Breakfast at Bills, Surry Hills

We woke up on our second morning in Sydney with only one thing in mind – breakfast.

And it wouldn’t have been a visit to Sydney without breakfast at Bills, the Sydney institution that made breakfast the meal du jour, thanks to Bill Granger’s creamy scrambled eggs and fluffy hotcakes. For the moment, I’ll ignore the inability to use an apostrophe correctly (but my finger will itch to hit the apostrophe every time I type ‘Bills’).

Bills own organic coffee from single origin roasters, soy flat white, $4.40

We sat at a sunny table outside and got down to business. J and I both started with coffees, and TFP enjoyed a freshly squeezed orange juice.

Freshly squeezed orange juice, $6.50

At $6.50 a glass, Bill’s OJ is not the cheapest around, but it certainly was tasty (I ordered one after my coffee). Every thrifty cell in my being was screaming ‘$6.50?!’ but after tasting it, I didn’t mind so much. Bill’s OJ is sweet, definitely freshly squeezed, and with all offending pulp strained out. Worth it. 

Scrambled eggs with sourdough toast, $13.50

J had to order Bill’s famous scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs are one of the dishes which made Bill’s breakfast famous, and it’s no wonder. They’re light and creamy, with a soft curdy texture – without being too set or unpleasantly runny.

Don’t let the picture above fool you. They look almost well done, but they yield easily, having been made with lashings of cream. I’ve checked out Bill’s recipe, and he instructs cooks to avoid over-stirring, to aim for softly folded curds.

These eggs are perfect with the hearty sourdough toast served alongside.

Sweet corn fritters with roast tomato, spinach and bacon, $18.50

TFP chose another Bills classic – the sweet corn fritters, which were served with roasted tomato, fresh spinach and bacon.  

These fritters were bound in a light batter with no sogginess in sight. I must try Bill’s recipe – they really showcased the sweet flavour of the corn.

Ricotta hotcakes with fresh banana, honeycomb butter and maple syrup, $17.50

I wouldn’t say I’m usually a sweet breakfast kinda gal. Sure, I like a pancake as much as the next person, but I’m generally more inclined to be ravenous and will usually pick a full English (or similar). 

On my first ever visit to Bills, I decided it was time to dispense with my “usual” and go with my gut. And my gut was telling me it had to be hotcakes.

The description of fresh banana (so elusive since Cyclone Yasi) and drool-worthy honeycomb butter was simply too hard to resist.

The hotcakes were feather-light and fluffy, and if I were more of a guts, I would have surely ordered another round. The sweet combination of honeycomb butter, fresh banana and sticky maple syrup was perfect.

Sidenote: I’ve just spotted the recipe for the hotcakes on Chocolate Suze’s blog and am now hatching plans to make some of my own this weekend…yum

All in all, a lovely meal, which is now firmly cemented in my mind as the quintessential Sydney breakfast.

For information about other locations around Sydney and overseas, visit Bills website

Hey Juji, don’t you live in Perth? What’s with all the Sydney posts?

My sister TFP, my fiance J and I recently went on a ten day holiday to Sydney. Food was high on our agenda, and we visited lots of great places.
I’ll be posting the highlights from each day, so stay tuned!

Read about our other food adventures in Sydney

• Sydney day 1: BBQ King, Haymarket
• Sydney day 1: Via del Corso, Westfield Sydney
• Sydney day 1: Spiedo Bar and Restaurant

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