Pineapple Express, Hamilton, Brisbane

March 11, 2017

Pineapple Express, even the name will you turn your head and wonder what it is. One word to describe it, Superfood. Imagine Cacao, Kale, Chia seeds, Cocowhip, Acai bowls, well, I shouldn't name it all so that it'll keep you guessing what they have on their menus. The bright yellow surfboard and the blue and white striped awnings with its wide open windows will show you to Pineapple Express. With breakfast options from Eggs Benedict to green breakfast bowls; smashed avo to protein pancakes along with a wide variety of smoothies, fresh juices and acai bowls, your tummy will be filled healthily.

With their range of drink options such as Coffee, Frappes or Smoothies, we decided to try their Frappe and Smoothie, one of each. At first, fresh fruits sounded much nicer for a morning start but in the end, we opted for something fruity and non-fruity. Basically, more variety.

'Mango Muscles' (AUD$9) was a combination of Mango, Passionfruit, Vanilla Coyo Ice cream, Whey Protein, Chia seeds and coconut water. It was definitely very fruity and you are able to taste the well combined mango, passionfruit and Vanilla ice cream however, though not sure what Whey protein would taste like on its own, the chia seeds were a nice touch that added a bit of crunch and a different texture in the drink. It was all topped with coconut chips and goji berries which was a nice complement but didn't really do much overall to the drink.

'Coffee Frappe' (AUD$8) was surprisingly a Double Shot coffee with Almond milk, Dates, Coyo Ice cream and Ice. Their frappe options wasn't as wide as their Smoothies range but they do have Watermelon Frappe, Matcha Frappe and Gold Tumeric Frappe available if you're not a coffee person. A strong coffee hit would definitely boost you throughout the day as well as open your eyes wider but what was interesting for me was that it was made with Almond milk and dates were added. Dates? No idea why but somehow I could not taste it and that's how I preferred it to be.

'Pineapple's Share Board' (AUD$44) was one of the options in their All day menu which was very convenient to share between two or even three and if you decide to add more to try, then you can do so to be able to try the other dishes they have on offer. The share board includes 2 mini breakfast bowls, poached eggs dusted with dukkah, black forest bacon, pulled pork, ripened avocado, beetroot relish, haloumi, housemade hash, all served on Rye Sourdough. Presented beautifully set out in a large wooden cutting board with a painted edge, Turquoise blue, to be exact.

At first when everything looked pretty, you start to find and pick out what's on the board. The beetroot relish was quite dry but had a nice texture when eaten with the slightly crumbed feta and chopped tomatoes. The haloumi was also quite dry, there was only one which was sliced into two.

The pulled pork and housemade hash placed on top of a bed of mixed greens, both were slightly charred but as for its taste the pulled pork was a bit bland but when combined with the other elements of the dish, it worked well. At first, we didn't realise that the housemade hash was the orange roughly sweet potato slices as I had hash browns in mind. The housemade hash was seasoned well and added a nice fluffy and soft texture towards the dish.

The avocado, sliced in half was topped with a pinch of dukkah and sunflower seeds, placed right next to well cooked poached eggs and fresh cherry tomatoes. Slices of thick rye bread was slightly buttered which was handy not having to butter your own bread provided a base as you go through each of the elements on the board. Top the bread with the housemade hash, a bit of avocado, a bit of black forest bacon and you got yourself an open toast.

By the time we decided to go through everything on the board, we knew we also had to taste these breakfast bowls as it was their signature dishes.

The share platter itself includes 2 mini breakfast bowls. At first, we thought that you get a choice of 2 Acai bowls but then we realised the the mini 'Breakfast bowls' was one of the options in their Acai bowl menu, meaning we were getting 2 of the same type of Acai bowl. Luckily we did not have to choose which Acai bowls as there was just a wide selection although with the share platter, we did decide to choose 2 different types in order to be able to try something different. The girl at the counter was nice enough to allow us to choose a different type of Acai bowl to try instead of having 2 of the same.

'Breakfast Bowl' consisted of Acai, Coconut water, Banana, Berries, Spinach topped with twice baked granola, shaved coconut and seasonal fruits.

'The Acai Nutter' was made with Acai, Banana, Almond milk, Raw Cacao and Peanut butter topped with twice baked granola, peanuts, Cacao nibs and Raw chocolate sauce. Although this was not the full size, it was packed full of flavour. It was actually quite delicious with a thick acai base which had the chocolate and peanut butter combo and that combo always works whatsoever. The granola clusters as well as the crushed peanuts and chocolate coyo gave it the right amount of crunch. If you do enjoy your chocolate and peanut butter topped with ripe banana, then you will definitely enjoy this.