I’ve been to Petty Cash a few times now, either for coffee with the other half or breakfast on my own, each time taking the camera to snap the action. It’s one of those places that’s within walking distance from home but that little bit too far to frequent as much as I’d like. A ten minute walk is kind of pushing it when I’m hungry and want a feed immediately. Lazy I know, but living in the thick of it, that’s how I feel sometimes.
The location is a magnet for the pram brigade with Enmore Park across the road with its kiddies playground and also perfect for plane spotters as the flight path is directly overhead. You should see the other half when a plane takes off. Classic. The Petty Cash set-up is as eclectic as they come. Mismatched cutlery and crockery, tables topped with boomerang-patterned formica, chess set and fully functioning vintage Space Invaders machine. Tea drinkers can even channel their inner-nanna with a gorgeous tea cosy. The coffee is made with gusto from milky flat white to piccolo latte to macchiato. Food-wise, it’s very much about organic produce, vegetarian and vegan-friendly food and tasty meats & snags from Leichhardt’s AC Butchery.
The first thing I ate at Petty Cash, well over a year ago now, was the don’t-mess-with-me French toast, stacked with bacon, maple syrup, strawberry and pomegranate. Holy crap this is a good’un and a definite must-try if you like a bit of salty bacon with sugary syrup.
More recently it was a catch-up with our friends and thank christ they didn’t bring a tank-sized pram as some people do. As one-year-old Benny high-chaired it, chowing on scrambled eggs, baked beans and chorizo (from mum’s and my plate of course), we got stuck into our substantially-sized breakfasts as well. The breakfast menu won’t win any awards for creativity or variety but at least it does well with what it offers. The incredibly yellow organic scrambled eggs matched beautifully with lemon-squeezed grilled haloumi. The ubiquitous eggs benedict/florentine show their faces on the brekkie menu and it doesn’t disappoint. Eggs Florentine – bacon, English spinach, oozing poached eggs, toast and hollandaise. Can’t say no to that.
Personally I found the breakfast menu a little conventional and went with the most unusual dish. The Mexican breakfast. This thing was delicious, even if I thought it lacked a bit of the chilli factor it was screaming out for. Sourdough toast topped with eggs scrambled with chorizo, roasted red capsicum, coriander and (supposedly) chilli. There was also a bit of cumin in there which was more present than the promised chilli I just couldn’t taste. Petty Cash, if you mention chilli, please put it in? And enough of it? Some chopped red or green chilli would have made this dish shine.
Our final plate is the Petty Cash Brekkie – golden free range eggs (scrambled in our case), sourdough toast, tomato, haloumi and house-made beans. Filling, substantial and definitely worth returning for. Maybe I won’t let a year pass before that happens again.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Agggr, I hate the pram brigade with a vengeance, and I’m a mum of 3 so that’s saying something!
Though the menu is conventional, it looks well presented and sometimes all you need is eggs and bacon!
the place looks lovely! I admit I love conventional breaky options
For a conventional menu, all I see is deliciousness on every plate. Man! that french toast stack is to-die for! Wonderful photography and wonderful dishes that are all sourced from organic ingredients…a win-win I’d say.
rofl i am another individual that loves watching planes
French toast with bacon, strawberries and maple syrup? Can’t say no to that!
I love the mismatched tea cups! Also your mexican brekkie would be awesome to re create with the extra chilli thrown in!
I am also with Helen, that french toast looks like the bomb!
I’m glad you’ve clarified you’ve been there a few times otherwise I would have thought you were very hungry when you visited.
Love the name and love any place that serves haloumi for breakfast! And the crockery is super cute!
That mexican breakfast looks amazing! Everything will taste better if there was more chilli in it!!!
They do a great spiced up breakfast with harissa and dukkah on the poached eggs, just fantastic. If only we could get the pram brigade to move on it would be my favourite place for breakfast. OK, you have a baby, but do you really need the pram equivalent of a Hummer?
The Mexican and the mismatched tea set have me convinced!
Sometimes I look at your posts and wonder why I even bother at all. You outdo me on writing, photography and pretentiousness every time, I might as well pack up and go home!
This was my favourite bit: ‘Personally I found the breakfast menu a little conventional…’
I agree with the chilli statement. All too often, I order a dish purported to have a good serving of chilli, only to be disappointed by the lackluster tingle it generates. I am loving the flavour combination they included in the Mexican breakfast however – sounds like a great try at home breakfast!
another great post
Living in the country I may not get to have breakfast here but ‘thank you’ so much for the fantastic photos to allow us a virtual visit
!
love the look of that french toast! portions look quite generous too
would be happy to spend my petty kaching here ^^
Petty Cash is one of our locals – we sometimes head over there after swimming lessons or when my mum and dad come and visit. It’s also nice to take one of their picnic blankets and head over to the park to enjoy your food – they used to deliver it there for you but now you just give them your mobile number and they call you to come and get it.
Only criticism is that the menu doesn’t change very much. When you go a few times you sort of run out of things to try.
The Mexican scrambled looks like my favourite. I always think that chili is understated, us Australian’s can’t handle the heat. I think more places should realise our palettes are getting educated.
Posts like this one make me a bit homesick. Luck you to have this place as your local. And those tea cosies are to-die-for!
Hmmm… not much choice for an Egg Hater like me. At least they serve their sweet brekkie options with a some bacon, which is as it should be. Bacon and maple syrup make sweet music together!
So what does the other half look like when a plane takes off, my curiosity is sparked! The haloumi caught my eye, I am having a secret love affair with the stuff at the moment.
We popped in for an impromptu visit not that long ago after hearing some really good thing about the place. Maybe they were having an off day but my omelette was far too firm, bordering on the rubbery. Your eggs looked much more moist. We hadn’t planned to return… but maybe we will to see if it is better on a different day.
Nice blog and reviews, just wanna let the pram nazis know being a recent hipster parent myself now I understand and look out for pram friendly cafes. Kids under one years cant sit up yet thus the pram.