Where is the best place for breakfast in Brisbane? The answer is simple, just observe the waiting line in front of the restaurant on weekend mornings.

I don't know if it IS the best, but Gunshop Cafe is definitely among the best brekkie outfits of Brissy. I have meandered through the waiting crowd outside Gunshop so many times on my way to the bus stop, so one day I eventually succumbed to my curiosity and asked a random patron-to-be in line, "what are you waiting for?". "Awesome brekkie, you've gotta try it yourself."

So last Friday morning, I stepped into the neighborhood cafe for the first time. This is not your average cafe, but a gourmet breakfast place serving the usual omelette, hash browns and poached egg with a twist. Breakfast mains run from $12-17 which I think is quite reasonable given the quality of food.

For example, I have had so much poached eggs before but this place gets it right - the egg white firmly solidifies while the yolk remains very soft and barely cooked. Hash browns become crispy hash cake accentuated with chives. Croquet Monsieur becomes Croquet Madame - Croquet Monsieur with a touch of cheese instead of the usual heavy dose. Even the bread is very tasty. This restaurant really doesn't need my recommendation given its popularity, but for those who are interested in trying, avoid weekend mornings at all cost, because the wait was simply ridiculous.

To contrast with the good experience of Gunshop, I also had a rather unpleasant breakfast at Chez Laila, my favorite ice coffee place in South Bank. The breakfast was way too salty, and the service scanty, which proves, a restaurant cannot possibly be jack of all trades. There are always hits and misses.

Tukka is a restaurant specializing in Australian game meat - kangaroo, wallaby, crocodile, possum, you name it. I do feel relieved to find out that Koala is not on the edible list. Ever since I moved to Brisbane, I have always wanted to try Tukka out.

I salute Tukka for trying hard. It is not simply a restaurant that slaps all the game meat together expecting customers to pay for the wow factor. It actually tries to innovate with these local food ingredients including fruit and veggies. Tukka is in fact a modern Australian cuisine at heart. The waiter we had was extremely helpful and informative. But somehow I feel Tukka tries a little bit too hard, and let me elaborate on this notion.

For the degustation menu that I tried (roughly $85 per person), Tukka tried really hard to make the game meat taste like something else. For example, they made dried possum meat taste like prosciutto, which was very elegantly done. I could not have noticed the difference had they not informed me beforehand. Well, the whole point of going there was to know first hand what possum actually tastes like.

Tukka also becomes repetitive with pairing Queensland's citrus flavored fruit with game meat, some works, some don't. I vividly remember that the citrus sauce on crocodile meat just failed miserably, further accentuating the slightly vinegary tart of the crocodile meat. Kangaroo meat was actually quite filling and more chewy than beef, so the portion could have been cut down slightly. But overall, I think it is a restaurant worthy of visiting, if you don't expect to be blown away by the food. I will just go there once for the bragging right to friends - do you know what crocodile tastes like?

Salad with local berries


Kangaroo meat                                                              Crocodile meat with citrus sauce