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So you all know how much I hate lining up right? While the masses flock to The Grounds of Alexandria, the smart ones (i.e. you & I) go to cafes like Bar Contessa - one of the first cafes to use Jack & The Bean (the coffee beans by Jack Hanna from The Grounds Roasters) before it became cool.
Psst, if you know nothing about The Grounds and want a bit of entrepreneurship inspiration, read this.
Back onto Bar Contessa; you'll be pleased to know that aside from great coffee, they also do a pretty decent bacon & egg burger. To me, nothing says Saturday more than an indulgent breakfast and this ultimate bacon & egg roll ($14.50) is definitely one to rival my other favourites (namely the bacon & egg rolls from Orange Grove Farmers Market in Lilyfield and O Organic Produce Cafe in Surry Hills).
The toasted brioche is rich yet light, the bacon is luxuriously smokey and the toppings of caramelised onion, provolone cheese, housemade tomato relish and mayo just seal the deal! My only concern was the amount of eggs in this thing! Free range eggs they are, but as you can see in the pic below, the egg whites were spilling over the bun, and the bun was quite big! SO much protein!
The menu is a tad confusing with Mexican influences right beside Italian classics but really, it's kinda awesome that two people can sit at the same table and have two completely different things!
Zen passes up the Contessa fry-up for the delicious housemade corn cakes with guacamole, rocket, tomato salsa and balsamic reduction, and choice of bacon, smoked salmon, sauteed field mushrooms or chorizo. Those of you that know him will already know that of course he went for the chorizo!
I do love the combination - it's a little bit naughty and a little bit nice. The corn fritters and guacamole taste of a fresh harvest and the fried chorizo satisfies those meat cravings!
Bar Contessa is just a few shops down from Kazbah, so it's strange that despite having dined at Kazbah so many times, I've never really taken much notice of this cafe. But now with their new chic look, and having been teased with their brekky menu, I can't imagine ever walking past and not going in!
Did I mention their breads and cakes are from Luxe Bakery? Hehe, yep, there's no reason to ever leave Rozelle/Balmain now.
Bar Contessa
371 Darling Street, Balmain, NSW
Phone: (02) 9555 7399
Web: www.barcontessa.com.au
I'm a bit like that too, hate waiting in lines! What a great find Jen! Perhaps this place is a fusion of mexican and italian? Either way, the food looks amazing. I want to dig right into that bacon and egg burger.!