date of visit: Saturday 13 October 2012

Barely 24 hours in Sydney saw us attend a wedding before heading to the UK, as well as find an hour or two to cram in brunch with an old friend.

We needed to eat somewhere close to our hotel and while I’d done a little research in advance we ended up stopping at an unknown quantity while on our way to somwhere else. We were wandering down Druitt Street when I spotted Bona Fides and suggested we stop there (yep, I was hungry). A small outdoor seating area down a lane by the side of the cafe meant we could park up the pram without causing too much havoc (and take the opportunity to enjoy a last little bit of sun).

This is no greasy spoon when it comes to breakfasts. I enjoyed a HUGE plate of gluten free muesli, served with yoghurt, honey and strawberries and Andy chose scrambled eggs with chorizo – rather scarily called the Brazilian Breakfast! We ordered raisin toast for the Toddler but of course he preferred the chorizo. Our friend ordered the eggs benedict.

The food was all beautifully presented – even the fruit toast was artfully arranged and finished with a dusting of icing sugar. And it did taste good. I really enjoyed the muesli – not something I’d typically order but on this occasion it absolutely hit the spot, and Bona Fides scores big points with me for serving it with plain yoghurt.

Service did the job: friendly and efficient although it did tail off a bit once we had received all our food.

My gripe is the cost. Now, I have no benchmark for breakfast/brunch in Sydney so it’s possible that this is standard but … $64 for 3 people for brunch, no booze involved?! The fruit toast alone was $5.90, while my muesli was $11.90. The two cooked breakfasts were $16 and $18. Coffees were all around the $4 mark.

A lovely breakfast but too pricey. If these are usual Sydney CBD prices I daresay the locals are more likely to head to the suburbs …