Dear Delicious, Dulwich Hill – Rating: 18.5/25

Dear Delicious

Recommendations are marvelous things. Without them, my job of selecting the next café would be infinitely more difficult. Social media helps along the way but there’s nothing like a little local first-hand knowledge to let me know exactly what’s new and worth visiting.

A friend recently recommended Dear Delicious so I dropped in to review this fresh and well-presented site. Sitting outside at one of the tables, it became clear that this is now one of the spots in Dulwich Hill to grab a takeaway coffee. The drop-ins were relentless! That’s not to say that DD doesn’t offer outstanding dine in food and drink too though. DD replaces the previous PS Café which I reviewed in 2012.

I found the service to be fast and very friendly this morning; you’ll be well taken care of here.

Cappuccino

Flat white

Little Marionette… need I say more? A brilliant bean, expertly poured. Our coffees ($3.50) were strong and presented beautifully. The seasonal single origin will cost you $4.

Also on offer is iced coffee with gelato ($5.50), affogato ($5.90), hot chocolate ($3.50) and organic raw chocolate vanilla mug sweetened with agave ($5.90).

Tea drinks are also extremely well catered for. If tea is your thing, I definitely recommend that you drop in.

Chocolate milkshake

The milkshakes ($5.50) are prepared with in-house syrups and available as chocolate, caramel or strawberry. My chocolate version was lighter on flavour than I thought but the consistency was almost spot-on, just slightly thinner than I was hoping for.

Free range eggs (fried)

Cue misleading photo caption! Well, I always title them what the menu says and my guest ordered the free range eggs ($12) which can be ordered scrambled, poached or fried. They are served with semi dried tomatoes and sourdough toast. All bread is supplied by The Bread And Butter Project which was so good that we bought a loaf ($14 but large enough to break in half and give to friends, it was so massive).

This dish can then be customised in two ways: truffle oil, shaved parmesan and asparagus or what my guest ordered which was marinated goats chevre, roasted field mushrooms and fresh spinach. There were healthy amounts of everything with no main item neglected. Care, seasoning and herbs had been offered to each. Some free range bacon on the side was a perfect addition for $5. There are also many other sides available so regardless of what you order, there’s no excuse to steal from someone else’s plate!

Gipsy baked eggs

The gipsy baked eggs ($18) consist of smoked hazelnut dukkah, bacon, tomato, goats chevre, smoked eggplant and red pepper. This version of baked eggs was a fair bit drier than others I have had with less of a tomato base and everything mostly cooked through. I think that mine overall should have been baked slightly less so that the eggs weren’t completely cooked but other than that I was happy with the flavours. The seasoned tomato, eggplant and red pepper did provide some moisture and when spread on the bread tasted stunning. I’m glad that the bacon was served on top in all its crispy glory as opposed to being allowed to soften inside the dish. The dukkah was certainly unique and quite mild in flavour. I was expecting it to dominate but it combined well with the capsicum and tomato.

Interior

Other items that we missed include fire zest granola with activated agave almonds, cashews, chia, linseed, pepitas, goji berries, mulberries and coconut crunch in your choice of milk (wow what a mouthful! $13.50), layered rhubarb & orange blossom pistachio labneh parfait with black tahini syrup, yummy laters of crunchy coconut crunch and DD granola (I’ll order this next time, $12) and avocado heaven (with sprouted provolone, avocado, baby spinach, & salsa verde on a slice of sourdough ($17).

For such a new café, Dear Delicious certainly has its menu and food in order. There were a few things I would have changed with our dishes but overall from the surroundings to the menu to the service, colour me very impressed. Visit for yourself and let me know what you think.

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