplified it you are able to appreciate the elements surrounding it all. They have quite a bit of outdoor seating on the balcony, where the elements of sunlight and shade are well managed while the clientele get a decent amount of fresh air. Inside is fairly laid back, occasionally with a few black and white photographs to give it that old-school Italian feel. Exposed brick is here and there, and overall the arrangement is nothing too special. It could do with a better arrangement, since the potential vibe is there, it just needs some love.
They didn't just go with an Italian name to sound classy, because they are Italian through and through. More so melding the big Italian influence in Australia's culinary basis, with a lot of the classics that translate well across the sea. Plus, the selection varies according to the time of day. During the afternoon, between the lunch time rush and the dinner grind, their menu is focused on antipasti - a range of bites to partner with the specialty wines on offer. At that time, they more resemble bar snacks. When it gets to the usual time for a meal, the antipasti are heavily seafood based. For more substantial meals, secondi as it is known in Italy, if the thoughts of Italian cuisine immediately float to pizza and pasta their representation on the menu is fairly muted. Most of the big meals are a meat of some sort, and at the end they are able to be spruced up (not that they need to be) with a few different sides. The number of pizza flavours can be counted on one hand, and are in the Italian style of having only a few items on a single pizza. To finish all of that off, they got some sweets on offer.
Breakfast is both comforting, yet something special at the same time. The classics are here, and they make sure the components used in cooking them are at a good quality level. When they offer the usual rounds, but ensure the food is as good as it can be, the effort will definitely be commended. Some foods become classics for a good reason, hence it helps to give them their dignity. Better yet with iL Molo, the cost of each item is under $20 so that is a plus in their favour. For a drink with the meals, they have on offer tea, coffee, juices, milkshakes, and smoothies.
Starting off breakfast as per usual - and it would be nigh blasphemy if otherwise when it came to Italian - the business is in coffee. They got a step further with ensuring quality, getting it directly from a specialty roaster. Coming from all the way south in Van Diemens Land, it is Giocondo Roasters. This is a unique one, and a new roaster for me - so I got nothing to jump off from when analyising it as a whole. Nevertheless, with the vibe of the place having it all be off to a good start the real power hinged on how they did the coffee. They were in luck, as it was fantastic - all that was needed here was a decent shot of strength, and a smooth texture. Plus, it was presented in a glass which does a mile of difference when it comes to a black coffee. They knew that full well.
For the main part of breakfast, it is pretty difficult to go past a good pork sausage - and that was such the case here. Along with the pork sausage, they had truffled scrambled eggs, and asparagus with a side of sourdough toast. As expected, when it was done all right it was quite alright. First off, the presentation of the food on the plate was well done - they managed to get it aesthetically pleasing without pretension. I call assure you, breakfast ain't the time for pretension - people got to eat to break that fast.
The pork sausage was delicious, lighter than most breakfast sausages out there, and cooked until just before the skins were bursting. It might pass as a quality sausage with the British infatuation over pork sausages, perhaps. Nevertheless, they had a decent seasoning mixed into the meat mixture. The eggs were okay, might have needed a bit more moisture, milk or something to keep them interesting, but were still passable with the herbs mixed right in. As for the asparagus, it is like it or not - can't convince anyone who is not a fan otherwise. Still, that might be one of the most odd inclusions in a breakfast I have ever seen. And the sourdough toast was lovely as usual, especially with the butter seeping into it.
It was one of these breakfasts where nothing about it is outright bad in any way, and the quality of the ingredients were all quite alright. Combined together, the meal was pretty wholesome and delicious. Ultimately, it is not anything that is world changing nor all that unusual when put against many other great breakfasts out. It was just quite tasty, surprisingly light and healthy for a breakfast out on my part, and it hit the spot.
If I had to hazard a guess how much iL Molo hinges on the location to the river, that percentage would be a relatively solid and safe one. That is being said, since as much as the location matters, it is helped a lot by some wonderful customer service. And on top of that, it would be such a waste to have the best location and not put effort into making some great fare. Yet also in saying that, they have managed to find a good balance with the quality of the food being at a fairly reasonable price. The rating of a 4.0 is possibly because of the time of day coming, where the breakfast was wholesome and filling with a notable attention given to quality - it still is not that different to what a lot of other cafes would offer. Had it been at lunch time, or even dinner time, the score would have a high chance of being even better. You don't often get a bad place with this level of quality, and attention to detail done right knowing full well their potential with location.
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