PHOTOGRAPHY BY
sophie burton
5 September 2012
breakfast at imperial lane
The popular Imperial Lane is now a member of Auckland’s breakfast club.
A favourite of many city dwellers and urban workers, Imperial Lane has established itself as a convenient, stylish destination for a spot of lunch, tapas or an after-work wine.
As fans of its pre-existing menu, we were delighted to hear that they’ll now be adding breakfast to their daily offerings. We recently set out one drizzly morning in search of an imperial breakfast fit for an empress.
We arrived to a bustling cobblestoned laneway, already filled with a mix of industrious-looking businessmen and urbanely cool city dwellers looking for their coffee fix. Keeping our mind firmly on the task at hand, we turned a blind eye to the gorgeous European pastries (from Danish patisserie Elske) and settled in with their new breakfast menu.
Designed and created by celebrated head chef Sean Marshall, the Imperial Lane breakfast menu offers a variety of options – from familiar creamy porridge, toasted muesli, and French toast; to the more exotic spinach, olive and goats cheese quesadilla, fried eggs with confit duck, and creamed chive eggs.
Each of the dishes have something special that sets them apart. We tried the olive and goats cheese quesadilla and it was brilliant: two cheesy, perfectly poached eggs perched atop spicy tomato puree and a golden quesadilla disc filled with spinach and goats cheese – its vibrant colour was reflective of the delicious bright flavour that lay ahead.
The French toast with poached tamarillo and vanilla bean was simple and beautiful – light-as-air, fluffy French toast, velvety soft tamarillos poached in sweet spiced syrup with star anise and black peppercorns, topped off with a luxuriantly creamy vanilla fromage blanc. This is a crowd favorite, and it’s easy to see why.
And for those who crave something a little less flashy, but no less delicious, there’s the toasted English muffin – topped with refreshingly ripe green avocado, tomato and pecorino cheese and served with pesto. It’s a fresh, light and healthy option for those who have had a wicked weekend.
Breakfast is served at Imperial Lane 7 days a week. Monday-Friday 7.30-11.30am; Saturday 9-11.30am; Sunday 9-2.30pm.
