A few years ago, Surry Hills’ much awarded Devon Cafe expanded to include a spin-off a few suburbs over, gifting Waterloo Devon on Danks, an enormously popular venture that allowed for some bigger turns into the flavour-rich world of Asian fusion. As an essential brunch destination, the cafe dominated Danks street right up until it was sadly closed down earlier this year, leaving space for an expansion to the increasingly crowded Barangaroo precinct. It seems Sydney’s slick new waterfront destination couldn’t do without one of the most consistent cafes in the city, as if Belles Hot Chicken, Banksii, Ume Burger, and a 5-in-1 emporium wasn’t enough.
Now Devon Cafe Barangaroo sits opposite the precinct’s streamlined David Jones, once again huddled into a corner with both Devon on Danks favourites making their way onto the menu as well as a few new menu items, most of which form a dedicated sandwich menu with jaffles and homely Japanese inspired creations. One of these sandwiches is the must-have Ebi Katsu Sando ($14), strings of cabbage and light mayo surrounding four well-sized, warm ebi fry fingers, sandwiched between two crust-less and incredibly fluffy pieces of white bread. It’s refreshingly light and rich, the panko crumbed prawns deliciously soft and juicy with a bit of extra crunch coming from the strings of fresh cabbage.
Another new edition to the classic-heavy menu is the Wagyu Steak ($29) served with perfect, lightly battered onion rings. The steak is cut into manageable bite-sized pieces but not before it’s all covered in this beautiful, earthy and full flavoured porcini butter. It’s a winning and very welcome addition to the steady list of Devon Cafe favourites.
In terms of the favourites, fans of Devon on Danks will be glad to know the DD Special ($12) has been recreated at Barangaroo. The hot and cold pairing of matcha soft serve with beautifully seasoned hot chips is likely to become one of the most popular orders across the entire precinct; it’d certainly deserve that level of success; the simple combo, that for the love of all things reasonable shouldn’t work, hits all the right spots.
Another Danks favourite, the signature Breakfast with the Sakuma’s ($25), is the essential order, particularly for those who have never tried it. The Japanese inspired breakfast/brunch dish is made up of a thick buttery miso marinated king salmon sprinkled with furikake, a creamy eel croquette, fresh salad, a gooey 63 degree egg, rich kewpie mayo. It’s in good company with another Devon highlight, one which is arguably responsible for the cafes rapid rise of fame: the Egg Blini ($22). It’s kept consistent between cafes, proudly showing off a well executed Russian influence with buckwheat blini, citrus cured king salmon, poached eggs, salmon caviar, broccolini and maltaise sauce.
Of course, Devon Barangaroo wouldn’t be a Danks homage without the Little Lost Bread ($17) (feature image), which will no doubt make a swift return to your Instagram feed in no time. The fluffy and thick brioche toast is smartly decorated with wild strawberry ice cream, soft vanilla mascarpone chantilly, ricotta, strawberry curd, and berries both fresh and freeze dried. It’s not listed as an official “dessert” because diners have been known to go straight for this as a main, ignoring the savoury options for this marvel. You can add slices of bacon to this for $3 extra, but seeing as Devon likes their bacon incredibly rich and fatty, it seems like a better idea to keep this as the light and refreshing finish it is.
Devon Cafe Barangaroo
Address: Shop 19, 22 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo (near David Jones)
Website: www.devoncafe.com.au
Hours: Mon-Fri 6:30am-4:30pm; Sat-Sun 9am-4:30pm
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