Cafe Birkenhead, Drummoyne

Following an early morning (power) walk along the Bay Run around Iron Cove, Allie, MarK and I decided to bypass the markets in Orange Grove Public, Lilyfield, for a sit-down brunch at Cafe Birkenhead.

Located within the Birkenhead shopping centre, customers get a lovely view of the Parramatta River and Iron Cove Bridge through the tall windows along the external wall, which lets in a vast amount of natural sunlight into the spacious cafe:

Internal View of Cafe

View Towards Kitchen

When we sat down to look at our table, Allie noticed that the menu had changed (and was more expensive) from her last visit from a few months ago. From what we could deduce from the vague comments from one of the waiters, there was a recent change in management. The waiters seemed (very) eager to get our orders - we were asked several times as we were slowly reading through the menu to decide on what to get - despite the cafe not even being busy.

Anyway, I finally settled on the breakfast burger, which was enormous:

Breakfast Burger with Hash Browns ($17.95)

Breakfast Burger - Bacon, Fried Eggs, Avocado,
Cheddar Cheese, Sliced Tomato on Schiacciata Bread

After all the exercise, I was seriously hungry so I was able to demolish the entire thing. The schiacciata bread reminded me of focaccia bread (I guess they're really similar Italian breads) and was smothered with the thinnest layer of smashed avocado, before being topped with the other ingredients. I felt the burger could have been improved with some form of sauce or chutney inside as it was relatively dry with the crispy bacon.

Bacon & Eggs with Roast Tomato and Signature Sourdough Toast ($13.95)

Allie order her usual egg + sourdough combo, along with bacon and half of a roasted Roma tomato - this looked pretty average.

Mocha ($4); Sweet Potato & Corn Fritters ($17.95)

Sweet Potato & Corn Fritters with Smoked Salmon,
Smashed Avocado, Poached Eggs &
Chia Seeds on Signature Sourdough Toast

According to MarK, the fritter(s?) were a tad burnt but not crispy (probably due to high sugar/moisture content in sweet potatoes). Plating looked... interesting... with the smoked salmon split and placed on opposite sides of the dish. Fortunately the poached eggs were done perfectly with runny golden yolks. 

If you're shopping at Birkenhead Point and are looking for a quiet place to chat over coffee or food, then this is probably the place for you given the limited cafe options in the shopping centre. However, unless you know where it is within the DFO centre, it can be easily missed.