Charlottes Cafe
127 Rowntree St
Birchgrove, Sydney
Just when we thought we had ticked off our top ten favourite cafes in Sydney, here comes another one to be added on the list. Situated in the lovely suburb of Balmain, Charlotte’s café goes beyond your classic neighbourhood local café.
Charlotte’s café is the perfect distance away from busy darling street which means you can still enjoy the famous Balmain atmosphere without all the noise and traffic. We arrived late on a Saturday morning for brunch and found street parking right outside the cafe (who said parking in the inner west is impossible?). The café itself is beautifully decorated with wooden interiors and some impressive fauna hanging off the ceiling in the back room, which to our surprise, had breathtaking views of Sydney’s skyline.
The menu at Charlotte’s café is quite extensive with lots of traditional brunch items but lots also quite a few dishes with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavours.
We started off with a couple of drinks and went for the Green Machine, a freshly squeezed juice with lovely flavours like mint, cucumber and celery and then balanced that out with a Moorish Iced Coffee full of milk and ice cream. Let’s just call it the Ying and Yang of drinks.
Our first item was some French toast, however this wasn’t just any ordinary French Toast. From afar it looked like a celebration of colours with of layers of kiwi fruits and berries forming a blanket over the fluffy brioche. The dish was served with soft ricotta cheese we couldn’t get enough of and of course a generous amount of maple syrup that literally transformed everything into perfection. A sensation of flavours and one we highly recommend.
Next we went for a more traditional breakfast item and again we were not disappointed. If you like a big breakfast, then the Charlotte’s Big Sister is for you. Its massive, so big, we couldn’t believe they fit everything on the plate. It’s loaded with eggs, bacon, mushroom, hash browns, chorizo and yummy sourdough bread. We chose scrambled eggs and they were the fluffiest scrambled eggs we had enjoyed in a long time. The hash browns were golden and crispy too.
We also managed to fit in a burger (how, we don’t know) but given the lovely Middle Eastern themes we were seeing on the menu, we just couldn’t leave without trying the lamb kafta burger. This was a choice we did not regret as the burger boasted a traditional home-made kafta, a generous amount of whipped feta, spinach and tzatziki. A great way to finish a lovely brunch.
Charlotte’s café impressed us with its amazing food, great service and lovely atmosphere. They are open seven days a week from early morning to late afternoon. If you need a reason to visit Balmain, then Charlotte’s café should be on the top of your list.
The Counts dined as guests of Charlottes Cafe. Special thanks to Claire and April from CPM Online Marketing for arranging this visit.