Gowings Bar & Grill

While my Xmas mantras are ‘buy local’ and ‘buy artisan’, if you are determined to brave the CBD madness, you’d best do it well fortified. Right in the thick of things, Gowings Bar & Grill offers up an extensive breakfast menu that caters for all tastes and proclivities, including those healthy types who like taking the yolks out of their Super Food Omelette ($21). For the rest of us, there’s Eggs Rockefeller ($29) – a free-range egg encased in warm brioche with warrigal greens, hollandaise sauce (yes more yolks) topped with (not quite enough) caviar. While it is decadent, if I’m honest, it’s outperformed by Black Truffle Scrambled Eggs ($18) with grilled asparagus and relatively sparse toast. The good thing about portion control is it allows you to make it a two-course breakfast – a perfect way to stretch out those corporate breakfast meetings. Your other course could be Pastries ($14) (go on, be a devil) or a Watermelon Salad ($12). The latter is the perfect post-egg palate cleanser, with the sweet, juicy fruit moderated by pomegranate, mint, ricotta and pomegranate molasses. There’s Barista Coffee ($4.50) or you can make do with an orange juice and arm yourself with a takeaway cup of the same Allpress Coffee from Parlour Lane Roasters downstairs. I suspect you’ll need it…

Gowings Bar & Grill
Level 1, 49 Market Street, Sydney
Ph: (02) 8262 0062 qtsydney.com.au/food-drink/gowings-bar-grill/
Breakfast $$-$$$