Review: Ripples - Sydney Wharf

Wharf 9
56 Pirrama Road
Pyrmont
(opposite Star City)


Brunch
Saturday - Sunday 10.30am - 4pm
Lunch
Monday - Sunday Noon - 3pm
Dinner
Monday - Sunday 6pm - 9pm




There are some days that Buggles and Squeak just sit back and think...we love living in Sydney!  Today was one of them, as we sat at Ripples on Sydney Wharf.
Look at that view. The air was chilly, but the sun was warm and the water was glistening. It was a great day to be alive!  As you all know though, there is one thing that can make living better - and that is great food!


So we decide to see what Ripples on Sydney Wharf has to offer in the brunch stakes.  We booked a table, anticipating a large crowd on such a beautiful day, however when we got there we saw the reservation was unnecessary at 11am on a Saturday morning. The table we were shown to by the lovely waiter was perfect and our view was exactly as the picture shows - no zoom cameras here.

We ordered a coffee and the ubiquitous green tea and peruse the brunch selection. We were torn.
We really did want the decadent sounding warm confit garlic bread with walnut aillade and pesto butter. However we also really just wanted more 'breakfasty' items to eat... and it seemed weird to do both.  However we ordered it anyway - unable to resist. (The waiter tells us that it happens all the time!)  It is SOOO good! This picture really does not capture the 'gooeyness' of that caramelised garlic. The walnut aillade had potential, and the pesto butter was tasty, but to be honest, I enjoyed the bread by itself.  Carb central... but oh-so worth it!

Following this lapse into heart attack heaven, we settled back into our breakfast items...pretty full already.  I ordered the Baked Eggs 'en cocotte' with smoked salmon, asparagus, spinach with melted gruyere toast. The plates of all dishes look beautiful when they arrive. The colours on my dish were so vibrant that it just looked inviting and fresh.  As my fork pierced the first egg yolk, I knew things would be ok... the warm orange yolk thickly oozed out and the combination of the yolk, and greens with the richness and crunch of the gruyere toast was really delicious.... and, there was no skimping on the smoked salmon. One aspect of the dish that I particularly liked was the basil paste/sauce atop the eggs.  It maintained its vibrant colour and was packed with flavour.  The little salad on the side was also welcome - just to remind you that your heart (and taste buds) need some respite.

Squeak, uncharacteristically, ordered a sweet dish... and one that I was tempted by too - the Blueberry and Ricotta hotcakes with house smoked hickory bacon, maple syrup and honeycomb butter. We've had variations of this before and always enjoyed it. Once again the dish looks very appealing  - although Squeak does tend to like bacon super crispy and this wasn't. However, the hotcakes were freshly cooked and fluffy with plenty of juicy blueberries and all of the texture and flavour components worked well together -  a bit of sweet and salty with a bit of crunchy, sticky and soft.  Tick, tick, tick and tick - and not Heart Foundation ones either!

So, all in all this was a really enjoyable brunch on a beautiful day with service that hit the right balance of professional and friendly. We linger a little with our drinks and bathe in the sunshine to ponder that this might be a nice little lunch spot to bring the family some day soon.

And the views??? Well, they are a bonus.


Buggles