We found this café through social media when we saw some enticing pictures of some interesting and colourful dishes. Coincidentally, we’d also driven past the sign for this café on the same day. Without the signage and social media, we may not have found it. Tucked away in Zetland within the city of Sydney council site, this café is located under an apartment block, with a park and open area adjacent to the cafe. It’s has a pleasant outlook that could be described as ‘rustic Australia’, a mix of wood, sandstone and eucalypt trees. The café has outdoor seating, so bring your puppy for a walk and there’s also a park so your kids can be occupied too.

We love the look of the café, with some cool graffiti on an outside wall, the interior is stylish with some cool industrial photographs adorning the walls. There are few smaller tables and a long share table inside, it’s great for a small or large group.

It is comfortable place to sit and dine for a while with a great music playlist of classic tunes. David, the owner& manager has a fun personality and is extremely welcoming. He seems to buzz around the place and it’s great to see the zest he has for this café. The chefs come with a wealth of experience and that certainly shows on the plate, with not only beautiful plating, but a choice of flavour combinations that add a little bit more depth to the traditional café choices.

The menu is a mix of breakfast and lunch options, sweet and savoury, with a few rotating “specials” each week. On our first visit it was lunchtime, and we were straight for the protein bowl. Keen for a healthy meal, this certainly hit the spot. A decent sized bowl, served with lentils and charred vegetables including Brussel sprouts, carrot, roasted beetroot and topped with a drizzle of dressing and a poached egg. We selected the addition of chicken, but you can also add salmon if that’s your preference.

On a subsequent visit we went more for brunch options. The fluffy and charred corn fritters serve with double smoked salmon and salmon mousse, a poached egg and topped with black roe, fresh herbs and pico de gallo we loved the flavour combination of this dish and that the used lemon myrtle. It also presented like a work of art.

We also enjoyed the sourdough with brocollini, Brussel sprouts and a poached egg, flavoured with cauliflower puree and sumac.

We also tried one of the super tasty specials, all made in house including a beetroot hummus, whipped labneh with goats cheese, burnt butter sauce and pistachio dukkuh atop Turkish toast & a poached egg. The flavours worked super well together and could certainly be a regular menu item.

Other options which may tickle your fancy this spring include a 10 hour slow cooked pulled pork burger with smoky BBQ sauce, pickles and slaw on a milk bun or for the healthy folk, grilled salmon with quinoa, green beans, poached egg, onion and olives (suitable as a Gluten free option), amongst plenty more

We cannot finish without highlighting that Buku do a good coffee using Artificer coffee.

It has been a long time coming for Zetland to have a great cafe in the area, but now they do, and we are grateful for this! The refreshing soda with mint and orange was also a good choice for a hot day.

As we leave, Kurt gets a twice baked chocolate and almond croissant for the road. It is soft and fluffy on the inside, filled with chocolate and some fruit, whilst being ridiculously crispy on the outside, topped with crunchy almonds and drizzled with chocolate, one of the better croissants you will come across in Sydney. Buku source the dough mixture from the famous Abbots and Kinney Adelaide Bakery. Buku roll and bake this  fresh in the Zetland café. It is a quality pastry that we thoroughly encourage you to try for yourselves.

Hot tip – visit this place soon and thank us later.

Buku Eatery

1/130 Portman St

Zetland NSW 2017

Australia