The Woods Pantry
5a/824-850 Woodville Road,
Villawood, Sydney
The Woods Pantry is an inviting, industrial-style café situated within The Woods Action Centre in Villawood. Conveniently nestled between Bunnings and AMF Bowling, the café is the perfect pit stop between running the kids around or attempting the weekend DIY projects, not that we ever need a reason to head out for breakfast, brunch, lunch or anything in between!
The hospitality and service we received from owner Hany and his team was outstanding from the moment we arrived for brunch. The team at The Woods Pantry sure know how to make you feel at home.
The menu features some breakfast and lunch favourites as well as some divine Middle Eastern inspired options. We weren’t sure if we wanted to go sweet, savoury, hot or cold and took some time narrowing down our choices! We finally decided on the Breakfast Mezza and the Baked Eggs.
The Breakfast Mezza was a smorgasbord of Middle Eastern breakfast favourites including eggs, labneh (strained yoghurt), sujuk, which is a spicy beef sausage, haloumi cheese, and cut vegetables amongst a few other items. This dish was perfect for sharing, and a great option for anyone (like us) who likes a little bit of everything.
The eggs on the board were cooked to our liking, which on the day was scrambled, in rich olive oil. The generous serving of Lebanese bread on the side was perfect for dipping, scooping and wrapping up our favourites to make mini parcels of deliciousness.
The second dish, Baked Eggs with Linseed Sourdough, was definitely one we would return for! The eggs were laid over spicy sujuk, capsicum and sweet cherry tomatoes, and baked in a cast iron dish. They were topped with crumbled feta and fresh herbs. The eggs were perfectly runny, and the slightly salty and sweet combination of the tomatoes, capsicum and cheese made this a perfect breakfast! The lightly toasted sourdough was also great for dipping in the runny eggs and scooping up all the delicious flavours.
In true Contessa style, we just had to have dessert! We exercised some self-control and decided on just one to share. Again, choosing from the window display of sweets and gelato was difficult. We settled on an Oreo Cronut with fresh strawberries. If you are yet to try a Cronut (where have you been hiding?!), it is the divine combination of a donut and croissant. This one was coated in cinnamon sugar and topped with a crushed Oreo cream. As decadent as it sounds, it wasn’t overly sweet and was a lovely little finish to our breakfast, perfectly pairing with the Campos coffee on offer.
We could have stayed for hours enjoying the light-flooded space and homely atmosphere, however, although there is ample seating, the spacious café filled quickly and we thought it was only fair to move on and allow some other people to enjoy the experience too!
By the time we were ready to leave, we felt like family at The Woods Pantry. The food and service left nothing to be desired, and the influx of customers says everything about the team that run this hidden gem!
The Two Contessa’s visited as guests of The Woods Pantry.