One of the most difficult meals to find when I'm travelling and not staying at a hotel is the breakfast meal... there is something a bit rough about waking up and needing to go out of the apartment to find something to eat... and most importantly, a coffee to drink! Of course, I can get by without anything for breakfast... or just a little muesli bar or something like that, but I can't go without a coffee without getting a splitting headache! My wife tells me that it is just a figment of my imagination and that it is all just in my head... and it is, a real aching splitting ache in a head!
Anyway, I was lucky enough to find a decent enough place in Bare Wholefoods in the St Leonards area of Sydney when I was staying in the area recently. It was just down the hill from where I was staying... but I only found it on the last few days... as I had been exploring in the opposite direction on previous mornings... towards the main street instead of away from it.
The Space
Nice open and breezy seating, and very few people in the hours that I was coming down! Perfect for me... and with the weather in the early summer, it was the perfect setting to begin the day with a bit to eat and a book to read!
The Menu
The menu pushed all natural and sustainable sorts of foods... as you would have expected from the name of the cafe. No complaints there... as long as the food was also good, and not just overpriced marketing fluff.
On reading the menu, I really did wish that I had discovered the place much earlier in my stay. Lots of the lunch options looked quite enticing... and despite the local hamburger place being really very good... I was starting to get a touch sick of it after a few days in a week!
The Food
Now, before returning back to Australia... I had no idea about a breakfast burger. The thought of stuffing a cooked breakfast into a hamburger bun strikes me as quite a heavy way of starting the day.... but given that the burger/coffee combo was the cheapest thing on the menu that would give me a coffee hit... I decided against my better judgement and ordered a breakfast burger!
.. and was quite pleasantly surprised! The bacon was just perfect... crisp and not at all oily. Everything about the burger was just delicious... but I'm still not tempted to make a habit of eating burgers for breakfast!
.... meanwhile, the real reason for venturing out! The coffee... was pretty damn good as well! Although, I have to say... anything vaguely coffee-like in that first few waking hours would generally pass muster!
The Experience
Most of the things on the menu looked really quite interesting... but Sydney prices. That said, if the little taste that I had was any guide... all of it would have been likely to be worthwhile!
I actually quite enjoyed sitting in the morning sun... and the layout of the place was perfect for just a slow morning breakfast reading a book. I would definitely be returning here if I had more morning to just kill time sitting with a coffee and soaking in the sun whilst looking intellectual by turning dead-tree pages!
Opening Times
Monday 7am–3:30pm
Tuesday 7am–3:30pm
Wednesday 7am–3:30pm
Thursday 7am–3:30pm
Friday 7am–3:30pm
Saturday 8am–3:30pm
Sunday 8am–3:30pm
Contact Details
Address: 3/9 Albany St, St Leonards NSW 2065
Website: https://www.barewholefoods.com.au/menu
Phone: (02) 9437 9102
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