There are few things better than a lazy Sunday brunch with the girls, but with hectic schedules and jam-packed weekends, sometimes we have to schedule these things months in advance. Karen mentioned that she’d never been to Bills, and we booked in a day to finally take her. After all, it’s been said that you’re not a true Sydney-sider until you’ve been to Bills. I had my first experience only last year at his Surry Hills incarnation, and I was looking forward to trying Darlinghurst.
The wait for a table was considerable, about an hour in fact, apparently most of Sydney had the same idea we did! Karen had woken up much earlier than usual for this and I was hanging out for a coffee. When we were finally seated, we order all of Bills classic dishes, and seeing as it was after midday, we also ordered a dish from the lunch menu.
To start, I couldn’t go past Bills own Ginger Cordial. It was nice, tasting almost identical to my attempt at homemade ginger ale a few months ago, but with which I had the same problem. Perhaps it’s just my insatiable sweet tooth or the fact that I can drink my body weight in ginger beer, but it wasn’t quite sweet enough for me.
Leona tried the Rosehip and Mint Punch, which was interesting, but after a few sips started to taste a little like cough syrup. Steph and Karen had the famous Callebaut hot chocolate, but it was so rich that Steph was defeated. I was impressed with my Long Black too, it was a really well made coffee.
The food arrived shortly after. We couldn’t go past the famous Ricotta Hotcakes with honeycomb butter and banana and of course the scrambled eggs on which Bill Granger built his empire. Now I have a confession to make. I don’t like eggs. Not scrambled, poached, or hard-boiled. So I didn’t try these but the girls loved them.
The corn fritters caught my eye last time I visited so I was pleased to finally try them. They were bursting with the flavour of sweet corn kernels, like an explosion in your mouth. They were fabulous, and the tomato and bacon were the perfect accompaniments.
The other dish we tried was the Parmesan Crumbed Free Range Chicken Schnitzel with Spicy Slaw. I was hoping for a lovely crispy schnitzel, and this wasn’t quite, but it was still deliciously moist and tender. The coleslaw was the most interesting part of this dish. I detected fish sauce and along with the coriander, it reminded me of an Asian salad. Add some thick cut fries and aioli and I think this dish would have been perfect.
All in all, we had a lovely brunch interspersed with much girly gossip. Followed by some window-shopping (and actual shopping in my case), it was a lovely Sunday morning. I hope Karen thought the early wake up was worth it, if only for those ricotta pancakes.
Bills Darlinghurst – 433 Liverpool St Darlinghurst
12 Comments on “Bills, Darlinghurst”
LOL yes it was def worth waking up early on a Sunday for good breakfast and girly catch-ups! Hope I wasn't too cranky for you all 😛
Now I can say I'm a proud Sydneysider now that I've been to Bills!
Oh man.. if only I could have those sweetcorn fritters and hotcakes everyday! *sigh*
Can we go there every weekend please? I'm already suffering bill's withdrawals. lovelovelovelove
everytime these 3 signature dishes are blogged i keep being reminded of 3 dishes i have still yet to try in Sydney 🙁
I have never heard a bad thing about Bills, I really should give it a go.
I have to go to Sydney for this!
I am SO going here when I come up to Sydney. I will be trying that pancake recipe from his book too. It's only be on my to do list for about 2 years!
I am yet to make a visit to Bill's, it all looks lovely.
OOhh billss! You have to try their iced chai although ginger beer is very awesome hee hee. I need to go back for some wagyu burger action which means a sleep-in is allowed ^^!
DOn't think I could wait so long for a table!
I used to work next door to this place. So many breakfasts of ricotta pancakes… so much weight gained… Your photos remind me that it's been a while since I've been and it's time to reacquaint myself with this brunch institution
i still dream about the two years i lived in sydney and the countless times i went to bills! am thankfull to have accumulated his books, and i make those ricotta hotcakes often. amazing!