Breakfast is Brisbane is fickle game; a lengthy queue one Saturday morning may morph into empty tables the next. But Pearl, in Woolloongabba’s fiveways, is a consistent favourite. The chic little exposed brick bistro is best known for breakfast and brunch, when smart-aproned waitstaff weave around packed, tiny timber tables to deliver All Press espresso, made on local Barambah milk.

Don’t get too attached to menu favourites; winter porridge with stewed stone fruit will transform to coconut cream and pistachio bircher muesli as the seasons change, with a side of coconut sugar-brulee-d ruby grapefruit. The omelette lightens up, too, with a filling of house-made soft curds, preserved lemon and petite herbs.

Lunch follows the same classical produce-driven format; with simple starters like sea-salted organic Spanish peppers, sourced from Maleny, or Mount Zero olives warmed with citrus peel and aromatics.

Everything is made in house; from the orecchiette with broccoli and ewe’s milk cheese, to the cured trout with fennel, radish and boiled egg, amped up with Yarra Valley caviar.

Any self-respecting sweet-tooth will be lured by the comptoir, laden with tempting mulberry-topped vanilla glazed lemon polenta cake or green apples and custard baked into puff pastry.

Through the week, a simple roast– roasted Barossa Valley spring chicken, perhaps, or Flinders Island lamb shoulder – and wine are on offer in the upstairs servery.

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