Sydney Food Review: bills, Surry Hills
We were in Sydney for an impromptu ‘just because’ trip in April. Yes, I am well aware at how behind I am but you do realise I still have our honeymoon to cover right? I mean, our first is due in December so a post from April this year is practically on time!
We didn’t really set out to Sydney to eat but rather to see because neither of us had really been to Sydney as a tourist before so we did all the touristy thing we could manage over a long weekend and unfortunately, that didn’t leave a lot of room for checking out all the great Sydney restaurants. Plus I noticed this silly Sydney trend of queuing up for food (Billy Kwong, Chat Thai, etc.) I am a Melburnian, damnit! We do not queue for food as a principle since there are so many fabulous restaurants out there where we come from.
(Sunrise drink of orange juice, banana, yoghurt and berries – $6.50)
So let’s get to bills – the famous Bill Granger’s chain of restaurants. bills (what’s with the no cap and apostrophe?) was possibly the only food place of any distinction that we visited. We rocked up there at about 10.45am (because we are never early people when we travel. Or ever.) and the place was still packed with the breakfast crowd! I mean, it was a non-public holiday Monday!
Sydney-siders are strange.
The joint was so popular that we literally snagged the last two seats at the main communal table. The two people arriving after us literally stood there for about 15 minutes before they got any attention from the waitstaff. Couldn’t blame them either, it wasn’t like there was any space left. If this were Melbourne, I would have just left and went next door and it would have been likely to be just as fabulous. But we were in Sydney. They didn’t have too many choices, I guess.
(Sweet corn fritters with roast tomato, spinach and bacon – $18.50)
Upon Jacqui’s suggestion/command, I reluctantly forwent the famous bills scrambled eggs and ordered the sweet corn fritters. It was a dish of perfect food of course. The bacon was smokey and lovely as bacon should be (I have been stoked that my local Safeway had actually begun to stock relatively decent bacon), the corn fritter held together nicely without being to greasy and the roast tomato was gorgeous. I did think the spinach would have been better cooked, but there you go. Maya recently went to Sydney and bills on my recommendation and said that the scrambled eggs were the best she ever had. I really should have just had the second breakfast or something.
(Ricotta hotcakes with fresh banana and honeycomb butter – $17.50)
Josh had ordered the ricotta hotcakes. What a little beauty. The hotcakes were fluffy and light but the perfect banana and honeycomb butter rounded it off nicely. I would have loved a little bit more syrup on it but it was still good nonetheless. Our shared smoothie drink was so packed with flavour that sharing one was sufficient.
Overall a fabulous breakfast experience. I had a sneak peak at everyone around me and everything looked so scrumptious. I would go back in a flash given a chance.
bills Surry Hills
Address: 359 Crown St. Surry Hills NSW 2010
Phone: 02 9360 4762
