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The Courier-Mail Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Simply fine
 IF YOU were a creative cook staying in a comfortable, but not too glamorous, beach house, with plenty of fresh ingredients to hand, but no epicurean cookbooks to refer to, you'd probably cook the kind of thing Peter Willes serves up at Willes Fine Foods at Bulimba.
He doesn't try to compete with the upmarket competitors lining fashionable Oxford St. His premises are more like a takeaway bar with a few tables than a proper cafι, but he does a roaring trade, supplying the kind of food real people with discerning palates like to eat when substance matters more than surroundings.
Everything, repeat everything, is made on the premises. Well, not the bread, but with a top-class bakery next door why would you? That includes the chicken pies with their meaty fillings and light flakey pastry as well as the extraordinary mega-breafast. This offers, for the astonishing price of $13.95, food to rival even the Truckies Breakfast at the late and much-lamented California Cafι in the Valley.
At Willes, they serve up bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms, grilled tomato, schinitzel, toast and tea or coffee - the ideal morning-after meal that can cure any hangover.
I had an unusual breakfast recently which didn't quite live up to the splendour of its name, but was very edible nevertheless - stir-fry spinach and ham with poached eggs and sweet chilli potato, which cost $9.90. I should have asked for the Turkish toast, for it came with ordinary white, but hot-buttered toast. The spinach was actually silver beet; the ham was, at a guess, from a pre-sliced packet and the dish came with the addition of mushrooms which I hadn't ordered and didn't particularly want. The poached eggs were also a bit sloppy, even for me. But I ate it ravenously, all the same, and rejoiced again in the sweet chilli potato wedges which I'd had in a cold salad the day before, only this time they were steaming hot and crunchy.
I managed to wheedle the secret out of Peter afterwards, so here it is for you to make as part of a perfect leisure brunch-style fry-up or Sunday supper in front of the TV - cut your potatoes (or sweet potatoes) into wedges, deep fry them until they're all crackly on the outside, and toss them in a mixture of egg mayo and sweet chilli sauce. Yum! But that's the thing about Willes. Everything sounds good, looks good ad tastes even better, but it isn't always quite what you expected. That's because Peter and his team use their imaginations rather than follow set recipes. They'll look at the piles of food fresh in from the markets and make some creative decisions. How about roasted cubes of root vegetables tossed in a sauce with pine nuts and olive oil? Or jazzing up some crisp, steamed green beans and sliced red peppers with sesame seed?
There's no faking it, either. What is called here spinach salad with eggs and anchovies would probably masquerade as a Caesar salad in most other cafes around town, but Peter is a purist, and if he calls it Caesar, you can be sure it is. There are usually a dozen or so varieties of salad on display, but don't expect everything to be there every day because, these are of-the-moment, inspirational salads. A big plate with as many varieties as you want costs $8.90 or, as an accompaniment to the delicious pies, quiches, patties and lasagna, about $5.
More predictable are the wall-board breakfast items including killer-cholesterol treats such as French toast with bacon, banana and sour cream; or, the slightly less guilt-inducing, French toast with grilled mushrooms and tomatoes. These cost $9.90, as do pancakes with either grilled banana and caramel sauce, strawberries with cream and ice cream, or bacon with maple sauce (not syrup) and fried eggs.
Bacon, eggs, toast, tomatoes - they're all there in any combination and price range you like. There are also some of what I like to call Grandma Specials, including lamb's fry with bacon, eggs, tomatoes and toast for $10.90 and they can't make enough of it for the nostalgia buffs. How long is it since you've had that old cafι-breakfast favourite, savoury mince on toast? Here it's served with eggs on toast ($9.90). Or how about a new favourite, scrambled eggs with fetta on pesto toast (also $9.90)?
Lunchtime offerings include generous burgers (vegetarian, beef, chicken, lentil or bacon and egg) with salad for $7.90. The chicken pie I had ($4.50, $9.50 with salad) was one of the best I've ever eaten. My friend's spinach and fetta quiche was fully 5cm thick, and crammed with cheese and vegetables, rather than being bulked out with egg-substitute ($5.80, about $11 with salad).
Sandwiches, made to your liking rather than being pre-prepared, with more filling than you would have dreamed possible, range from $4.90 to $7.90, and the fresh fruit juices (I had carrot and apple with double ginger) are enormous, and served in traditional metal milkshake containers.
Don't look for anything in the way of desserts, though. Peter stopped serving them after a few months because, as he explains, they sold very slowly. There were a couple of cupcakes and some hedgehog slices the day we were there, but if you want a cake, pop into the bakery next door and nobody will be offended if you bring something back to eat with your coffee.
The coffee is excellent - they use Grinders - and the staff have been professionally trained to use the machine, so you won't be disappointed. In fact, if you're really hungry and have a gourmet palate on a beggar's income, you won't be at all disappointed with Willes Fine Foods. Just don't expect it to be flash.
THE SCORE
Food: 16
Service: 14
Ambience: 10
Value for money: 18
About the score: 0-5 don't bother; 6-9 needs serious improvement; 10-12 reasonable; 13-14 good; 15-17 very good; 18-19 exceptional; 20 perfection |
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The Courier-Mail Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Oxford Street, Bulimba
Variety and spice
The cafe strip at riverside Bulimba in Brisbane's east is an international zone. In between the myriad restaurants are groovy retail and food outlets.
Willes Fine Foods
2/153 Oxford St
Ph: 3395 6588
It may not be the most glamorous of cafes on the Bulimba strip but Willes must be doing something right. It's been in the same spot for 16 years and Peter Willes visits the markets three times a week to buy ingredients for his 15 salads which are made daily. This is serious comfort food at a great price. Willes also runs a catering service for corporate clients Monday to Fridays and weddings, parties and, well, anything on weekends. |
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