Revolver, Annandale – Rating: 18/25 (re-review)

Among Sydney breakfast cafés, there are a few establishments that have stood their ground and remained successful thanks to a variety of reasons.  A strong local customer base, a changing menu, dedicated staff or of course fantastic food and coffee.  I last reviewed Revolver in 2011 and its name has come up in conversation so many times that I thought it deserved a revisit.

With pets in tow we were forced to locate outdoor seating and the staff were happy to oblige by taking names and promptly arranging a table.  Our wait wasn’t too long but be aware that Revolver’s popularity means that you may be in for a ten or fifteen minute wait later in the morning.

Dark hot chocolate, house made spiced chai (regular $4, large $4.50) as well as a large assortment of Revolver organic teas ($4) are also available.

They know their frozen fruit frappes ($5.50).  Also available with banana or strawberry, my mango version was full of flavour and deliciously refreshing.  Definitely recommended.

Smoothies ($5.50) with the same fruits are also available as well as fresh house squeezed juices (orange, apple watermelon or passionfruit, regular $3.50, large $5.50).

Onto the parade of orgasmic dishes!  The trout rosti ($17.50) is based on a crispy corn and potato rosti which was thin and well seasoned.  The smoked trout literally melted in the mouth and was matched beautifully with baby spinach and slices of avocado.  The sweet red capsicum relish was crisp and fresh but not entirely necessary.

They do their scrambled eggs exceptionally well at Revolver.  The avo eggs ($15.50) pairs the scramble with roasted tomato, smooth feta and avocado (which my guest found slightly underripe) resulting in a fantastic combination of flavours.

Why taint a perfectly good veggie big breakfast ($17.50) with free range bacon?  Because we can.  One of my guests added the side which was integrated into this baked dish as though it belonged.  What a magnificent choice it was because this was some of the best bacon I have tried in recent times.  This pan was home to a plethora of flavours so I hope I manage to cover them all!  The rich tomato base enveloped and blended perfectly with beetroot puree, roast tomato, field mushrooms and baked beans.  Oh yes and you’ll find eggs in there as well.  Bringing more colour and flavour to the mix was avocado and incredibly tasty smoked eggplant which played second fiddle only to the bacon.

Two guests, two slightly different bacon and egg rolls ($10 each).  The top iteration was ordered sans sweet red capsicum relish and mustard aioli.  While the verde remained, the dish became somewhat dry.  The complete version with all sauces intact proved to be much more satisfying with a combination of sauces and flavours that resulted in a bacon and egg roll worth remembering.

My dish was truly memorable because it featured an abundance of my two favourite things at Revolver: their scrambled eggs and their bacon.  With a slightly deceptive name of free range bacon ($17.50) I happily tucked into the layers of this tower which blended together so well.  Fennel and sage throughout provided flavours that I don’t often find at breakfast tables and a thin layer of aged cheddar topped it all off for me.  The capsicum worked very well this time but I still think the bacon was the best item on my plate.

If it’s one thing they know well at Revolver it’s how to combine flavours.  With a multitude of ingredients in some of the dishes, I was worried about my palette being overwhelmed…  It teetered on the edge but was still kept in check.

There were some items that I was disappointed we didn’t get around to trying such as the vanilla pancakes with apple, rhubarb and orange compote plus fresh ricotta ($14.50) and the lamb bruschetta (Mirrool Creek pasture fed lamb, nine hour slow roasted with garlic, chilli, almonds, rocket, hummus and sweet red capsicum relish on sourdough toast, $18).  That certainly sounds worthy of review number three…