Palace Pantry and Cafe corner Palace and Brighton Streets, Petersham

Brunch Club kicked of 2012 in this excellent small cafe in the back streets of Petersham today missing one of members who away delivering a paper in Canberra today. However, we where fortunate to have two other family members join us today, Granny Bear and Susan Jane.

Across the road from this spot is an excellent fashion outlet called The Back Room - Granny Bear and Susan Jane were missing from the table having a quick browse whilst breakfast was cooking!!

An old corner store building a great spot for brekkie. Food was delicious, home made breads - rice noodle rye bread was particularly good. Poached eggs, (slightly overdone) bacon, hash browns mushrooms - a goats chees omlette that was yummy and Uncle Andy's big breakfast looked great. Today we were celebrating Andrew's new nephew Jude David. A very cute little man who has just arrived home.

QUIZ: 13/15 so a good start to the year obviously missing Brad for top marks.

SAL: Really enjoyed this morning, service was good, food was good 4 Golden Eggs.

ANDREW: Loved it. It's wonderful to be back doing brunch club again despite the absence of one of our founders. And it's exciting to have gained a nephew who I hope will one day attend brunch with us. 4.5 Golden Eggs.

GRANNY BEAR & SUSAN JANE: We're already off to the shop over the road. We both loved it though & we both have a reputation for being hard to     please women.

Clipper Cafe Glebe Point Road, Glebe

 Our last gathering for the year with the full compliment of all members of the brunch club. To a cafe favourite of the university students Clipper in Glebe. 

Sitting at long share table we all enjoyed our brekkie this morning.

The service at this cafe is fantastic. Absolutely 5 golden eggs! Efficient, fast paced and friendly.

The menu has a wide range to suit all tastes. Brad and I chose eggy crumpets with bacon and maple syrup were an interesting choice, crumpets and egg were a bit on the  solid side - chewy. Andrew's regular big brekkie looked good.  

Brad's friends from Melbourne arrived and brunch was in the midst of text messages of meeting points. A download of the week's activites and the travel plans for Christmas coming together were the general discussion as well as auction viewings still to come.  A scanning of the news is alarming - Gas hub in WA and Polyamory!! what is next - where is the voice of everyday Australians our Federal Government is an embrassment.

Clipper has special significance as it was here in 2010 that I joined these guys quite by accident. We began our Saturday morning adventures and the Brunch Club started for me.

QUIZ 13/15 this week so finished the year on an Distinction average for the last month.

 ANDREW: Wonderful end to a difficult year. Clipper is superb. A full 5 golden eggs from me

BRAD: Oh, I love "the Clipper". Great to end the year where it began for the trio. What a year it has been. Certainly not dull and the Brunch Club has certainly fulfilled its manifesto. Can't wait to see what 2012 has in store!

SAL: It was mixed feelings this morning I will miss the two main men now for six weeks or so whilst we go our separate ways for the Christmas break.

As this year comes to an end we had a moment of pause to remember some very close friends we've lost to earthquake and cancer.

So we are all looking ahead to next year and hoping for a positive and bright 2012.

Efendy (Corner Elliott St & Darling St) Balmain

This Turkish cafe was a treat and change from the regular breakfast menu. We sat in the courtyard surrounded by Red Umbrellas and lush greenery very relaxing. The service was excellent.

Food was modern Turkish, the  poached eggs in garlic yoghurt with paprika oil were scrumptious, and the herb and nut gozleme and a version of a big brekkie served with spicy sausage were a hit. Highlight was the homemade lemonade and pomegranate juice - a tangy sweet/sour taste just delicious. 

Conversation was all about the plans for Christmas, travelling to Europe and various career options that are coming up - choices to be made.

The QUIZ this morning was not as brilliant as the last two weeks where we've had perfects scores! Today's effort 13/15 . 

Andrew: Unique and unusual. Beautiful food, design - utter class 5 golden eggs.

Sal: Having been to Turkey a number of times, it was really exciting to find a spot for brunch that has authentic Turkish cuisine. My breakfast was just delicious 5 golden eggs from me.

Brad:  Order envy -Liked the look of Sal's eggs but my gozleme was fine. Also made me want to be back in Constantinople. 4 1/2 golden eggs. Perfect prelude to a great day.

       

Elephant Boy (Bowral) 26th November 2011

The Brunch Club went on tour again this week. With the rain pouring down and the temperatures dropping where else does one go but The Southern Highlands.
And so we found ourselves at The Elephant Boy Cafe in Bowral.
Top marks for decor and setting. The British Raj resurrected (some of us felt very much at home!) by ubiquitous elephants, pith helmets, books, regalia and all while a b&w classic movie played in the background. Why don't they dress like that anymore? But wait! we speak too soon. The waitress (owner) floats by decked in high-waisted gaberdine slacks and a light decorous blouse topped with moon-like glasses. Floating but never pausing, she was impossible to catch on film but we shall remember her and the care she gave to us.

Top marks also for the coffee which came in french bowls (perhaps in a nod to 'le petit general') and caused one of our members to declare it 'the best ever!'

Inspired we went to Berrima for art and then Mittigong for tea. One of our members (no prize for guessing who) reminisced over her schoolgirl days while we sipped tea and ate chocolate cake at Sturt gallery before returning home to a slightly more sunny Sydney. The joy of the day had blown the clouds away!


RATINGS:

BRAD: This is an old haunt of mine when I came through to Kangaroo Valley so I am giving it a steady 4 golden eggs. Eggs Benedict were ok but not the best I've had.

ANDREW: 5 golden eggs for the coffee. 4 overall.

