It was a Friday when I decided that it was a good idea to jump out of a plane. Yes, jump out of a plane at 6am the next day! Fourty seconds of free fall at 14000 ft, it really wasn't that crazy and the view of Wollongong was absolutely spectacular as the sun rose above the ocean.

Having travelled to North Wollongong for the sky dive it was also a great excuse to try a new cafe. It was still quite early and many cafes weren't open so we stuck to somewhere along the beach and found Connie's.


Connie's Cliff Road Cafe has a great view of North Wollongong beach and is busy with the local early risers. The cafe doesn't have the clean modern fit out like it's surrounding competitors but the service, food and prices are worth it.

Skim cappuccino $3.50

The breakfast menu is all day and includes both hearty and light meals, gusto coffee and a selection of milkshakes, fresh juices and frappes. Still high off the adrenaline rush we couldn't choose and just picked the stacks.

Brekkie Stack $16

The Brekkie stack had fresh tomato, crispy bacon, poached eggs and a dollop of hollandaise on top of cheese and turkish bread. It also came with a side of avocado and a little bowl of fruit.

Summer Stack $16.50

The Summer stack was very similar with smoked salmon and sauteed spinach instead of bacon and fruit. Everything was fresh and when turkish bread comes toasted with cheese you know you're onto a winner (straight to the hips!).


It's always nice to pick a cafe based on the local crowd that is unpretentious and serves good food. So if you intend to go sky diving with Skydive the Beach and beyond, stop by this cafe and support a small local business.

In a nutshell Breakfast Coffee ●● Food ●● Service ●●● Price $ Atmosphere

♥ Everyday until 3pm $3.50 (regular), Gusto  Australian Friendly Toast $4 Homely, casual, no fuss.

Connies Cliff Road - 1/16 Cliff Rd, North Wollongong
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Connies-Cliff-Road-Cafe/100164623380616


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Weekends away seem to be a distant past for me so when the girls suggested a weekend away on the farm, I was in! Eventually not so in as I could only stay for the brunch and tulip adventure to get back to Sydney :(

Bowral tulip time

Saturday mornings are always jam packed with things to do, usually it's the boring house chores. This Saturday was no different but a sleep in put my first meal of the day totally out of whack. By the time I was ready it was 12pm. Does that mean I'm having lunch? The conundrum.


I still wanted coffee and eggs so ventured out to Surry Hills, the mecca of all day breakfast cafes. Spotting the queue, Devon cafe didn't need any signs. After a 5 minute wait, we were seated at the back where graffiti is scattered all over the walls and the industrial fridge cooler.

Triple choc muffin $5.00

The menu was polished with gold printed letterhead and footer and listed the most unique items. Nine creatively designed combinations narrows the choices down but does not make selecting any easier. I wanted to try everything, if only they had a tasting platter.

Eggs blini $19.50 - buckwheat blini, house cured salmon, maitaise sauce

The eggs blini probably the most instagram'd Sydney breakfast item I've seen, I finally got to snap one for myself. Not only so photogenic, it tasted pretty good. The fluffy buckwheat blini just soaked up the flavours with each bite.

Roast free range pork with Asian slaw on brioche bun

How can you ever go wrong with a roast pork bun? This version was deliciously different with bits of green apple and coated with crispy fried onions. The chips and nahm jim sauce (tasted like mayo) were a great finish to the meal.

Roast pork roll $19.50

Not being able to squeeze anymore food in, I had food envy as I watched the "little lost bread", an amazing stack of french toast, fruit and ice cream and the "ogre happy meal", fried egg, hash potatoes and seared ox tongue roll out. Not only do they know how to cook, they sure know how to plate up!

Devon's affagotto $6.50

Finishing off my brunch I got the Devon's affogato. What a treat. Amazing strong velvety coffee with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce - it was the real deal.

Only one way for this cafe - Gastronomy awesomeness

Lunch? Brunch? It doesn't really matter here if you're keen to try something a little different and perhaps inching towards unconventional. Soon opening on Danks St, I wonder what other inspirational meals will be created.

