Neesh Review: The Brisbane cafe breaking all the brekkie rules

Forget basic bacon and eggs – and say hello creme brulee French toast! – this new East Brisbane cafe delivers a fresh twist on breakfast.

RATATOUILLE with wasabi relish, salmon gravlax with kipfler potato salad or how about creme brulee French toast?

When chef Dale McMullen took over the former Foxy Bean site on Stanley St in East Brisbane late last year to open Neesh Bar, he decided to throw out the breakfast rule book along with the old decor.

The previously shabby chic fit-out with its kooky collection of paraphernalia has been replaced with an elegant, classic yet contemporary look celebrating the building’s heritage – bentwood chairs sprayed jungle green and white for pops of colour against white VJ walls and coffered ceilings, timber floors and navy pressed metal.

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There’s also a casual courtyard with large tables for groups, but inside is more sleek and sophisticated – just like the menu.

Inside Neesh Bar. Picture: Mark Cranitch

McMullen, along with wife Katie, hold the catering contract for the Brisbane German Club’s Zum Kaiser Restaurant in Woolloongabba. While the chef has become a master of sauerkraut and schnitzel, he wanted an outlet to showcase his range away from pork knuckle and knackwurst.

The end result is an imaginative menu at Neesh, which finds inventive ways to kick classics up a notch – mushrooms on toast with pecan butter and black garlic oil, say – while offering something new – perhaps smashed butternut pumpkin on sourdough with baba ganoush.

Dish: Smashed butternut pumpkin on sourdough with baba ganoush. Picture: Mark Cranitch

The latter ($17.90) a cross-cultural mash-up with Moroccan spices flavouring prisms of caramelised, wood-fired pumpkin draped with coils of pliant Italian prosciutto for saltiness, soft-poached eggs for yolk-y sauce and a hit of smokiness courtesy of the Middle Eastern eggplant dip spread across the toast like butter.

In addition to the regular all-day breakfast menu, there are also daily specials including a sweet potato and corn rosti ($19.90), which is deserving of a place on the mainstay offering.

The sweet potato and corn rosti special. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

Laced with cheese for stringy, oozy pleasure and cooked until crisp and dark amber, the potato cake forms the foundation for a tower of wilted spinach, chunky guacamole, bacon and a poached egg. Zingy hollandaise cascades down the layers into a crescent of fiery tomato relish spread across the plate creating a dish that packs a flavour punch as powerful as Jeff Horn.

McMullen hasn’t completely departed from his German Club culinary background either, with pork belly available as an optional extra, while cheese kransky features in several dishes on the menu, including the signature Neesh Brunch Grazer, where for $19 per person (minimum two people, pictured), diners can share boards of fried eggs, Thai slaw, mushrooms, avo on toast, muesli, French toast, potato rosti, hummus, haloumi and the sausage.

The Neesh Grazer (for two or more people). Picture: Mark Cranitch

Coffee comes from Coffee Supreme and is served stronger than Iron Man and with the bitterness of a celebrity divorce; while old-school milkshakes steal the show.

There’s also a variety of vegan-friendly smoothies, a juice of the day, teas, hot chocolate and iced drinks. And for those after a boozy brunch, a quaffable, price-focused wine list is in play, joined by a collection of local and imported tap and bottled beers and cider.

Alongside the food, what really shines at Neesh is the service. Genuinely warm, welcoming and efficient, it’s the backbone of what is a great new addition to the Brisbane cafe scene.