Well Co – Leichhardt – For Food's Sake – A Sydney Food Blog

Bianca: Braving the Antarctic conditions one Saturday morning, Alex and I made our way over to our old stomping grounds in Leichhardt to WellCo café. Whilst Norton St has been on a steady decline the last 10 years or so, there’s still a great deal of nostalgia attached to the suburb as our grandparents lived in the area our whole lives. So it’s always nice to come across a café that breathes life into what can sometimes be considered a ghost-town.

With a recent menu overhaul we settled in for a rather indulgent breakfast, starting with a round of coffees, a Skim Cappuccino for Alex and a Skim Flat White for myself.  We were both impressed with our two rounds of coffees but I couldn’t help but think they were a touch milky.

The revamped menu has your usual standard café offerings but we liked the slight Mediterranean slant in a few dishes. The Big Breakfast w/ Fried Eggs, short cut bacon, herbed chicken sausages, haloumi, green olives, tzatziki and pita was a behemoth that was generous in both size and flavour. The fried eggs were gloriously runny, the bacon crispy and the haloumi remained juicy. The main points of interest were the sausages, tzatziki and the pita. Virtually giving you the option to ‘dip, roll, and eat’. A great alternative to your standard big brekkie.

The Shashuka has now become a staple on many a Aussie café menu and rightly so. Hearty and comforting, it makes the perfect start to any day…especially when done right. The Spanish Breakky –w/ poached eggs, tomato, feta, coriander, chorizo and garlic toast was a fantastically executed version. A good shakshuka lives and dies on the tomato based sauce and this was a great one, laying the foundation for a tasty well-developed dish. Oozing poached yolks, despite freezing conditions and a 3 minute photo-shoot. The feta added bursts of saltiness and the garlic toast being a wonderful complimentary vessel to mop up the sauce. So much better than a standard plain piece of toast.

Our favourite was definitely the Corn Fritters –w/ poached eggs, guacamole and tomato salsa. Hands down and no exaggerations the BEST corn fritters we’ve ever had. You know Bills famous ones? Yep… better than those!! Incredibly crispy, almost ‘tempura’ like. Touches of sweetness from the corn kernels and the egg yolk and guacamole providing some creaminess. Next time I’d order this with bacon and I would be a very very happy camper.

And no meal can end without ‘dessert’ even breakfast… having told the waitress when ordering “We were ambitious”. The Ricotta Pancakes w/ maple syrup, berries and grilled banana were light and fluffy, perfect pancake consistency. I believe there was mascarpone whipped into the ricotta and it made for a somewhat gluggy consistency. I adored the tartness of the fresh berries but felt the berry jam/sauce on the plate was a little haphazard. We would have preferred more maple syrup instead. Still, I kept going back for several bites!

Finally, finishing with a selection of pastries and two juices, our pick was the Delight $7 – w/watermelon, apple and mint.

Honestly I can’t speak highly enough of WellCo and no-one was more surprised than me. Probably one of the best dining options for Leichhardt. I’ve heard great things about the buttermilk chicken burger, so I may need to make a return visit.

Bianca

Photos by Alex

*For Food’s Sake dined as guests of WellCo, all opinions however are our own and independent. A big thank you to the lovely Carmen for organising our visit.