Aimless big brekkies

It wasn't the brekky that was aimless - it was some of those consuming it. If there was one word to describe eating out for breakfast or brunch, it would have to be 'leisurely'. Nothing beats waking up and heading to a cool, little brekky venue while everyone else is trudging off to work or chores or what have you.

This muggy morning we trundle off to the cafe mecca of Newtown to leisurely break the fast and get parking right in front of Urban Bites. I do enjoy my outdoor seating, as long as it's not in searing hot sun nor overpopulated with smokers. This day it is not the former but unavoidably the latter.

It's a big breakfast menu at Urban Bites with even lamb cutlets as a breakfast option - the first time I've ever seen that. Indecision normally doesn't plague me at breakfast. I guess many a time I'm half asleep and will eat whatever is served to me. But given the choice, it's difficult to go past a good bit of bacon.

(Clockwise from top) Corn fritters, toast, grilled tomatoes with
spinach and bacon from Urban Bites (King St, Newtown)

Another important lesson for breakfast dining is knowing your serving sizes. The corn fritters plate is listed on the menu as a vegetarian meal, with me opting to add on extra bacon. Overzealous? I think so. The packaged butter, conveniently sitting on top of my fritters and bacon, is liquid upon opening so I pour my butter onto my standard white toast. On that, with so many amazing bread varieties I'm a little surpised to get pretty average, albeit thick, white bread. Perhaps I'm just accustomed to brown or grain but a bit of exotica would be welcomed, I think.

I dig into my hefty serve of bacon, which in hindsight I should have requested crispy. It's decent anyway, and not dripping in oil or fat which is pleasing. The grilled tomato wedges look festive with the spinach leaves and I taste the corn fritters last. Expectation has done funny things to my palate. I want tonnes of sweet, juicy, crunchy corn kernels in a light, egg-y batter; maybe a bit of spice or other seasoning. I get a mouthful of mostly floury batter interspersed with corn and random bits of capsicum. Expectation deflates and I go back to the bacon for comfort. Maybe the second taste will be better, I silently hope, but to no avail.

Fellow breakfasters, in the meantime, are energetically getting through their noticeably smaller meals. Will I ever learn?

(Clockwise from top) Toast, bacon, scrambled eggs
and grilled tomato

(Clockwise from top) Toast, scrambled egg, smoked salmon
on rocket and grilled tomato