Something awful happened a few decades back. Beneath McDonald’s’ Golden Arches at the altar of fast-food convenience, the McMuffin was born. Weighing in at 128g and featuring a rubbery fried egg, cardboard bacon, and a sheet of yellow plastic ‘cheese’ the McMuffin has become a scourge of decency and an utter disgrace to the wider breakfast sandwich community.
Brisbane says no.
In a collective effort across the sunny city, Brisbane’s best cafés and breakfasteries have retaliated with their own finely crafted bacon and egg sandwiches that will swear you off the undecadent and thoroughly inadequate McMuffin for good.
In no particular order, feast your chops on Brisbane’s best bacon and egg sandwiches:
Locavore
Woolloongabba
Locavore in the Gabba knows what’s up. They’ll fry you up some tasty bacon then press it down into a portable glory that will upset your ability to stand. AND everything is made from ingredients sourced within a 160km radius. How many McDonalds’s can say that?
Café O Mai
Annerley
We’re always super excited to indulge in new and innovative reinventions of the bacon and egg sarnie. So when Café O Mai came out with a bacon and egg breakfast Bahn Mi, we flipped our lids.
Scout
Spring Hill
Scout’s bacon and egg bagel is so beloved by their dedicated regulars that, despite numerous menu changes, it has never changed. And why would it? Fried egg, thick-cut Kaiserfleisch, cheddar, rocket, relish and a slammin’ aioli all packed into a toasted bagel ticks boxes we didn’t even know we had.
Ben’s Burgers
Fortitude Valley
What is a burger but a sandwich on ‘roids? The crew at Ben’s Burgers blatantly refuse to be pigeonholed into lunch and dinner so for breakfast they specialise in flipping bacon and egg burgers onto soft, squishy buns. Perfect for those days when you just cant be doing with cutlery.
Brewbakers
Albion
Fancy putting yourself in the driver’s seat? Brewbakers will let you take the wheel and customise what you like your bacon and egg breakfast served on. Bagel, hard roll, English muffin, toast, or even a saucy croissant; all lovingly made in-house by people who genuinely want what’s best for you.
Atticus Finch
Paddington
Paddo locals know the only cure for early mornings a toasted sandwich stuffed with honey-roasted bacon, a fried egg, onion jam, swiss cheese and aioli, and is only available at Atticus Finch. Wolf it down with a cup of charge and Monday doesn’t stand a chance.
Chow House
Fortitude Valley
The latest iOS update has given Chow House the requisite emoji to stick it to the breakfast sanga conventions. You might think this is just another bacon and egg burger on a golden brioche bun, but hang out for the special appearances by a generous slab of haloumi (the people’s cheese) and some game-changing avocado.
Crema and Cream
Stafford
Stafford’s contribution to the fight against Mickey Dee’s also reps the haloumi and avo, only Crema and Cream will raise you a schmear of hollandaise which, in chorus with the holy trinity of bacon, egg and bun, makes for an edible benediction.
Little Loco
New Farm
Another rep for the avo inclusion comes from Little Loco. Inside their toasted polenta brioche bobble-bun of wonders you’ll find the standard eggs and bakey with some cheeky smoked tomato relish and mature cheddar feat. avo that was spared the feta and lemon.
The Roastery Café
South Brisbane
The Roastery Café has taken a covert approach to usurp Macca’s monopoly, slowly but surely gaining a semi-secretive cult following for their bacon and egg breakfast roll. Sorry to blow the whistle, but we feel it would be rude to deny the hangry hordes the knowledge of this potentially life-affirming breakfast one-hander.
Image credit: Lisa Brooke
Love breakfasting at Brisbane's best cafes as much as we do? Check out our article Show Us Your Hotcakes: Brisbane's Best Pancakes!