An Early City Breakfast at Cumulus Inc.

A couple of Fridays ago, I had a Professional Development day at the Royal Children’s Hospital in the city. As Ben works right in the CBD, my mind immediately shot to the possibility of an early city breakfast date. Cumulus Inc. was the first place that came to my mind. I have visited this casual yet classy restaurant before for a quick breakfast. One morning about a year ago I sat solo at the bar and enjoyed a delicious bowl of bircher muesli before hitting the streets for a big day of shopping (you gotta be sure to fuel correctly for such demanding days). I always knew I wanted to revisit this gem, as there seemed to be so many delectable breakfast dishes on offer.

An so, on this particular Friday morning, Ben and I caught the 6:38am train to Parliament station and arrived just after opening time.

We started with coffees, skim lattes. While the blend of coffee they use is delicious, the froth was not silky smooth, which is always something I like in my coffee.

Ben also ordered an apple juice which was lovely.

I had a really tough time with the menu, clearly. Ben snapped this picture of me as I was deeply struggling to decide between savoury and sweet.

I was smitten with the idea of the Cumulus Inc. Breakfast, which involved a boiled egg, toast, an array of preserves, and a bowl of yoghurt along with tea or coffee. How cute is that? Here are the preserves ready to go.

In the end, though, it really came down to two dishes…the pain d’epices with poached quince and prunes with sheeps milk yoghurt (I die…) and the house smoked sardines with parsley salad and a slow-cooked egg. In the end the sardines one out, as I was craving an Omega 3 hit. But I am already planning another trip back so I can devour that pain d’epices.

The sardines were absolutely delicious, with a beautiful, measured smokiness to them. The parsley salad was refreshing and the sourdough lovely.

The egg was just ridiculous, look at that gooey yolk. Incredible.

I really enjoyed this dish. Five years ago I would have looked at my present-day self and asked “who are you??”… but oh yes indeed, I lustfully ate sardines at 7:30 in the morning. I’m so hardcore now.

The night before, I perused blogs to see if there were any well revered, ‘must try’ dishes - I tend to do that. The baked eggs frequently came up as a favourite, and this was the dish that Ben ended up ordering. I believe the menu changes slightly every now and then, so on this day Ben’s baked eggs were a lovely Shakshouka, with roasted peppers and a rich tomato flavour. They were topped with fetta and parsley. While this is a dish I safely feel like I could make at home, as opposed to the sardines, it was really yummy - hearty and nourishing, it was really lovely.

We left Cumulus Inc. with a delightful sense of satisfaction and nourishment, yet we were still hungry… hungry for a future visit, that is ;) Oh pain d’epices, I have my eye on you.

Heidi xo
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