Sandbar, The Strand, Dee Why

Sandbar, The Strand, Dee Why
Saturday 3 February, 2007

This morning we were celebrating a friend's birthday and decided to do this over brunch in sunny Dee Why. The last time we ate at Sandbar was early 2006 and we all had fond memories of the staff, atmosphere and food.

Sandbar is one of the most popular cafes on The Strand and deservedly so. It has also won a raft of local and industry awards:

- Winner NSW Small Business Awards 2006 "Champion Café in NSW / ACT" and "Best Café Northern Beaches 2005"

- Gold Medal Winner 2005/2006 and 2003/2004 "Best Casual Dining on the Northern Beaches" As voted by Entertainment Publications.

Sandbar is a friendly, relaxed place. Locals come in off the beach in their cossies and thongs and wannabe locals visit for the great coffee (they use Allpress - the best coffee around) and laid back atmosphere.

We had a great table inside along the wall. We ordered coffees and were exceptionally impressed, so much so we ordered another round straight away. The aim was brunch and the breakfast menu is very appealing offering pancakes, waffles, fresh fruit, toast, eggs etc.

Not surprisingly I couldn't go past the eggs benedict with ham, 3 of my brunch buddies ordered the Sweetcorn fritters with avocado, roasted tomato and crispy bacon, 2 opted for the Sandbar Breakfast; eggs, bacon, mushrooms, chipolata sausages, roast tomatoes and toast and 1 ordered the Toasted waffles with poached pear, lime syrup, wild raspberries and vanilla bean ice cream.

The service was attentive, we didn't have to ask for anything as the staff just seemed to appear at just the right time to take more coffee orders, clear the table of plates and top up the water.

My eggs benedict was OK. The muffins tasted like they had been toasted well before the eggs were ready, so by the time they reached the table were almost hard. The eggs were good and offered a nice balance between runny and hard. My brunch buddies all devoured their meals and it looked the absolute winner was the Sweetcorn fritters.

With greacoffeefe, service and atmosphere - Sandbar gets my vote for the best cafe in Dee Why.

Sandbar - 25 The Strand, Dee Why - (02) 9984 8444

http://www.sandbardeewhy.com.au