Bills, Darlinghurst

We had some friends stay with us on Friday night on their way to a wedding on Saturday in Watsons Bay. They had planned on catching public transport to the wedding, but thanks to the trackwork on the South Coast train line, and the generally difficult-to-get-to nature of Watsons Bay, it was going to take them at least 3 hours to get there, so FH Alphie and I offered to drive. We reasoned that it wasn't that far from the city, and we hadn't spent a day in Sydney for a while...

Then I had a brainwave. One of FH Alphie's close friends, who I'll call Mr Navy, lives in Rose Bay. We don't get to see him that often, so we arranged to meet him for lunch once he slept off his hangover. Since we were going to be in the inner-east area, I suggested Bills. FH Alphie and I have been to Bills once before, however it was for dinner, and at the Surry Hills restaurant (it was the night FH Alphie proposed actually!). So I was keen to try something from the iconic breakfast menu.

sweet corn fritters with roast tomato, spinach & bacon

Once Mr Navy finally decided what he wanted, (we had to ask the waiter to give us more time because the boys were talking to much to read the menu...), we were ready to order. I went with the infamous sweet corn fritters, while both the boys went with something from the lunch menu. I've had a number of reproductions of Bills fritters at various cafes across Sydney, and even attempted them myself at home, but nothing really comes close to the original. The salty bacon offsets the sweet corn so perfectly, that although it was a huge serve, I finished the lot, much to the disbelief of FH Alphie and Mr Navy.

Wagyu beef burger with beetroot, zucchini pickles, and fries, with gorgonzola dolce latte

FH Alphie chose the Wagyu beef burger and an iced coffee. Which, in his words 'was fantastic, and the gorgonzola was sooo good', and managed a 9/10, which is a high score for FH Alphie, it is not uncommon for him to rate a great meal 7/10.

Greek salad with haloumi, black olives and garlic yoghurt

A hungover Mr Navy went with the herbed fries, a Greek salad with 'squeaky cheese' (also known as haloumi) and an orange juice.

herbed fries

To put it simply, the fries were fab. Perfectly salted, and the garlicky aioli was so moreish that we had to ask a waitress to take the bowl away before we finished, as we were all over full, but couldn't resist them.

My only gripe is that it so far away! I would love to be able to walk t0 Bills on a lazy weekend morning for breakfast. Ah, well, I'll just have to be content with random trips to the city.

-Alphie