Sydney DAY 3: Breakfast at Bills

Bills, Darlinghurst
433 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst



This must be, all up, one of my favorite Sydney experiences. Everything was just perfect. The weather was brilliant - sunny and clear but not too hot. Charlie and I didn't do many things on our own in Sydney but we had 'couple breakfast' twice. We walked from our hotel along Liverpool St and it was a long walk but I really enjoyed it. When you're eating as much as we were, it's nice to get a bit of exercise in when you can.

As we got into Darlinghurst, I just fell in love with the buildings and the streets. Streets were quiet and lined with huge, beautiful trees and the buildings seemed aged but cheerful.


When we finally got to Bills, I nearly walked right past. It looked like a private home and indeed, when we walked in, it was like walking into someone's kitchen and meal area. The space is just lovely - open, clean, welcoming. It's very easy to feel comfortable.


We sat near a window. The cafe has windows in abundance. On a day like the one we went, the sunlight just flowed in and it really lifted my mood.


The menu at Bills is simple. The focus was on basic food made well with good ingredients. Charlie chose the scrambled eggs on sourdough toast and I chose the ricotta hotcakes. We also got another serving of toast with chipolatas to share.

Skinny latte - my usual

Our waiter was very polite and knowledgeable. He figured out that we wanted the toast with chipolatas to share and offered to have that brought out last so that we could enjoy our main choices first.

Ricotta hotcakes with fresh banana and honeycomb butter

The items didn't take long to arrive. I thought my ricotta hotcakes were delicious. Usually, these kinds of items are too sweet or over-flourished with cream and syrup. This one managed to remain subtle and I easily polished off the whole lot without feeling like I OD'd on sugar.

Close-up of ricotta hotcakes

The bits of ricotta bursting within the hotcake were to die for.

Scrambled organic eggs with sourdough toast

Sourdough toast with butter

Long after we left Bills, Charlie was still carrying on about how good the scrambled eggs were. It's amazing how something you take for granted as being a basic can be done so well. They were light, buttery and just very different to any scrambled eggs I've made or tasted before. The toast was great too.

Organic sourdough toast with chipolatas

We had the chipolatas next - they were nice with the toast but a bit dry on their own. On the flip side, you can think of that as low-fat or healthy.

I don't think I have to reiterate how much I loved Bills. If I could live in the area and drop by as a regular, I think I would have died and gone to heaven. The food was simple and elegant but what really won me over was the whole package. I know Bill Granger did not personally arrange the sunshine for me that morning but that's what made everything just perfect.