James Street Bistro is conveniently located in James Street which is a great spot for all types of activities. There's the James Street Market which has a superb range of food stuffs, several great restaurants and bars and the cinema which has a predilection for art house movies.
Around the corner is a new perfume shop, Libertine Parfumerie, which definitely worth a look. And keep your eyes on the revamp just around the corner as there are some exciting shops opening there.
James Street Bistro is an open air casual place with lots of seating. The breakfast menu is varied and I was tempted to stray but stuck with my theme - two eggs, bacon and tomato. And it was good! The free range eggs had bright yellow yolks, and the slow roasted tomato was full of flavour, and there was plenty of bacon - yay! Turkish bread was a nice twist and those little black seeds (I think coriander rather than the traditional nigella) added another flavour dimension. All for $13.90.
There are a lot of extra options on the build your own breakfast menu for $3 - $4 including cheese kranskys,
hash browns, grilled mushrooms, house beans slow braised and bubble and squeak
Sensible but boring people might choose the spiced fruit toast with butter $7 or the banana and date bread with spiced ricotta $8.90.
Other interesting option would be the breakfast burrito with roasted ham, avocado, spinach, onion, salsa and egg $16.90, or deluxe bacon and egg sandwich $14.90.
I found the wait staff here particularly good and breakfast and coffees came quickly.
Bottom line: Good breakfast, great location, good service.
James Street Bistro
83 James Street, New Farm. 3852 5155.
