Elizabeth Bay Café, Elizabeth Bay – Rating: 19.5/25

Elizabeth Bay Café

I’ve wanted to visit this tiny café for a while but it has always slipped my mind.  There seem to be a steady stream of customers on the weekend which is always a  good sign.  Elizabeth Bay Café has some seating outside but that wasn’t going to help today!  The weather forced the patrons to occupy every inch of the intimate interior but we felt very welcome thanks to the accommodating staff.

Mixed berry smoothie

Absent from the menu but available on request are smoothies ($7).  Flavours depend on what fruit is available on the day.  In our case we ordered one berry and one banana & berry.  Both were thick, flavoursome and full of fresh fruit.  We were literally sitting within a metre of the blender so could watch it all being put together (see it is intimate).

Flat white

Wow, outstanding coffee!  The skim flat white ($3 or $3.30 for large) was gulped down and filled the caffeine hole!

When it came to the food, we were stumped!  The weekend specials included Spanish omelette with grilled chorizo and a lemon, parsley and fetta salad ($16) while the standard menu tempted us with scrambled egg white, feta, smoked chipotle, baby spinach and lime wrapped in a grilled tortilla ($16), Cooper’s breakfast (fried eggs, creamy hummus with a cucumer fresh tomato salad tossed in olive oil and lemon juice with toast, $15), the veg breakfast of spiced beans, grilled haloumi, wilted baby spinach served on toasted sourdough topped with a poached egg ($16) and organic eggs Benedict on sourdough, baby spinach, grilled ham or smoked salmon and seeded mustard hollandaise ($16).  The Benedict and the buttermilk pancakes with butterscotch sauce & bananas ($14) were served next to us and looked incredible.

EBC hash brown

Despite all of these options, I definitely made the right choice with the EBC hashbrown ($17).  So many flavours that worked brilliantly together.  The hashbrown at the base was blessed with delicious corned beef inside!  Generous amounts of crispy bacon and spinach above as well as an amazing tomato and mint relish.  The precariously placed egg on top had been poached perfectly and we were simply blown away by the flavours.  What can I say other than “order this”!

Toasted brioche, shaved champagne ham and roasted field mushrooms

Truffle oil… the next big thing in Sydney cafés?  One of EBC’s weekend specials is toasted brioche, shaved champagne ham and roasted field mushrooms with white truffle infused parmesan ($16).  Nothing to criticise… the brioche, soft and rich, an abundance of ham and two large roasted mushrooms were all prepared well.  The truffle parmesan also delivered on our preconceptions.

All the meals served at EBC will satisfy even the hungriest patrons and the quality was certainly impressive.  All from a very cramped kitchen and coffee counter – colour us impressed!

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