tigerbakers café, Darlinghurst – Rating: 21.5/25

Tigerbakers

With Dane’s birthday rolling around recently, he wanted to revisit one of his favourite Sydney spots. We have already been to tigerbakers (before the Sydney on Sunday days) and we’ll ruin the review for you now: it remains his number one café in Sydney.

Dane tried driving past the café last week so that he could talk to the owner about booking but at 4:30pm the rollerdoor with the massive tiger emblem on it had already been closed. Later contact revealed that they do not take bookings but in this case would make an exception (we mentioned nothing about reviewing them, just that it was for a birthday). Thanks guys!

Reserved just this once!

There is ample seating both inside and out. Tigerbakers makes good use of its space and had seated the twelve of us at a large table inside. The music was a mix of funky beats and chilled out vocals, featuring a sneaky old tune from Jack Johnson (some cafes make the mistake of playing an artist cover to cover, but not this one). The interior is constantly changing, showing off the contemporary work of various artists. It provides a great conversation point and ensures that wherever you look, there’s something to grab your attention. We loved the anime art and the ceiling with a view to the apartment above…

Ceiling art

Soy chai latte

The soy chai latte ($4.50) was warm, frothy and well blended. It’s a fairly common drink these days but most cafés can’t seem to make them well. The size of the cup was good and had a decent sprinkle of cinnamon on the top.

Skim cappuccino

Cappuccino

The rest of the coffees were also of high quality. Fresh and well made, the entire table enjoyed their combination of skim/regular cappucinos ($3.50).

Pineapple and cranberry juice

The juices available include orange, apple, grapefruit, pineapple ($4 each), cranberry and pomegranate ($4.50). Unfortunately these are not freshly squeezed. One of us ordered a pineapple and cranberry juice ($4.50) without reading any details hoping that it would have been fresh however was disappointed upon its arrival.

Jumbo breakfast with poached eggs

The jumbo breakfast ($14.50) is a must for the hungry patron. The two eggs can be done any way and the poached and fried varities we chose were cooked as requested (be it with a runny yolk, sunny side up, over easy or over-cooked). The dish is also served with bacon, sausage, tomato, mushrooms, hash brown and toast.

Jumbo breakfast with fried eggs

Almost everyone who ordered the jumbo breakfast finished everything on their plate and was raving about the hash browns and sausages. The bacon pieces were of good quality with hardly any fat to be found.

Eggs Florentine

A fussy eater ordered the eggs Florentine ($13.90) but received the eggs exactly as requested. We were amazed at how dilligent the waiters and cooks were in ensuring that every meal was prepared so perfectly for such a large table. The spinach was also fresh and all topped with a fantastic hollandaise sauce.

Corn & dill pikelets with poached eggs

The corn and dill pikelets with poached eggs ($15.90) was a popular choice with four of them being ordered. Their presentation is superb; the entire stack surrounded by a lemon crème fraiche dressing and topped with two of the most skillfully poached eggs you’ll find. Although it looks smaller than the other meals it is surprisingly satisfying. The flavour combination was superb, the salmon fresh and the pikelets fluffy and flavoursome – highly recommended.

BLT

Tigerbakers, we salute you! The BLT ($9.90) came loaded with bacon and tasted great. The herbed dressing flowed between the fresh tomatoes to the rest of the ingredients and made the person who ordered this dish consider ordering one more. May we suggest one improvement?… the BLATE (avocado and egg)!

Scrambled egg special

One of the specials was scrambled eggs ($14.90) with cherry tomatoes, spinach, fetta and basil pesto mixed through. The eggs were cooked slightly less than the orderer would have preferred and despite other tasters enjoying the combination, she was disappointed with the flavours and found the dish “a bit boring”. The presentation could also be improved slightly as the bulk sloppy eggs didn’t look very inviting.

Croissant with jam

The croissant with jam ($5.90) was hard to fault. The croissant itself was lightly toasted – crispy and deliciously fluffy! We later learned they were supplied by Infinity Sourdough, Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, just across the street from the café.