Hong Kong - Brew Bros Coffee

One of the (few) perks of being unemployed is being able to enjoy a late breakfast out on a weekday. Recently, I visited Brew Bros which opened recently in Sheung Wan. It's a cute small cafe on Hillier Street across from La Rotisserie. They serve breakfast food items like bagels and eggs all day, and they source their coffee beans from Melbourne.

Their latte was pretty good

Smoked Salmon Bagel with Cream Cheese: The bagel came with rosemary potatoes and a side of salad. Generous portion of smoked salmon, but the bagel was a bit too hard. The potatoes had good flavour, but were cold. The salad was dressed with a splash of balsamic.

Brew Bros Brekkie: This breakfast platter consisted of eggs on toast, smoked salmon, rosemary potatoes, a side of salad and baked beans. The scrambled eggs were very creamy and the bit of truffle on top was a delicious touch. The baked beans were not bad. Again, the potatoes were cold, but overall a hearty breakfast. 

Verdict: Not my first choice to go for breakfast, but if you are working in the Sheung Wan area, it's a decent place to get your coffee fix. Avoid the bagels.

I recommend: Eggs, Coffee

Brew Bros

Address: Shop F2, LG/F, 33 Hillier Street, Sheung Wan

Phone: 2572-0238

Website: https://www.facebook.com/brewbroscoffee

A Healthy Breakfast

I don't want to sound like a huge cliche but yes, breakfast IS the most important meal! It really helps kick start your metabolism and you will feel less tired and less likely to over eat during the day. We never ate "proper" breakfast food at home until a few years ago. I have fond memories of frosted Pop Tarts, Cap'n Crunch and Cinnamon Toast Crunch (fave!). Three years ago, Mama Bear started going to a personal trainer who was also a certified nutritionist. He set up a meal plan for her which included fresh berries and oatmeal for breakfast. He also suggested that she snack on cherry tomatoes, avocado and nuts throughout the day. Since then, our kitchen has been stocked with only healthy food items. No chips, no peanut butter, nothing. It was tough at first, but we finally caught onto Mama Bear's healthy eating habits. Recently I've been switching between having a sandwich and oatmeal with berries for breakfast. 

Here is one of my favorite breakfast combos: smoked salmon with avocado, cherry tomatoes and Greek yogurt on toasted sour dough. These things taste so good together! And you get vitamins and antioxidants from the tomatoes, Omega-3s from the avocado and salmon, and probiotics from the yogurt. You'll never want to eat plain ham and cheese again.

Recipe

For 1

Ingredients

1 thick slice of sourdough, toasted
1 slice smoked salmon
1/2 small avocado
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
Freshly cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons low-fat or non-fat Greek yogurt

Method

1. Lay the salmon on the sourdough. No butter or mayo needed!
2. Using a teaspoon, scoop out the avocado into chunks.
3. Add the yogurt and cherry tomatoes.
4. Finish with black pepper.

New York - Clinton Street Baking Company

Good morning New York! What an incredible view to wake up to every morning. It was our second day in the city and we were still jet-lagged because of the 12-hour time difference between Hong Kong and New York. We woke up around 7 am and couldn't go back to sleep, so we went for a jog in Central Park. By the time we were done, it was pretty much dinner time back home, so a big breakfast was in order (the only thing I like about jet lag!). My guru-for-all-things-food Laubaby blogged about Clinton Street Baking Co. before and it was exactly what we wanted - eggs, grease and pancakes. 

We arrived 30 minutes before opening time, and there were already at least twenty people in line. Five minutes before they opened for service, a woman came out to take down our names and the number of people in each party. After that, we were promptly seated. Apparently we were the last ones to get seated and the rest had to wait another hour! Sooo glad we came early!

Wild Maine Blueberry Pancakes with Warm Maple Butter sauce: These pancakes were by far the best pancakes I've ever had. You can also pick banana walnut or chocolate chunk, but blueberry is the one that everyone orders. The pancakes were slightly crispy on the outside and super fluffy on the inside. The blueberry topping wasn't too sweet, which I liked. And that maple butter! Oh em gee it was so delicious. I love the combination of sweet and salty, and this really hit the spot. The sauce is really rich though, so I recommend dipping instead of pouring the sauce over the pancakes.

So fluffy and moist!

I ordered the Southern Breakfast: Two eggs, sugar-cured bacon, cheese grits and fried green tomatoes. The crispy bacon was my favorite. Sweet and salty! The green tomatoes were delicious too. They were coated in seasoned breadcrumbs and deep fried. The grits were okay, but overpowered the bacon and tomatoes. It kind of tasted like cheesy polenta, which I felt didn't go well with the other items.

He ordered the Country Breakfast: 3 eggs, hash, buttermilk biscuit and Heritage maple cured ham. This was pretty standard diner fare. The ham looked dry but it was surprisingly juicy and sweet with a hint of smokiness. I didn't try the biscuit but the boyfriend said it was buttery and flaky.

Verdict: Come for the pancakes! And come early.