The Ponycat

A ready reckoner to opening a hot new cafe/bar/restaurant in Brisbane:

• Get some artist friends to create whimiscal illustrations or graffiti on the walls (see Canvas, Kerbside);
• Select a hungry hipsters-destination suburb (see Jam Jar);
• Give it a cute, animal-themed name (see Flamingo); and
• Create a retro-inspired menu, items from which your American Apparel-clad diners will tweet Instagrammed photos of their ironic breakfast (take your pick).

The Ponycat, on the New Farm end of Brunswick Street, ticks all the boxes. And then some.

There’s the tables collaged with old magazine photos like a highschool maths book. The chalkboard menu. The communal art magazines.

But looks deceive - The Ponycat doesn't prance. Staff are genuinely welcoming and the menu aims to satisfy, rather than impress.

Top marks, first of all, for offering all-day breakfast, something that would be mandatory in every Brisbane cafe were I ever to fluke my way into a position of legislative power.

The dishes aren't especially exotic but they're appealing: sweet potato and corn pancakes on a bed of spinach with honey-baked ham and eggplant kasundi ($16) looks like a hearty way to start a Saturday, but I’m in the mood for mushrooms so it’s the grilled field mushrooms with scrambled eggs and toast ($14) for me, while my friend has Boston baked beans on ciabatta with herb sausage and fried egg ($16).

Lighter dishes, such as  bircher muesli with tea-soaked prunes and grated apple or smashed avocado on onion rye with lemon (both $9), would be a good weekday option.

The lunch menu is smaller and simple with sandwiches, salads, burgers, plus milkshakes and juices and old-fashioned sweets like brownies and carrot cake.

We order two good, strong Giancarlo flat whites to keep our hunger at bay ($3.50 each), but it isn't long before the food arrives. When it does, I immediately come down with a case of diner's remorse.

The very generous serving of Boston baked beans, slowly cooked with smoky pork and topped with a fried egg, are delicious and nourishing, just what one wants on a chilly June morning.

But my dish is disappointing. The mushrooms themselves are fine, if unexciting, but the scrambled eggs are rubbery and bland, needing added fat or flavour. It's also lacking in texture, with the soft toast, soft mushrooms and soft eggs. At $14, it's a bit overpriced.

But it’s just one dish, and I blame myself for ordering what’s probably the plainest option on the menu. It's the only gripe that I have about an otherwise very pleasant breakfast.

The Ponycat is in a location that’s actually lacking in breakfast options (yes, such a place does exist in New Farm), and I like that many of our fellow diners are over 35, meaning its hipness isn't excluding. I like its general air of welcome, from the attitude of the staff to the cosy corner sofas. I like the coffee. I didn't like the scrambled eggs. Oh well.

 This reporter is on Twitter: @georgiawaters