Rare Pear - Holland Park

This is yet another post that I was super lazy with starting. I've been here twice with large groups of people both times and yet I still haven't posted this review. I have no idea why other than sheer laziness as I quite enjoyed my meal here. It's very easily located off Logan road in the more or less direct centre of the shopping district for Holland Park, very close to it is Cafe Deedot.

This place!

They serve Di Bella coffee

There always seems to be a new lunch and breakfast special every time I go here. This was the special the first day that I went. Their menu is also available online.

So many bits

W., ordered the green protein smoothie which consisted of spinach, berries, protein powder, banana, greek yoghurt, almond milk, chia seeds and cinnamon powder. He said it was pretty tasty.

Very green

Miss Chatterbox had a cappuccino and thought it was also pretty good.

A soy latte for Z.,

Mug!

This was my somewhat chewy drink of the apple berry chia smoothie, it was made with apple juice soaked chia seeds, mixed berries, fresh apple juice, banana and ice. I found myself frequently stopping to chew either the chia seeds or the raspberry seeds in the drink. I found the drink to be quite thick and have a pronounced banana flavour.

Chewy

H., picked up a mocha!

Pretty

One of my friend's daughters decided to get a babycino, hot foamed milk in a teacup with chocolate powder and sprinkles on top. We all thought this was a super cute touch.

So cute

We arrived just in time for lunch to start so half of us went with brekkie and half with lunch. I got the southern fried chicken burger which came with rocket and corn salsa. I found the buttermilk marinated chicken to be super crunchy but thought that the chicken flesh was a bit lacking, I wanted there to be a slightly bigger portion of chicken as the majority of it was crunchy coating and I frequently got a mouthful of fried chicken coating and bun.

It looks lovely though

Z., got the pulled pork breakfast burger which consisted of pulled pork, barbecue sauce, fried egg, grilled haloumi, bacon, coleslaw, corn salsa and rocket with a side of beer battered chips. This is my kind of breakfast! It would also be perfectly adequate for a lunch or dinner hahaha. The pulled pork was succulent and the mixture of other decadent breakfast ingredients with the runny fried egg, grilled haloumi and crispy bacon made it utterly delicious. I was very jealous of Z.,'s choice. I think if you're a big eater at breakfast, definitely pick this burger.

There is pulled pork under all the rocket!

W., got the special of the day which was a pork and fennel sausage with blue cheese dressing, smashed avocado, grilled apricot, mushrooms, tomato and a side of beer battered chips. I had a little bite and the flavour reminded me of a falafel more than a pork and fennel sausage? The sausage was presented as a loose mince patty.

Very interesting

Miss Chatterbox got the grilled barramundi with chorizo, roasted potato and pumpkin, asparagus, lemon and rocket salad. She said she really enjoyed the fish as it was well done and had no hint of pinkness at all, remember she grilled some salmon sashimi at a different restaurant as it was too raw? She said that her favourite part of the whole dish were the potatoes, she said they were super crunchy but fluffy and wished her roasted potatoes came out like that.

Mmm chorizo

This was S.,'s big brekkie which she shared with her toddler, it comes with bacon, lamb and rosemary sausages, sourdough, house baked beans, garlic and thyme mushrooms, grilled tomato, your choice of eggs and a herbed hollandaise sauce. They tend to change the components of this big breakfast quite regularly I think but those were the components when we went last year. She said it was an absolutely huge serving but managed to finish it anyway.

Big brekkie!

We went back here a few months later for Ms S.,'s birthday. I got the summer sorbet smoothie which had lemon sorbet, fresh apple juice, yoghurt, strawberries and mint. It was quite a pleasantly sweet and sour drink that I really enjoyed. Ms S.,'s little daughter kept reaching over and wanting to drink my drink so I let her! You can't really ignore little toddlers requests can you hahaha. We had a lot of fun trying to feed her things but she seemed to prefer simple flavours ad textures like the ones present in this drink. In hindsight, she ate a fair bit of my feed but refused everyone else's!

Little O.,'s choice!

This is the Rare Pear salad ordered by L.,! It contains grilled prawns, crispy pancetta, fetta, roasted capsicum, pumpkin, beetroot, pearl barley, couscous, mixed seeds, nuts and a chipotle and sumac dressing. It's probably one of the prettiest dishes I've come across in a long time, L., loved it and really enjoyed picking apart the components of this dish. I like the fact that its primarily a bacon salad haha.

So pretty

This is the almond and herb crumbed barramundi with roasted potatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant relish, caper dill remoulade, asparagus and lemon. H., MHZ., and S., all ordered it! Everyone said it was absolutely delicious but S.,'s daughter didn't agree, she only wanted to eat the potatoes on the plate.

Nice

This was my dish, the salt and pepper calamari with asparagus, feta, roasted pumpkin, cherry tomatoes and lemon with a chipotle aioli. S.,'s little girl ate a lot of my calamari and my pumpkin. This was honestly the dish that reignited my love for pumpkin. I haven't eaten it much since I was toddler, apparently Mama Pham fed me so much pumpkin and carrot as a baby that I turned orange! This roasted pumpkin has such a gloriously caramelised crust that I ate it up in seconds!

How did the pumpkin get so good?

The Rare Pear - Holland Park
Atmosphere: 6, a busy little cafe on a main road! I've always sat outside though and its quite nice. Lots of shade and different tables to choose from.
Service: 8, really friendly waiters and waitresses.
Food: 8, I really like the huge portions here and the sheer variety of ingredients and foods that they serve, they have an ever changing seasonal menu too which ensures freshness! The plating is some of the prettiest I've seen in Brisbane. It's a little bit expensive but its good for what you get.