Bowan Island Bakery

Went in for breakfast this morning after completing the bay walk and was very happy with the food, service, and atmosphere.
I ordered a fresh watermelon juice with one of their breakfast offerings: poached eggs, crisp bacon, avocado, and grilled tomato on whole meal sourdough bread. It was so yummy and just the right amount of food. The juice was fresh and sweet, the perfect accompaniment. One of my group ordered a blueberry muffin and really enjoyed the taste and texture.
They didn’t have too many choices for breakfast, but the pastries in the cases were almost too scrumptious looking to pass up. Everyone we encountered was courteous and the prices were pretty reasonable for the quality.

This place has changed a lot in appearance in the last few years, but thankfully the bread hasn’t! It’s one of the best places for sourdough bread in Sydney — if you’re anywhere nearby it’s probably worth the trip to pick some up from them. I haven’t seen anywhere else in Sydney with the selection of sourdoughs this place has.
They now have a nice looking set of tables you can eat-​in at. The coffee was quite good. I had one of their chocolate croissants, and it was nice but not anything special. Their muffins looked pretty good, so I’m going to try them next time I drop by to get a loaf of sourdough.

Bread — Everyone has a favorite, and Sydney certainly has its master purveyors of crusty and hearty sourdoughs including Brasserie Bread, Sonoma Bread, and Bowan Island. Like a familiar friend, Bowan Island is nestled along busy Victoria Road accessible with front and back entrances.
Upon entering, it’s every man, woman and child for themselves when it comes to seating. There’s no waitress to allocate a table for you, so if you blink you might just miss it on a busy day. Ordering is done at the counter and above it is a charming chalked up menu. It’s busy here, bustling with locals and visitors alike drawn mostly here by its renowned bread.
Trying to be healthy for once, I opted for the Avocado and Tomato on Sourdough toast. Crescents of avocado smile at me as each slice is interspersed with tomatoes and studded with black pepper. Simple on paper and complex in the mouth as the avocado’s flesh tasted creamy like egg yolk with tomatoes’ juices bursting in to prep my taste buds for another bite.
Funnily enough, my partner opted for the Tomato and Bocconcini on Sourdough toast. This tasted like a whiff of fresh air as the bocconcini is fluffy and light while creamy. Again the tomatoes didn’t disappoint as it was refreshingly tangy and goes well with the minty basil, and a drizzle of olive oil over the crusty sourdough. Tasty!
Cleansing my palate was the Orange and Pineapple juice. As I slowly sip and consider whether I should get something else to satiate my pork belly, the answer dawned on me, the Bowan Burger. This is what a great burger is all about: a moist and tender beef patty, a waterfall of cheese melting off it, sweet and tangy caramelized onions that break up the meat like an umpire during a one-​sided boxing match, and a slice of beetroot as linesman, all flanked by a hearty focaccia bun. The tomatoes was its usual tangy self while the baby cos salad appeared to be there only for decorative purposes, but who cares when this burger tastes like I’ve won the lottery!
Not too far away, is the Copo Café & Diner and you might wonder whether this is better or not. The thing is, ‘better’ is such an ugly and uncouth term. What Bowan Island offers is simple, comforting food at its best while Copo Café delivers the memorable twists of simple beloved dishes. With its reassuring array of healthy wraps, assorted sandwiches, and not-​so-​healthy pies, this is the kind of place that reminds you of simpler times. And you really shouldn’t ask a bakery for more than their bread any more than asking a plumber to fix your wiring. A toast to fine bread!
~ Jambon Cochon

This place has relied for years on its name and its reputation. Being a local I’ve been here many times (friends of mine seem to like it) and every time I see the same unclean tables and counters, I eat the same heavy dough bread and pastries, and I drink coffee which always arrives lukewarm, late and served by curt and on one occasion, outright rude wait staff. That being said, the bread is pretty good, but certainly not my cup of tea. The atmosphere is noisy when its busy, mostly due to the hipster-​but-​with-​baby crowd who habit Bowan Island and rave about it without a clue, without having sampled the quality of other bakeries in and around say, Darlinghurst. or the legendary one in Botany…
and yeah. well. Yeah, but no… really. No. Don’t bother, unless you live in Drummoyne, think you are the bees-​knees, are annoyingly self-​centred and have already been here and ignored the dirtiness and the lackadaisical service, and fear trying somewhere new, or worse, fear that going somewhere new might marginalise you from the «it» crowd you think you belong to. Mwah. Mwah. See you later girlfriend.