The popular Brisbane cafe where business is down 85 per cent

Always a trendsetter in the Brisbane cafe scene, see how this West End eatery is changing things up with its new takeaway menu

The devastating effect COVID-19 is having on Queensland’s great cafes is blindingly evident as I pick up my breakfast order from West End’s Morning After.

The slick, Modern Australian eatery is normally aflutter with diners enthusiastically tucking into elegantly plated, boundary-pushing fare as long queues of patrons desperate for their turn stretch down the footpath.

So strong is the cafe’s appeal, customers could easily wait half an hour or more for a table come the weekend.

Breakfast in a box

My friend hates dogs, so I took him to a dog cafe

But now the sun-drenched dining room of blonde timber, bright white and olive is empty and the greetings from usually cheery staff are laced with a tincture of melancholy.

Business is down 85 per cent. A staggering and heartbreaking figure. And if it can be so for one of Brisbane’s most popular cafes, it pains to even consider the numbers for those with less of a following.

Yianni Passaris at his Morning After cafe. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

As calamitous as it is, Morning After is battling through with its takeaway multicultural menu of all-day eats, such as avocado and cheese toasties and bacon and egg rolls, and lunchtime treats including Peking duck tacos, yellow chicken curry and wagyu cheeseburger meals.

It’s available through Uber Eats or by ordering over the phone, which is the best way to ensure maximum profits go to keeping the cafe afloat during this time. They even offer delivery for those in the 4101 postcode, or $5 for orders elsewhere under $55 and free for those over $55.

The crab omelette ($24) has always been a star at Morning After and while the Insta-worthy presentation may be lost having it stuffed into a takeaway container, the flavour certainly isn’t with liberal pieces of the crustacean suspended in just-set egg, topped with a green papaya salad pungent with fish sauce and garlic. This is one for Thai enthusiasts.

The crab omelette at Morning After cafe in West End. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

For those after a more salubrious start to the day, there’s the breakfast bowl ($19) lined with
a blur of turmeric-heavy hummus, roasted cauliflower florets, pepitas, avocado chunks and quinoa clinging to curls of wilted kale with the help of a zingy sesame dressing. Golf ball-sized golden nuggets of sweet, doughnut-like, fried corn fritters top the dish, delivering a little bit of naughty to the otherwise nice collage of health.

The breakfast bowl at Morning After cafe in West End. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

Perth’s Five Senses provides the coffee beans which are turned into perfectly balanced cups of joe by the talented barista. There are two juices and two milkshakes available including the hip-widening, hazelnut-heavy Ferrero Rocher, blending West African dark chocolate with Nutella, milk and ice cream.

Local craft beer and Australian wines are also available for a decent mark up.

Morning After is a progressive cafe that has made its name by setting trends and being unafraid to bring something new to the all-day dining scene. Our city needs cafes like it if we are to continue to be taken seriously on the food front, and more than ever, they need our support.