SAL: 5 for the ambience and 4 for coffee and same for food. Bit slow on bringing the extra maple syrup. 4 overall.

QUIZ RESULTS: 15!! gain. Sal was on fire and we surprised even ourselves.

Tea at Sturt Gallery, Mittgong

Maggio's Cammeray 19th Nov, 2011

Brunchers gathered at Maggio's in Cammery a cafe of significance for the originations of this group being the place where many a breakfast/brunch was had with David Patrick. 

Special guests this morning Jackie and Sal added to excellent conversations covering education and the complexities of teaching different genders. More art discussion on the latest auctions and purchases. And lots of fun with the quizz. The service at this Cammeray local was excellent, whilst a little camera shy. The patron's included the tennis ladies and local families enjoying the morning. The menu was easy and all the food was beautifully prepared excellent poached eggs and the frappe's where popular. The only draw back to the cafe is its proximity to a busy road where the trucks were making their presence felt.

QUIZ: 15/15 - with all those bright minds!!!

SAL: Enjoyed the food very good poached eggs and bright company on a day where some of the brunchers were subdued as they reflected on the anniversary of their friends death - 4 golden eggs.

ANDREW: A very sad day for me, the second anniversary of the death of my mentor, Brad's best friend & original Brunch Club founder David Patrick. Very happy to have two of his dearest friends with me Jackie and Brad. "Oh Annie, I still think of you every time I see the sun/ Didn't want a life without you but here I am living one." [Brooke Fraser -Ice on Her Lashes]

BRAD: Like old times. This cafe fits like a comfortable shoe. I have to give it 5 golden eggs just.. well, ... because.

Badde Manors (37 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe) 12th Nov, 2011

Never has a name more aptly matched its product. This cafe is well known among the basket-weaving, organically-dyed, dolphin-friendly locals of inner-city Glebe and has been here on the corner of Glebe Point Road for many years. No doubt, in its day it might have been cutting-edge; what, with its strictly vegetarian menu and comfortable-shoes clientele and all. However, those days are well and truly over and it now seems to be relying purely on the 'habit' and complacency of its customers. Unfortuately, now what you find is a decor, setting and tone that is more shabby than chic and more tacky than trendy.

Baked beans were home-made but a little bland and too many of them for the bread and minute slice of tomato (despite the menu listing it as one of the key items). Mediterranean breakfast at least lived up to its name (if you mean debt-ridden fading Greece, that is). The pancakes were ok and as described but there is still debate over the 'fresh' nature or otherwise of the juices. Don't get us wrong, we love Glebe (and especially its University proximity) but this cafe is no highlight.

Thank goodness we did well with the quiz: 14/15.

RATINGS:

SAL: 2 1/2 golden eggs. I liked the waiter but not really inspired by quite average food. Poor service. Past her prime.

ANDREW: 2 1/2 eggs. Well positioned but too complacent.It was my idea to go here not because I thought it was gonna be good but because I think it's good for us to experience a dud once in a while to tell you readers all about.

BRAD: Like the Glebe 'village' markets that are held opposite I returned thinking perhaps there might be something of more substance and interest than the last time I looked, only to find the same tat sold with the same tude. I won't be back (especially when Clipper Cafe is just down the road - see previous brunch club post). Only 2 golden eggs. (and even these is inspired only by one of the waitresses!)

Thelma and Louise, Hayes St Neutral Bay

Early 830am start for Brunch clubbers which suits two of us fine and the other one sometimes has his nose out of joint about brunching before 10am, a controversial point between us. But this time the night owl in fact suggested such an early start due to our very special guest Mummy Bear being with us this morning and her need for an early departure on a 570km route to Coonamble.

Thelma & Louise is one of our very favourite spots. In fact this is now our third brunch club there but first one this year and so first one to be blogged. Besides earning top marks for its eponymous nod to one of our favourite movies, & consequently many ensuing references to driving off the canyon from us, it is a truly beautiful spot. Magnificent sparkling water on the Neutral bay foreshore ferry dock which dominates the outdoor deck part of the cafe, so glorious that we are yet to sit inside.

Food is highly commendable also. Delicious and well presented. I remarked on how the coffee froth resembles a Jackson Pollock.

Great conversations as usual even at such an early hour. Politics, Sydney University colleges (where one of us lives), movies ('Eye of the Storm'), theatre (The exceptional production of 'Summer of the 17th doll' at Belvoir St), Shakespeare conspiracy theories (we scoof at them), fashion (see Mum's matching green number below) and of course more than a few double entendres with Mummy Bear present. Joyous.

The quiz was 13/15 and Sal and Andrew would like to publicly skite that we are now getting the 'what word can precede the following 4 word's questions much quicker than the nascent English professor/doctorate and recently crowned Hunter Baillie fellow.

SAL: 4.5 golden eggs. Perfect brunch club morning. Food, great friends and a sparkling Sydney harbour what more can you ask fo?. Special thank you to my amazing chauffer Brad for my post- surgery care.

BRAD: 4 Golden Eggs  This time we kept a hold of the menu and it didn't fall through the cracks. Thelma & Louise never fails

ANDREW: 5 Eggs unequivocably. What's with my stingy brunch clubbers and their scoring systems? I just completely love this spot and would definitely drive off the canyon with my brunch clubbers in support of this place.

MUMMY BEAR: I'm so happy to take up my position as the Number 1 Brunch club special guest. It's just wonderful to brunch and actually do the quiz with the brains trust rather than doing it on my own at home. Final quote;

"I'm off to pick up my pussy scratcher now from the pet shop before my departure."