Five Thirty Brunswick Espresso Bar

Having been to quite a few of the brunch places in New Farm, one that has really caught my eye was Five Thirty on Brunswick, which patrons have posted quite a number of highly captivating foodie photos online. Being situated along Brunswick Street, we had a bit of trouble finding parking, and  had to walk a fair while until we arrived at the restaurant.

I've seen many reinvented versions of this address of my many years of being a new farm local. Many have come.... & many have left.
This is one of the better reincarnations, the food is nice, without being a standout.
It's plentiful, seems to have high quality ingredients & great value.
I had a cajan chicken sandwich & a large coffee for just over $10.
Service was very friendly & welcoming.
My suggestion would be to fix the audio in the side dining area, the music wasn't pleasant, crackley, sporadic & odd possibly latinoesque which seemed out of place.
I'm also developing a taste for 'Toby's Estate' coffee. I had another delicious mug here.
Great place, & I hope they're here to stay.

Best coffee in New Farm. Food serves are always generous. Staff are friendly & helpful. Prices are very reasonable. There's a lot to like here.

Alrighty then! They gave me a call, tagging me in the comments of Luke Nobel's review and I have risen to that occasion. They asked me for my opinion on them, and here I am to heed that request. And the long story short about them, they are quite good. It has the right factors of some good food, service that is definitely trying and great coffee to top it all off. Reading it, and telling my dining buddy about it, that meant the next meal outing was already in line.

The decor, or more so the design, of the place, is one of the strangest that I have seen for a while. From a structural point of view, it is two small rooms which are connected via a short hallway. Wherever the front entrance is, that might be a source of confusion to some people - and it was with my dining buddy and I. Five Thirty Brunswick is right on the corner of two streets and is attached to an accommodation lodge akin to the cafe establishment of those said apartments. They can't really do an awful lot since there is limited space for tables, even with one small balcony for al fresco dining, so some slack must be cut. Looking around from a quick search, bikers like to come here at times, and in the hallway, the big glass doors are slid across and open up to a bench which faces the street. Each time I see this aspect of design, I always give a bit of credit to the place.

From the decor look, it is low key and uses the blackboard walls a lot for their design. This gives it a semi-urban look using "graffiti" to make slogans, which is something that is characteristic of New Farm; no place else could get it done like this suburb. The low-key look uses much natural light, and has a quasi-minimalistic look and feel to it. Just a wall away from the busy main road, it is relaxed and low-key.

Ownership of the place appears to have changed hands a few times, and only really starting to know about here I cannot really talk about how it was in the past. Now, it does seem that they are trying their darnedest to attract a clientele and they will need it. With a bit more training, or maybe a few more members of clientele, the service here could become like clockwork with efficiency and a generally needed vibe. The young lady that was here was friendly, and maybe a bit on the shy side, though overall she was obviosuly aiming to please and displayed several needed skills for truly great service in the hospitality industry. If she keeps at it, she could well excel.

Maybe a bit more tempo on the coffees could help in future if there is anything to improve. Coffee is something that does not take too long, and it is not anything from my perspective, but others could be left impatiently waiting. That is all.

Their menu is an all-day breakfast, and this is a good, well thought-out selection on offer. The range of items is fairly substantial, and none of them are anything outrageous or innovative - wholesome is probably the better word to describe them by. Why it works here and not at some other places is because it is not pretending to be trendy or anything, it is acting homely. What also does not hurt is that all of them can be ordered with a coffee and still come short of $20 or so, and the sizes are substantial. Therefore, the job is being done.

The coffee that they use is from Toby's Estate. That is all you need to know to come here, but for the unenlightened here is the low down on Toby. This is one of the top level, like cordon bleu "top level", coffee blends that is available. For those who like it strong, and I speak on behalf of those who like their coffee strong, Toby's Estate really does the job. One shot should be enough to jolt you awake, and that second shot is akin to a punch to the head; you will certainly know it went in the instant it happens. With all that in mind, it's all I really have to say for the doppio that I had along with the notes of plum that I tasted. It was a little bigger than most doppio gotten from cafes, and did its job well.

For my breafast, I ordered one of my favourites for going out - Canadian pancakes. This version was a short stack that was topped with crispy bacon, and a fried egg poured over with plenty of maple syrup and a dusting of icing sugar. I find this pretty hard to go past in all honesty. That is because each time I have it, it is always so delicious. That trend continues on. There was the right amount of maple syrup to pancakes, where the syrup was soaked up and did not either leave massive traces or make me feel left wanting more, and was thick and sweet as per usual.

The pancakes were soft and fluffy, made from a brilliant batter. That is key for a great stack. As for the toppings, let's begin with the bacon. When they say "crispy" for the bacon, by golly did they mean crispy. A lot of places go a bit stingy on the amount of bacon - not here. However many rashers there were, they covered the top layer easily and were cooked to such a good consistency that even the fat was crispy and edible. As for the egg, it was light and well cooked, with no charred residue on the bottom. It came apart with ease, and the yolk was still soft. Nothing was left on the plate, so this should speak volumes to what I thought of it.

Therefore, just to retiterate, I enjoyed my meal at Five Thirty Brunswick Espresso. The food was quite good - a filling, and tasty morsel which is a-steal in value. For all its desire to do well, it is one that probably needs and deserves it at the same time. From the look and feel of it, coupled with how it is located a stone's throw from low-rent accomodation, I feel that this could fufill the role of being "the local" to a whole collection of citizens. With some effort, this should well happen.

Well then, the call was heeded. This place asked for my input out of the blue, and being a man of my word I went in on an inivation to have a meal. Now, here I am with my honest review and through it I can recommend it as one of the up and coming favourites of New Farm.

Really good service, extremely friendly and a funky place to sit and chat with friends. Coffee is better than standard and the lemon muffins are a good treat as well. Would come back just because of the lovely vibe.