New Brisbane

Like most people, I love a lazy Sunday breakfast. And if you’re anything like me, then chances are you’re not up before noon most Sundays. Fortunately, Symposium Cafe in Fortitude Valley does breakfast all day, so this past Sunday we stopped by to check it out.

Symposium Cafe
Shop 2
2 Commercial Rd
Fortitude Valley
P: 07 3852 3836
W: www.symposiumcafe.com.au

Monday to Friday 6am - 5pm
Saturday & Sunday 7am - 3pm

Symposium is truly located in a strange spot for a Sunday breakfast cafe - as the name suggests, Commercial Road is just that, a busy commercial road, down at the far end of Fortitude Valley, with Symposium located right next to a service station. Despite this location, however, Symposium has a relatively nice atmosphere - well shaded tables in a nice, open environment that truly let you soak in the laziness that is Sunday.

Quickly seated upon our arrival, I was soon presented with my menu and sadly informed that Symposium’s signature waffles would not be available for me to try… unless I wanted to wait 30 minutes. I did not. And, of course, once I was told that, it was the only thing on the menu that I wanted. So, I settled for the truffled eggs benedict with bacon (salmon and ham also available), hoping it would fill that empty spot in my heart left behind by the waffles. I went for an extra hash brown, and my breakfast date chose the eggs benny with ham, with a side of mushrooms instead of the normal spinach.

Prices at Symposium are pretty reasonable, with your breakfast total coming in at around $20 once you include juice or coffee. Just be aware that any variations on their menu are strictly forbidden and they’re a bit steep on charging for the extras (2 hashbrowns and a side of mushrooms = $11)… nothing too expensive, just expensive enough to seem pretentious to me, particularly given their location.

The drinks came out fairly quickly and the food was quick to follow (I barely had time to read the Sunday comics in the provided newspapers), which was great because I was famished. As it arrived, I noted that Symposium was another one of those restaurants that favoured presentation over practicality - with two pieces of vienna toast, all of my eggs benedict was stacked on top of a single slice, meaning I had to re-architect my breakfast before I could eat it. I was a bit disappointed about that, as if you go on the web and look at the stock photos around, the food was presented completely differently. They know how to do it right for the marketing, just not for the actual customers.

Overall, the food was quite good. All the ingredients were fresh, the food was cooked perfectly and the flavours sang in harmonic balance. The over-priced side mushrooms were almost worth the money and the bacon itself was rather tasty.

So, if you’re looking for a nice relaxing breakfast in a relatively calm surrounding, Symposium Cafe in Fortitude Valley might be for you. Personally, I probably won’t come back for a while - the food was good, but there are so many other places in Brisbane left to explore and it wasn’t amazing, or good value, enough for me to rush back. But definitely worth trying out if you’re looking for some variety in your life - it won’t disappoint.

-Ross