West Juliett

When you hear the name "Juliet" you automatically think of that tragic Shakespearean love story. And who could blame you? But there are no vine-swept balconies or tight-wearing suitors in this tale. Just a small, unassuming cafe sitting on a suburban street in Sydney. A tale of good food, good coffee and good company. 

The first thing that hit me upon entry was this superbly laden benchtop, heaving with brownies, cookies and cakes in warm, buttery autumn colours. I love it when baked goods are stacked loosely on wooden boards rather than lined up uniformly behind glass cabinets. It makes the cafe feel much more warm and homey.

Breakfast plate of poached egg, avocado, leg ham, tomato, provolone and toast. Love the grainy plates and the big pat of butter. Rustic, generously served and tasty too.

Olive oil fried eggs with braised lentils, morcilla, rocket and Parmesan on toast. I ordered this because it's been a while between fried eggs, and the idea of lentils for breakfast was too funny to pass up. I was pleasantly surprised by the flavour combination - crispy fried eggs, gooey yolks spilling out onto salty buttery toast, topped with grainy lentils, sharp rocket and chewy, salty morcilla. I had no idea what morcilla was until I googled it a day later (rookie error) and discovered that it was a Spanish blood sausage ... Probably a good thing that I didn't know, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have tried it! Overall, a great dish.

French toast with rhubarb, ricotta and salted caramel. Who could go past salted caramel on the menu? It was a great take on French toast - shards of crunchy toast, softened by butter and sugar, livened by sweet and sour rhubarb and a dollop of salty caramel. Yum!

While I was busy instagramming the beautiful bakery display, D pointed out that we had company - two tiny little men sitting on a bench on the pumpkin on the counter. Lean in for a closer look. 

And that's when I realised that West Juliett was a cafe after my own heart - a lover of details. I absolutely love miniatures, and seeing those two little guys enjoying a gossip on that tiny little bench really made my day. So if you're in the mood for good food and good coffee, not some tear-jerking Shakespeare tragedy, head over to West Juliett for a pink salt chocolate chip cookie. They're worth the drive.

Until next time.