Clipper Cafe, located in the bustling restaurant precinct on Glebe Point Rd, is an absolute gem of a cafe. You could be excused for walking straight passed it, if not for the loud chatter of a cafe full of happy patrons.

Aside from the food, part of charm of Clipper Cafe is it’s white, terrace style, almost European facade that is both cute and incredibly welcoming. Once inside, the decor and ambience is very trendy, laid back and ultimately friendly. I guess one could call it an ‘arty farty’ type of cafe :)

Apart from the ambience, there are two vital ingredients that either make or break a cafe. The first is great coffee and the second, obviously, is great food. On this particular occasion we ordered the following items from the menu.

Free range poached eggs served on organic Italian ciabatta with roasted mushrooms, pesto and pecorino cheese ($12)

Now, I am a big fan of eggs (who isn’t?!). Fried, scrambled, poached, boiled, whatever. As long as it’s cooked right, I will eat it and surely love it. The poached eggs at Clipper Cafe were cooked to perfection. You can’t really tell from the photo above, but slicing into the eggs brought about an “aaahh” that only happens when warm runny egg yolk ooooozes out like it should.

The combination of perfectly poached eggs mixed with roasted mushrooms on a crunchy toasted ciabatta bread was absolutely delicious. The pecorino cheese also added another dimension to the dish and really set it apart from traditional eggs on toast.

Toasted panini with tuna, cucumber, mixed leaves and mild chili mayo ($9)

The above dish is the epitome of simplicity. At the end of the day it is just a tuna sandwich. But my God is it one delicious sandwich! So much so that I’ve gone back and eaten this several times and never once been disappointed. For me, what really makes this sandwich, starts and ends with the bread. Biting into it, it almost feels like it’s just been baked. It’s soft, warm and tasty. The tuna inside is yummy and the greens very fresh. The mild chili mayo is perfectly balanced and is another highlight for what is a beautiful tuna sandwich.

Now I did mention that coffee is another vital ingredient in a cafe’s success. Unfortunately, I have yet to try the coffee at Clipper Cafe (I know, I know!). What I did try are their fruit juices (watermelon/lemon/ginger and pear/kiwi fruit – shown in the first photo) and just like the food here, the fruit juices are fresh and delicious.

Everything I have written so far has been positive, however, before I finish this review I do want to make note of one negative. That being service. I have visited Clipper Cafe a number of times and on every occasion I have waited and waited and waited to be served. I also found the service staff to be somewhat unfriendly and in their own little world. Now I know this is an incredibly busy cafe, but I don’t see that being an excuse.

All in all though, I will continue to visit Clipper Cafe because good food is very hard to resist. So if you’re after a yummy breakfast or brunch, do give it a try!

Update: So I went to Clipper Cafe again (many times actually) so here are some more photos for you to enjoy!

As you can see, Clipper Cafe has a very laid back, trendy, Inner-City living vibe inside. It’s a cafe you can turn up to in your morning jog attire, and feel just as comfortable as you would sitting at home sipping your coffee. Oh and they also offer free Wi-Fi, which is very handy for the hoards of university students that frequent the cafe.

Bicycles on the wall! How cool is that?

Love this wall clock as well. Makes the cafe feel like it’s sitting on the Amalfi coast in Italy :)

Baked Eggs with Lamb Sausages ($12)

This is probably my favourite dish from Clipper Cafe! I absolutely love red-sauce pasta dishes, so I guess it’s a given that I like this. Dipping the toasted bread into the beautifully rich sauce and taking a bite is just oh so good! There is nothing complex or extravagant about the dish, it’s just simply delicious. You can also opt for chorizo sausages instead of lamb.

Chicken Caesar Salad 

My mate ordered this salad and he was very impressed! It definitely looked very fresh and unlike most Chicken Caesar Salads, this one seemed to be more chicken than the salad! I’ll have to give a try next time!

• Food 8/10
• Ambience 7/10
• Service 5/10
• Value 6/10

• Name: Clipper Cafe
• Website: None.
• Phone: 0411 800 063
• Location: 16 Glebe Point Rd. Glebe, 2037, NSW.
• Opening Hours: Monday - Sunday: 6am - 6pm
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