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Bills

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

If you are going to go brunch, join the babes and the babies and go Bills. The first thing that strikes you as you step into Mr Granger's Darlinghurst eatery is the large communal table placed ceremoniously, and not unlike a family dining table, in the middle of the restaurant. Coffee sippers, laptop tappers and lunch munchers all share the space amicably as the waitstaff circle them eager to reach the other wall-lined tables. This celebrated restaurant is positioned upon a corner allowing the sunshine to filter in through its wide windows, making it perfect for reading the morning paper. During the week, come in, spread out and allow the coffee aromas to gently wake you up. On the weekends however, you might require a little elbow nudging to secure your place in the line up to the door. Bills is not a well kept secret.

After a recent spruce up, the restaurant has embraced a warm light-wood theme which is brightened up with splashes of colourful featurettes such as bowls of fresh quinces and a vase of tulips. The menu however has mostly remained the same; it seems the legendary Bill Granger knows when he's onto a good thing. The impossibly delicious scrambled eggs and the corn fritters will go down in history as all time favourites. Ricotta hotcakes, too, served with fresh banana and lashings of honeycomb butter, are pillows of heavenly goodness. You may feel like straying from the classics, so turn your head to the blackboard upon which the lunch menu is scrawled in white. The chicken pailliard with parmesan breadcrumbs and celeriac remoulade is perfect for a crisp day with a crisp wine or, for a lighter option, snack on a pan-fried haloumi sandwich with cucumber, mint and black olives.

Annabel Wise, May 2008