Cumulus Inc - Bonus Breakfast

30th January 2011

Having already tried Cumulus Inc for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it, i suggested to my parents who were in town to try it for breakfast. Much to my surprise (mostly because they called me at 830 on sunday morning) and delight they invited me to join them for breakfast.

Extremely packed with a loud and noisy buzzing atmosphere and a no reservations policy, we were require to wait for a few minutes for a table to open up. My parents had already ordered coffees and were very happy with the strength and taste.

We were shown to our seats and were promptly attended to for drinks order. Despite the temperature outside i choose a hot chocolate which was rich and chocolate. My parents decided on the grapefruit juice (after having their initial choice of orange juice rejected as they had run out and explained to both of them separately due to the noise). and despite being very pleased with the taste, it was a bit disappointing for them to run out of orange juice in the middle of service.

For food i ordered the Pain d'epices. Generously spiced bread was well balanced with the whipped maple butter and candied walnuts. Amazing combinations of flavours, possibly would be too sweet for most people at breakfast but given my sweet tooth i found it delightful.

We finished off breakfast with a Madeleine filled with lemon curd for me and my mum and a large Canelle for my dad. Having rolled into 1130 we decided that this meal would now be classified as brunch and that the deserts after breakfast were more than justified.

However the first desert plate came out with 2 desert on and me and my mum assumed that these were for us, not thinking that they had taken less than the 15 minutes cooking time for the Madeleines or the shape was different from the normal shape of Madeleine. We bit into the crisp caramelised outer crust and the soft custard infused centre. After initially remarking on how little lemon taste there was and being initially disappointed, we soon overcame this and were impressed with the flavours and texture and the way it left you wanting to order another round. My mum allowed my dad the smallest of bits into what turned out to be his own desert.

About 5 minutes later (possibly about 15 mins since we ordered) we were presented with a unmistakable Madeleine shaped desert with zesty lemon oozing out. Soft perfectly cooked Madeleines with a powerful zesty lemon flavour were what we expected and realising our mistake half of one of the deserts was given to a miffed father.

Finished off with another round of hot chocolate and coffee, it was an excellent way to start a Sunday morning and worthy of the hype of the Cumulus Inc breakfast.