Giotto Art Café, Darlinghurst – Rating: 20.5/25

Giotto Art Café

The restaurant section of Stanley Street, Darlinghurst has a broad mix of establishments including Argentinian, Mexican, Thai and Japanese.  There is also a collection of Italian cafés and restaurants that, if Giotto is anything to go by, do superb justice to their country’s cuisine.  It felt like a piece of Italy thanks to the Italian boys dining next to us.

There is plenty of dining space inside with walls lined by the artwork and photography of local artists and a small number of tables outside.

Skim cappuccino

Flat white

The coffees (regular $3.50, large $4) were outstanding.  Beans are supplied by Café de Colombia and is something Giotto can be proud of.  Unfortunately the barrista whose coffee art features on Giotto’s Facebook page was nowhere to be seen.

Baked eggs with chorizo and tomato

The breakfast menu contains all of the staple Sydney café fare although that is by no means a bad thing.  Items such as toast (of many varieties) with jams, marmalades or Vegemite ($4.50), seasonal sliced fruit plate with honey yoghurt ($8.50), eggs any style on toast ($7) with sides, Giotto breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, roasted tomato, mushroom, spinach, sour dough toast, $15) and blueberry or bacon and maple syrup pancakes $(12 each).

The separate weekend special menu is what caught our fancy however with dishes such as the Madrid omelette (chorizo, mushrooms, cheese with a hint of chilli topped with fresh tomato salsa and parmesan, $15), sweet corn fritters topped with crispy bacon, saly and thyme roasted tomato and avocado ($14.50) and the Nepalese omelette (roasted pumpkin, feta cheese, spinach, onion with a hint of chilli, topped with sautéed mushrooms, $15).

One of us opted for one of the varieties of baked eggs ($13.50).  Bacon and mushrooms or ham and spinach are also available but we chose the chorizo and tomato.  Unlike all other baked eggs that we have had which arrive in the dish they were baked in, Giotto’s is all self-contained and served with a small salad,  roasted tomato and toast.  So for your money you receive a very large dish.  Does this mean quality though?  You bet!  The bake itself was definitely not light on flavour including plenty of sausage, eggs and herbs.  It worked together beautifully and was not as liquid as we’ve come to expect baked eggs to be.  The salad of leaves, onion, tomato and cheese was light on the palate and a nice compliment of flavours.

French toast

From the first bite, we were hooked on this French toast ($10).  There was literally nothing to fault.  The toast had been cooked perfectly and was delicately flavoured with cinnamon.  The berries and honey yoghurt would have killed the flavours if they had been laid down too liberally but this was definitely not the case.  The price was also very reasonable.

Halloumi bruschetta

Yet another item from the weekend special menu and Giotto delivered again!  The halloumi bruschetta ($10) came served on toast with a generous amount of garlic, tomato and onion, topped off with two slices of halloumi each.  A simple yet well-executed dish with fresh flavours for a bargain price.

It was only by default that we arrived at Giotto.  One café nearby doesn’t allow dogs and another was full outside.  We were definitely taken by surprise as we hadn’t heard of it before but will definitely be returning thanks to the outstanding prompt & friendly service, food and price.

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