When husband and wife Frank Dong and Jessie Fu bought Brisbane brekkie icon Billykart Kitchen in Annerley last year, they had big shoes to fill.

The Southside cafe was founded and owned by TV chef and cookbook author Ben O’Donoghue and wife Dee, with the couple long sacrificing family time to turn the colourful cottage into a neighbourhood hit. But after spending too many weekends working and away from their kids, the pair decided to put the business on the market with Dong and Fu moving from Ballarat to take up the opportunity for a new challenge.

With just over six months passing since the new owners took over, little about this suburban stalwart has changed. O’Donoghue’s famous Aussie Asian eggs remain, as do his housemade crumpets, chilli crab spaghetti and twice-baked cheese souffle. In fact, there are plenty more dishes that haven’t left the menu – with Dong revealing locals and loyal customers weren’t too keen when they tried to initiate a few changes.

Instead, a softly-softly approach is being taken to introducing new dishes, such as the brioche French toast or the Tokyo-style chicken burger and chips ($22), which our friendly, helpful waitress says is very popular. One bite proves why. The two-handed affair stars a marinated chicken thigh, hammered into a patty-like shape before being drenched in a flour mixture and deep fried.

The result is a sensationally crispy piece of bird that is expertly complemented by slivers of bitey pickles, coleslaw, rocket and a soft, toasted milk bun.

Crisp perfection is again found in the fish tacos ($24) with long fillets of flathead fried until golden and snapping, atop a salad of diced cucumber and pineapple and sliced cabbage and mint. Unfortunately, overly dry tortillas let the dish down, but there is serious potential here.

What has changed at the comfortable yellow and grey-hued casual cottage is the coffee. Campos has been ditched in favour of Industry Beans, which deliver a smooth brew as a flat white. Old favourites like the Snickers smoothie and quintessentially Queensland mango, passionfruit and orange frappe remain, while a clutch of wines, quartet of cocktails and handful of beers – including their own signature brew made by Slipstream – are also available.

Whatever you choose though, don’t leave without one of the cafe’s sensational Portuguese tarts made in-house each day using the flakiest of pastry and a custard centre that’s sweet and creamy without being eggy.

Related news: Australia’s first cheese train has opened and it sounds too gouda to be true