Gowings Bar & Grill - Sydney CBD (28 Sept 2013)

You know its been a great brunch when you lose track of the time to the point where the kitchen closes, the tables are re-set, the lunch shift move in and... you're still there chatting and laughing. Such was the case when an extended and cosmopolitan brunchclub made its way to Gowings Bar & Grill, located on the first floor of the much-loved iconic Gowings building on the corner of George and Market St.

For the males amongst us, memories of the Gowings that was - a place where gentlemen could get all their sartorial and toiletry needs attended to by polite and reassuring staff - were initially hard to reconcile with its re-incarnated state as a groovy ultra-Sydney venue that its interior designed to within an inch of its life. However, any reservations were soon swept away by the quality of the food, the congeniality of the company and the high quality of service - replete with even a genuine French waiter, can you believe it?!

While one of our permanent members had been granted leave, joining us this morning were guests from   as far afield as San Antonio, Texas, Walgett, the "inner

south" and even Woolhara. Animated discussion included the dedication and steely determination of our new PM (foreknown by one our members), lively debate on the the role of 'elite' sports at certain GPS schools, which prompted a reflection on the value of true eduction (the type that produces the lad who won the Alumni medal at a gala event last night). If only more successful people could quote John Donne! Such conversation would have nourished any soul but there was also the food...

Rockerfella Eggs-cooked at 63 degrees exactly, on brioche, with spinach and black caviar. Yum!
Smoked salmon tortilla puree advocados and green chillies - to die for!

SAL: 5 golden eggs! The tone, ambience, flavour and bon vivant was hard to beat. Too frigging cool by half but I loved it!

BRAD: 5 (63 degree) golden eggs. A new Gowings and a worthy successor. Service was spot on and I loved it.

GUESTS: Too busy to rank. Altogether... yummy!

The Annex, Forest Lodge

Hipster heaven!

Located amid the green-voting inner city vegan purists, this cafe is a shrine to all things ethically pure, ecologically sound, and puritanically environmental. Despite this, its a great place. Terrific coffee, good service, and tasty food at a reasonable price combine to make this one of the inner city finds of the year.

Limited space but we were granted the big top table in the back, but even this would not be space enough as later events would show...

Food: summed up in one word - "flodgeweed". Which apparently denotes assorted vegetable garnish source in local terrace gardens in the local suburb. No food miles here, thank you very much.

SAL: 3.5 Golden Eggs - loved the cafe - staff were very attentive, food was delicious.

BRAD: