If brunch was in the Olympics, Sydneysiders would be lining up to participate. We take brunch seriously, which is why we’re willing to wait for 45-minutes for a Croque monsieur or a lobster-loaded croissant with shaved truffle.
Curious to find the dishes everyone is swooning over, we scoured the Sydney streets to bring you the best brunch dishes with a cult following and are a must-try.
Loulou is barely a year old and is already a major favourite for Sydneysiders. Its legendary lunch and dinner offering proved to be not enough, and now Loulou is serving breakfast. What’s on the menu? Well, diners can expect Loulou’s take on a buttery Croque Madame and Bloody Maries served on the sun-drenched terrace. They will also serve croissants and baguettes slathered in butter and jam to be dipped into coffee or hot chocolate—Parisian style. At the Boulangerie, we suggest ordering the indulgent crab soufflé omelet. Made with delicious Gruyère cheese and spanner crab, it’s finished with chopped chives, lemon zest and espelette pepper. Oui, it’s as decadent as it sounds. Loulou Bistro weekend breakfast and brunch begin on August 13, Saturdays and Sundays from 8 am to 11 am.
Since its opening, The Mayflower has been flooded with brunchers, hungry diners, and Instagram influencers. Apart from the floral aesthetic, their brunch dishes are the main attraction. One of its most popular items the Croque monsieur is stuffed with Jamon Serrano, gruyere, smoked mozzarella, truffle paste, and a few shavings of truffle on top. The Mayflower Roll is also a popular dish, for its extravagance. Expect butter-poached lobster covered in a dijon sauce on a potato roll. Of course, you can add shavings of truffle too.
Out west, Percy Plunkett always has a line of locals and visitors lining up for a table. While they have some amazing brunch dishes including a lamb eggs benedict, a garden bowl with sweet potato fritters, it’s the deep dish pancake that keeps them coming back. Imagine a thick fluffy pancake, drizzled with a rich butterscotch sauce, white chocolate mousse, caramelised banana, fresh berries, and topped with crushed pistachios. If you’re not sweets for brunch kind of person, this is a game-changer.
Bills is the sunny cafe that made the smashed avocado toast a global hit, so it’s only fitting this should be the number one spot on your list for the best-smashed avo in Sydney. Here, they smash avocado on toasted rye, sprinkle it with chilli and coriander, a squeeze of lime and a poached egg can be added.
Nour is known for its reimagined Lebanese cuisine and Sunday brunch menu. The falafel crumpet is the highlight and a twist on a brunch classic. Expect a falafel crumpet with tahini, pickled onion, and a soft-boiled egg on top.
Every day Penny slings around 20 to 30 cheese toasties, and every day she sells out. They are the epitome of what a toasted sandwich is. While the menu changes depending on what ingredients she has that day, you can expect to see a seven cheese toastie every day. The cheese types change, but the flavour is phenomenal and a must-try in Sydney.
SOUL Deli offers a taste of Korea in Surry Hills. Every weekend, hungry customers line up to try their inventive menu, including the smashed avo with white kimchi, and omelette with Korean caviar. A must-try is their version of a bacon and egg roll which features American cheese, a dollop of house chilli oil, and the option to add a hashbrown, and stir-fried kimchi.
One of the most colourful cafes in Sydney, Social Hideout echoes their knack for hues in their food. One look at the milkshake in a bathtub is enough to convince diners that they love a fun brunch. Here, be sure to try the taro hotcakes, which is topped with black sesame ice cream, taro lychee ganache, and mango cubes.
Sometimes, brunch doesn’t have to be eggs and bacon. It can be as simple as vegemite on toast. At Three Blue Ducks, their homemade ducks-mite is better than Vegemite and one of the main reasons people flock to the restaurants. It has been known to convert Vegemite haters into lovers.
This all-day Thai restaurant adopts a traditional attitude to dinner, but during the day, you will find a play on Thai tastes and Australian or European dishes. The Pandan croissant, which is a buttery, flakey croissant pasted with a big slab of pandan custard, has cult status. They also make a pandan custard toast and Chao Guai, a grass jelly dish with ice and sugar cane.
Don’t expect to see smashed avo on toast here. This modern restaurant plays with Sri Lankan flavours offering roti toasties, sweet hoppers with whipped coconut, curry jaffles, and more. The sweet hoppers are definitely worth a try, especially if you’re looking for something out of the ordinary.
There’s plenty to celebrate this year, from new menus to restaurants throwing parties, bottomless brunches, and more.
Here, we have the latest on Sydney’s food news, from chefs taking over restaurants to limited-edition menus and feasts for all your friends to enjoy.
To celebrate World Gin Day, and for one week only, gin and food lovers can try nagashi-sōmen—translating to ‘flowing noodles’— which sees noodles sent down a bamboo chute for diners to collect with chopsticks. The one-off experience will be hosted at Kid Kyoto, where guests can enjoy their flowing noodles alongside a menu paired with delicious KI NO BI Gin cocktails. Purchase tickets here.
Tuck into a Fireball Burger
Feeling the cold? Fireball Whisky and Bar Luca have teamed up for the ultimate firey menu. Offered for a limited time only, head down to Bar Luca for $6 Fireball shots all day, a Fireball shot and cocktail on arrival, and an all-you-can-eat bites of the full “Blame Fireball” menu on Saturday, July 1. Book a spot here.
For two nights only, on Tuesday the 20th and Tuesday 27th of June, Graeme Hunt, Head Chef of Sydney’s trending late-night bar and dining venue at Zaffi, will be stepping up to the kitchen at award-winning bar PS40. Pop-up guests can expect a mosaic of colourful Lebanese-inspired bar snacks paired with exclusive midweek sips made by the mastermind behind the experimental bar, Michael Chiem.
Fan of Cinderella? The Great Hall is transforming into The Royal Palace for an enchanting high tea from July 1-2. There will be dancing and fun, and then Cinderella will run out of the venue leaving behind her glass slipper—the search for the missing beauty will begin. Tickets for the Cinderella High Tea costs $80-85 and you can purchase them here.
Grill’d has dropped two new burgers, and they’re beyond anything we could have imagined. Taking inspiration from Mexico, Grilld’s two new burgers are a Zesty Mexi and Luxe Nacho Burger. The Zesty Mexi features a black bean pattie with corn chips, tasty cheese, slaw, jalapenos, and chipotle mayo mixed with green tomatillo lime salsa. For meat lovers, the Luxe Nacho Burger is the same as the Zesty Mexi, but with a premium Wagyu pattie.