In a nutshell ♥♥
Breakfast until 3pm
Coffee: ♪♪♪ Five senses
Food:☻☻☻ Clever creative, beautifully presented
Service:☺☺☺
Price: $$($)
Atmosphere: Relaxed with a little bit of hip coolness. Suits all (except pets).

Devon Cafe - 76 Devonshire St, Surry Hills
http://www.devoncafe.com.au/



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On every breakfast menu, there is always the usual suspect - the big breakfast.  Usually it's designed to make that hangover a bit more bearable, feed that grumbling belly or meet the brief to cover both breakfast and lunch.

For me, it is forever a childhood memory where my parents would spoil us at McDonald's for breakfast. Without fail, it was five big breakfasts and one hotcakes to share before the boys ran off to play in the playground.

Old skool slippery dip and the family fast food breakfast spread

So what happened to the McDonald's big breakfast?
No longer on the menu, I suppose no one has really missed it as it hasn't made a return. 

Source: Mc'Donalds website

I remember it was so exciting, every time working out how I was going to eat my big breakfast. I would butter the english muffins with the fluffy white butter that would just dissolve, then it was either the scrambled eggs or sausage patty. Sometimes I would stack on the hash brown too but the challenge was always to eat the muffin without spilling anything.

It may have been that defining moment that has now made me brunch crazy!

What's your favourite childhood breakfast memory?

I rode my brand new bike for the first time around Parramatta river and after an hour of riding it was time to reward myself with a decent big brunch. In amongst a few other new trendy cafes near Rhodes train station, I picked Lid & Jar mainly because it oozed a cool hippy industrial warehouse appeal and there was somewhere for my bike.

Cold pressed juice $8.60, Cappucino $3.80

Keeping it simple, there are 12 options on the all-day menu which is a hybrid of breakfast and lunch aka brunch :) There's bircher muesli, brioche french toast, bacon & egg roll and an interesting version of chorizo salad and quinoa porridge.

Big breakfast $16.50 with avocado $4.00

The big breakfast makes an appearance as a generous serving of bacon, chorizo, roast tomato, mushroom and spinach on sourdough with a choice of fried or scrambled eggs.

Herb corn fritters $13.50

Another usual suspect on the menu is the corn fritters. Herbed corn fritters with smoked salmon, avocado, rocket, ricotta and tomato salsa. Not quite like Bill Granger's classic but more like floury pancakes with corn folded through.

Smoked salmon and smashed avocado on rye $13.50

For the lighter option, there's "smashed" avocado on rye with smoked salmon, baby beetroot and crumbed fetta and rocket. I was actually more interested in the croissant with smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and swiss chesse but sadly they had ran out of croissants.

Sugar glazed cronut $5.00

Last on the menu but probably the best, the croissant donut! This devilish indulgence was amazing and worth every single calorie count and grams of sugar and fat - yummo.

Big breakfast $16.50 (traded the chorizo for avocado)

Looking at the drinks list, I think it may have been longer than the food menu. The latest craze, cold pressed juice is made daily with local fresh produce. Pricey at $8.60 a glass, my favourite is the green juice with green apple, pear, spinach and coconut water.

Large mugs extra 50c

Coffee is nice served in decent mug sizes (didn't realise there was a difference) and bonus points the barista is the Latte Art runner up in this year's NSW coffee championships. Perhaps you could ask for a little something special with your coffee?


New to the all day breakfast scene, this franchise Lid & Jar in Rhodes has the right elements with the fancy water jug, cold pressed juices, good coffee and yummy Brewtown Newtown cronuts. It's a shame they don't have a proper kitchen to make poached eggs - a staple of all brunches and yolky-licious oozing right?

In a nutshell ♥
All day breakfast until 3pm
Coffee:●●● Coffee brothers brew (locally sourced from Mona Vale)
Food: ●● Modern Australian, no poached eggs
Service: ●● Friendly, efficient, order at the counter service
Price: $$
Atmosphere: Relaxed, cool and casual. Family, kids, pets (and bikes)

Lid & Jar - Lot 3, 7 Rider Boulevard, Rhodes
http://lidnjar.com/



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Searching for a brunch place thats somewhere central, takes large groups, kid friendly, has parking, licensed and has chocolate milkshakes is quite the mission. Luckily this place fit the bill with a bonus waterfront view of Darling Harbour... give or take on the quality and service.


