Tucked under the trendy and old-fashioned London Woolstore in Tenneriffe, Brio and many of its surrounding partners have adapted a unique style for how they are outlayed being accessible by basically every transport system there is. This has grown from its titular smoothie bar right into one of the places within this pocket of Brisbane to be seen at. And it is alright, though lacks much of an identity that would really grasp why it may or may not work.
During one weekend, my house mate's daughter - along with a friend of her's in tow - was up in Brisbane for the weekend from Sydney. With me, I had the usual weekend routine where I would have church on the Saturday which more or less ruled out that day, so it was on the Sunday that was the day to scope out somewhere to have for breakfast, and it was all on my shoulders to find that place. The real clincher was that this place had such a high rating, and is consistently mentioned as a favourite that you have to get there early to be able to score yourself a seat. Well, that is going to be one for another time.
On the fly, what had to be done was travel around that part of town for a while and hopefully run into another option. Because the first one was in Newstead, that meant that Tenneriffe right on the border. Now that is a place which is small, but rife with plenty of options - and ultimately means that per capita, it is hog heaven. After a small drive, the four of us arrived at the London Woolhouse which had several breakfast options right there. Time was of the essence, and eating needed to begin soon. After parking a car, there were at least three within a shot of the car and from there it was a race to see what the consensus on each one was. The answer should be obvious, because here we are at Brio.
Most of the cafe takes place outside. This utilises the structure of the building really well, which is including the balcony out the front. The balcony is a long, continuous one, which is shared by all the nearby businesses in the row of shops along that front. Most of the work had already been done for them, and with a few more set ups this has become the dictionary definition of al fresco dining - the plants around them giving out freshness, the bench with barstools to look out to the street, and plenty of umbrellas to make sure that diners are shaded. The condiments are ready there to be used, and gas lamps are prepared for when the weather gets cold.
Inside the place, it has the inner hipster vibe which is complete with the high loft, lots of posters around the place, and covers of old vinyls. All of this is merely the kitchen and counter area; you won't find any tables here, more likely just people waiting for their morning coffee on the run.
While not completely awful, what I found with the service was that they were putting in a somewhat minimum effort, not bare minimum per se but enough to get noticed and not drag out the customer service experience too much. Sure, they offered the water - which is always a plus in my book - and put on a good enough demeanour when taking the orders and bringing them to the table. Sure, it is always a good case to point out if it is busy, but a great place can perform extra credit in many small ways during the rush hour. The point trying to be made here is that at one or more times during the meal, it would be easy to ask clients how their meal is - not hard at all, adds a human touch to the place, and is even an opportunity to get another coffee ($$$ y'know). Still, the service is not awful, is at a reasonable level, but I can definitely see a few ways in which they can build up. On a separate note, it is all table service here.
It is more or less the standard sort of cafe menu that they have. These days, that absolutely means an all day breakfast is available. It possibly changes from season to season, from memory it doesn't have anything too strange or unusual, keeping the usual range of expected meals on there. Lunch is a smaller selection, where the focus is off a bit - just expect a bit of the general selection, salads, sandwiches, maybe a curry or whatnot.
The drinks selection is a bit bigger and brighter than most places. They start out with the freshly squeezed juices - being a juice bar and all that - plus some frappes, smoothies and shakes as well. That, and there is the usual tea and coffee to drink, along with sodas and some boozy beverages for later on in the day.
When it comes to the coffee here, there are two kinds of blends. If it is a milk-based coffee that you order, what you get is one of the more forgiving and flavoursome beans in the form of Genovese. this is usually a good sign when you see it, as it goes for a more chocolatey note when done right, and gives you a good jolt of energy. It gets better with a second one, whether that is needed or not varies on preference.
However, if you drink it black - like I do - they have a different blend on offer. It was one that I am not familiar with - called Ground Control - and with the bean coming from Ethiopia, well colour me impressed. Note, knowing what the coffee blends were was after the meal so no preconceptions could be made. That being said, the doppio was well done and it had a slightly fruity note to it, something which is common in an Ethiopian blend. The extraction was done well, and the texture was smooth - this doppio managed to do its job.
The dish that I ordered was the zucchini and corn fitters. These came with poached eggs - requested soft, and they delivered on it (bled everywhere) - haloumi, and a freshly made tomato salsa. As always, something was missing this sucker and thing is called bacon. And it had to be crispy. This breakfast meal was overall well prepared. It was healthy and fresh, something not to my preference per se but this was done in way to be healthy. The haloumi might have needed a bit more cooking, though that bacon was spot on. As for the fritters themselves, something in them definitely gave off a spicy zest which really added to it. Add that with the salsa, and you have a winner. Come to think of it, I almost had huevos rancheros - well played.
I also had a bit of my dining buddy's eggs benedict. From what I had, not too bad, the bread was good, the eggs they are using here are certainly sourced well, and everything is good. This is more or less a dish that can only be analysed why it doesn't work at a certain point if something went wrong; nothing was here, it was simply well made.
Again, when the term "standard" is being used to describe a breakfast out nowadays, that still means that it is all good. Especially within the past few years, it has been difficult to find a breakfast place that well and truly lacks in several areas. This was the case here, where each component of the food was done well and from what I tried none of it could have any legitimate complaints. It certainly has some merit with location in two ways - one where the river is not too far away, and the other is the old style of building that it is in, which is an aesthetically pleasing warehouse. Not too much otherwise that really stands out about it, and there is not any proper detraction from it either. Everything on the surface that is needed to run a place smoothly is in tact, it caters well to the general demographics of the area, and it is for that reason it is probably perfect for them.
To me, like it was written with the general idea of standard equaling pretty good these days, that was the case for me. I like the food, though the service might have lacked in general from the norm. That is the main reason that it gets a 4.0-score from me, fully acknowledging their quality and how they cater well enough. It definitely is apparent why this is one of the go-tos in this neighbourhood.
TL;DR: This is a cafe that is certainly made for hipsters and those really watching what they have (i.e. the juicers and whatnot). The food is good enough, without much focus here and there which is really a detriment to it. While I can't fault the outlay, which is certainly characteristic, all up it doesn't come together as much with service a little lacking in areas, and the same kind of fare to be expected from most places. Overall, I admit it has more done right than otherwise. There is just something that I can't quite detect which prevents it from being as good as some other hotspots in town.
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