Quick Brown Fox Eatery

In Short: Located in the inner city suburb of Pyrmont, family-run Quick Brown Fox has emerged as one of a new breed of fusion cafes that hits the right notes. It’s an impressive menu, well executed by a skilled head chef with creations including an epic congee and scrambled eggs with a romesco kick!

Our first post Covid-19 visit intersected perfectly with a day off from work. In the city, but not quite CBD, we were looking for a nice eatery to chill and hang out. Sacha did some research and Quick Brown Fox quickly came up as an option. The minute that he mentioned that the restaurant’s menu was consulted by Tomislav Martinovic, who used to work at Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, I immediately told him to lock it in before he could change his mind!

Located in Pyrmont, Quick Brown Fox Eatery is run by siblings Ben and Emily Calabro. Because of the deep family connection, there is a heap of attention and pride lavished on this eatery. To ensure that they have impressive cafe fare, they recruited Tomislav Martinovic to consult on the menu. With his chef experience at the famed Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck restaurant and having previously run his own restaurant, Tomislav at Darlinghurst, you can be assured that this would be one impressive menu featuring food prepared and presented in an inspiring and creative manner. To ensure that the menu is impeccably executed, they hired head chef Kido Kwon who had previously worked at Buena Vista Hotel and Bondi Hardware. Combine that with the outstanding Pyrmont location, and you pretty much have an eatery that has all the winning combination rolled into one.

I cannot emphasise enough how good it is to sip coffee from actual glassware/ceramic cup as opposed to the last 3 months, where it’s been from disposable cups. Mated to Single O‘s Paradox and we have a winning formula for a Flat White.  There were the perfect hallmarks of a smooth textured coffee with a pleasant sweetness. There’s a subtle acidic poke, that gentles carves through the rich milky top.

I am a fan of Kombucha. Every time I drink it, it makes me feel like I am doing my body good, as I imagine filling it with beneficial pro-biotics.  But it has never occurred to me to turn it into a cocktail. You can imagine my excitement when I realised that Quick Brown Fox has a range of cocktails made with Kombucha which you can have with Gin, Vodka, or Whiskey. I am a Gin fan, so it’s a no brainer for me to go with the Kombu Organic Kombucha Neat & Natural, spiked with Gin. It definitely looked and tasted fresh and clean. Upon taking the first sip, you get a nice balanced flavour of floral and ginger, followed by a slight tartness from the kombucha, with an added zing of gin. You also get a little crunchy element from the slices of green apples used as a garnish. On consuming a glass of kombucha, I usually feel that healthy goodness flow through me, but the naughty element of the gin, makes for a fun change.

Being Asian, I love my congee. It’s nice to revert back to my Asian roots and go back to simple comfort food which can be full of flavour at the same time. Do not underestimate the simple congee, as cooking it can be quite a science. Depending on individual preference, it can be soft but retaining its individual grain texture or smooth and creamy . The congee that I am familiar with is usually made with jasmine rice or glutenous rice. It has never occurred to me it can be made with Japanese Koshihikari Rice, which is normally used to make sushi, so I was very determined to try Quick Brown Fox Eatery’s Koshihikari Congee. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it actually works, as you get the softness of each individual grain combined with a smooth creamy texture, cooked in a rich broth that is full of umami flavours. Added to the congee, is a chilli fried egg, enoki mushroom, grilled cabbage, maple glazed bacon and fermented chilli relish. Out of all the ingredients in congee, my favourite has to be the grilled cabbage as its sweet with a light roasted charred flavour and is the perfect accompaniment. You can add a side of fried chicken or confit ocean trout for an additional $8. To be honest, the whole bowl of congee by itself is substantial enough with all the different ingredients yet I would recommend adding the fried chicken anyway, because the karaage-style fried chicken is crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and so addictive, you would feel like you are missing out on something truly special for not trying it.

From Quick Brown Fox Eatery’s menu, we also tried their Organic eggs. This is not just any simple egg dish but ‘eggs done your way’ (poached, fried or scrambled) with romesco relish, cultured butter, confit ocean trout, and sourdough from Thoroughbread. The presentation is refined, almost like a painter’s palette with the orange of romesco, bright yellow of the scrambled egg, pinks of the ocean trout, and a perfectly shaped sphere of cultured butter.

The scrambled eggs are beautifully presented. Shaped like a flower, you almost don’t want to disturb its beautiful form. Once I got past destroying chef’s work of art, I was met with silky, creamy just-cooked-through eggs. Partner it with the romesco relish and it’s just so good, not to mention, that if you opted for the smoked trout, its little pile was a tongue pleaser! It too is creamy yet smoky and pure indulgence. Every component is delicious and even if you quickly polish off the eggs and trout, the cultured butter on toast is simply splendid.

Quick Brown Fox Eatery really did tick all the boxes. It’a an eatery that focuses on warm friendly service and homey comfort food that has been elevated to the next level. Every item on the menu is so intriguing that I would have loved to try them all, which I am sure we will when we definitely come back again.