The breakfast menu is simple with the classic big breakfast, eggs benedict and even a bacon and egg roll. I couldn't go past the eggs benedict three ways with smoked salmon.

Eggs benedict with smoked salmon $16.00

As I tasted the hollandaise I thought perhaps this could be the best eggs benny I've had all year... of course that means everything has to be perfect. Unlucky this time though, the turkish bread was a little tough.

Big breakfast $17.50

Big breakfast consisted of little chipolatas, one mushroom, a hash brown, half a tomato and bacon and eggs. If you are up for a bigger meal, there's the breakfast buffet for $25 per person. Hello food coma.

Bacon and egg roll with hash browns $11.50

The good old bacon and egg roll came out on turkish bread with two hash browns but missing the star of the plate - bacon! Epic oops Cyren. The pic here shows it with the bacon.

Eggs Mediterranean $14.50

Both Eggs Mediterranean were devoured with nothing left on the plates. The poached eggs oozed nicely and the scrambled eggs were fluffy adorning the roquette (fancy pants rocket), fetta and avocado which resembled packet looking green mush - perhaps they ran out of real avocado?

Eggs Mediterranean $14.50

If all that wasn't enough, the lunch menu starts at 11.30am with seafood, angus beef, burgers, pizzas and desserts of all sorts. We nibbled on the assorted cheese while others ordered the seafood plate options.

Cold seafood plate $23.00

The drinks menu has plenty of variety to suit all, whether its non-alcoholic, alcoholic, hot or cold, cocktails including huge cocktail punch bowls to share for 4. We really enjoyed the Sangria and Pimms versions.

Cyren Sangria Punch bowl $38

Mission accomplished, this is the location for a lazy long brunch with space and a spectacular view - that's if you're not too picky on service and quality (all you snobs of Surry Hills and the like :)). Cyren is known more for it's lunch and dinner service so it doesn't do too bad for trying out the breakfast service - they kept us happy!

In a nutshell
Breakfast from 8am until 12pm, licensed
Coffee: ♪♪
Food: ☻☻ Modern Australian breakfast
Service: ☺☺ Improved when lunch service started, we had a wonderful lunch waiter
Price: $$
Atmosphere: Relaxed, open, clean, spacious. Ideal for large groups.

Cyren Bar - Grill - Seafood, Shop 197 Waterfront Harbourside, Darling Harbour
http://www.cyrenrestaurant.com.au/CyrensRestaurantAndBar.htm

I recently had the best, yes the BEST eggs benedict while in London at the Breakfast Club and captured the deliciously egg oozing hollandaise goodness on instagram, facebook and urbanspoon.

It seemed like the food that I ate really defined the places I visited and my hips don't lie about it either. So what was for breakfast while I was away on holidays?

The British and Irish love their traditional full breakfast aka fry up or full monty with each country adding it's own little touch, black pudding or hashbrowns (English), white pudding or soda bread (Irish) or haggis (Scottish).

The Europeans weren't so fussed about the big hearty meals instead keeping it simple, light and easy - think fresh pastries and breads.

Here's a snippet of where I disappeared to and ate :)

FRANCE

Croque monsieur

Paris

Croissant

BELGIUM

Brussels

Frites and mayo

Moules, frites and beer

NETHERLANDS

Traditional Dutch snacks

Crossaint and eggs

Amsterdam

ENGLAND

Stonehenge

English full breakfast

Eggs royale

Recommend: Breakfast Club, London


IRELAND

Irish full breakfast

Irish coffee

Ulster fry

Recommend: Gourmet Food Parlour, Dun Laoghaire

SCOTLAND

Scottish full breakfast

Eilean Dolan Castle

Haggis, neets and tatties

Recommend: Loudons Cafe & Bakery, Edinburgh