Bangbang Espresso Bar and Cafe, Surry Hills

No, that’s not a typo – the sign does say “bang bang” outside this hidden cafe on the slopes of Surry Hills and for the more immature people out there, stop your snickering – there is some seriously tasty food inside this interesting cafe.

The boy gives me a choice of several different cafes around Central that he’s picked out as potentials to try for breakfast and I choose the option with the least walking time. However, it is still a good 10 minute walk uphill before we reach our destination, albeit a pleasant stroll through the terrace lined neighbourhood.

At first I misread the sign as “bong bong” (little bit dyslexic sorry) but it makes a lot more sense once we step into the cafe why it is named the way that it is – the story is that the owner is a Ministry of Sound DJ and this is clearly reflected in the mural of DJ headphones on the white wall of the cafe and the shiny black and metal urban decor of the cafe.


The seating options are a bit limited, a few tables are outside and already occupied and inside apart from the smaller 2 person tables already taken, there’s a couple of big communal tables with cute metal stools (reminiscent of stools in music studios, as the boy notes). We get a big table to ourselves and are quickly asked for our orders – a cappuccino and hot chocolate to start and after scanning the menu for a bit, we decide on Scottish breakfast for him because he wants to try black pudding and a B.R.A.T for me (Bacon, Rocket, Avocado and Tomato sandwich) because it has aioli in it. Yum.


Our breakfasts arrive promptly, drinks first and the hot chocolate foam tastes like melted marshmallows though I’m sure that they didn’t actually put any in, but it was fantastic nevertheless. The cappuccino has earthy undertones probably because of the different types of coffee beans they use – tastes like fair trade coffee apparently.


Cappuccino and Hot Chocolate

The Scottish breakfast is neatly presented, with black pudding in the middle, surrounded by 2 sunny side up fried eggs, grilled tomato, roasted triangles of bread and some sort of meat patty that tasted like fancy spam. It is hardly the most conventional breakfast, and actually a bit on the dry side but the HP sauce that the waiter kindly placed on our table to accompany the meal helped a bit. The boy was feeling adventurous in trying the black pudding (for those who don’t know, black pudding is pig’s blood with oatmeal and onions) and after googling exactly what was in it – he realised it was the oatmeal that was making the texture feel a bit strange in his mouth. In my opinion, it just tasted salty and slightly grainy but it was interesting to finally try it – I will try the real thing in England when I head over at the end of the year.


Scottish breakfast
, $16.90

My funkily named B.R.A.T. sandwich is absolutely delicious – as simple as the ingredients are, it is the perfect combo of savoury flavours nestled between two slices of sourdough bread. The crunchiness of the bacon, paired with punchy rocket, fresh tomato and avocado and drizzled generously with creamy aioli is a definite winner, especially since it seems fairly healthy because of the fresh vegies but still tastes heavenly. It’s actually not really what I would consider breakfast since I usually eat sweet things for brekkie – I would gladly eat the B.R.A.T for lunch especially because of my tiny appetite, I had to takeaway half the sandwich for later anyway because the serving was quite decently sized.


B.R.A.T. sandwich, $9.50

If you’re feeling like a bit of a wander around Central and don’t mind the short uphill walk – head to Bangbang Cafe for a slightly out of the ordinary way to wake up, you won’t regret it.

Bangbang Espresso Bar and Cafe
113 Reservoir Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9281 0018

Open Weekdays 8am-4pm; Sat 8am-3pm; Sun 9am-2pm

Bangbang Espresso Bar and Cafe on Urbanspoon

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