Three Blue Ducks

I was surprised to see the reviews on Unilocal for TBD because quite honestly, it’s a pretty amazing restaurant. We are visiting from San Francisco and have had several of our friends (none of which are affiliated with each other) tell us prior to our vacation that we have to head to Bronte just to eat here.
Luckily, we got an Airbnb just a few blocks away so we’ve been indulging by starting every day at TBD. We actually had breakfast AND lunch at the restaurant today.
We’ve been lucky to stay here mid-​week and off-​season, so there hasn’t been a wait for a table. Food is seasonal, fresh, and tasty. We haven’t had a bad dish and our 18 month old son finishes his ENTIRE kids scramble and toast, PLUS eats some of our food.
Each time we’ve visited, the staff has been nothing but friendly. We’ve had our share of run ins with snooty waitstaff (hello LA and SF!) and I can’t imagine getting any kind of poor service here. It can be especially dicey having a toddler in tow, but they’ve been nothing but accommodating and wonderful.
If TBD were in San Francisco, they’d have lines up to several hours, and I’d still say it’s probably worth the wait. I’m already dreaming of the brekkie bowl I’ll be ordering up tomorrow!

Have been here as a regular place for brunches, was semi-​regular and now intermittent… over the years, the attitude of staff has changed unfortunately.
Ok food but not worth waiting at the door for 25 minutes to have staff tell us kitchen is now closed for breakfast, will be another 15 minutes to be seated and 30 minutes for menu change, 20 mins for food to be prepared… about 90 mins to eat?
Several others in the queue walked off… Not a good look. Maybe it was an off day and understaffed. Suggest a host at the front door to keep patrons informed, especially in the last 30 minutes before menu change.

It’s in my area. Have been a few times.
I follow them on IG. I like their idea.
But there is just too much attitude which is quite obviously as I pick up on the energy.
Not a fan. Do recommend it to ppl. But can’t say I’ve ever had a thoroughly enjoyable experience here.
Lose the attitude & it will be great.
Sooooo…you can gather by the type of clientele they attract. Best bit abt this place is that Iggys is a few doors down. Go there for realness!

Great place tucked away in Bronte. Close to the beach with a fresh menu offering. Went for lunch which was delicious but keen to try the breakfast menu! I will definitely be back.

Hands down, the best service in Bronte. Shout out to the hostess Meredith! Very bubbly and vivacious and was on the ball.
Meals were a flavour explosion. Oh and the coffee… TO DIE FOR!

Amazing place. Very creative with healthy and fun ingredients. Love the pomegranate salad.

Three Blue Ducks has got an incredible reputation online making a lot of Sydney’s must visit lists yet the last few reviews I read on here had me questioning was it worth it’s hype.
The venue gets incredibly busy on the weekends apparently so I decided to go visit midweek when I was lucky enough to have a free day from work. Surprisingly it was still pretty busy considering it was 8am on a Wednesday. I did get a seat straight away though. The venue is a lot bigger then I imagined with two separate rooms inside and seating outside.
The café has a nice vibe with an alley through the middle which is covered in stylish graffiti that leads to bathrooms as well as a chicken coop if your interested to see where your eggs are coming from.
The menu is definitely a lot more expensive then most Sydney Café’s. Everything substantial on the breakfast menu costs over $ 22 which is definitely high.
I decided to order the Golden Chai to start with which is Chai Latte prepared with Turmeric and almond milk. It’s got a unique yellow flavour and the taste is pretty good and Turmeric is perfect for joint health and this is a good option for gym junkies.
Breakfast choices are good and I went for the Kedgeree. It was boiled curried hard rice served with nuts, apricots and boiled egg. The dish was beautiful and came dolloped with yogurt on the side. It was a unique spin on breakfast. It was presented rather aesthetically as well.
Three Blue Ducks isn’t somewhere you would make as a regular breakfast spot I don’t think but I did enjoy it. Perhaps if I was to go back it would be to enjoy the lunch menu. Definitely overpriced but that’s what happens when you got a reputation and clearly the people still want what’s on offer because it’s getting people in the door.

Quite disappointing — Been there for lunch, the menu is not impressive and quite pricey. I ordered the special — slow cooked pork with braised fennel… it was quite blend despite the amount of fresh herbs. Too dry overall. The fennel was not cooked enough for my liking… and 35 $ for this dish ! A rip off !
Maybe breakfast is better… but most options are above 20 $ and I am not even sure the taste would be there…
One of these places you wonder why they are that popular !

The café was not what I had expected, after hearing all the hype.
Had lunch and service was slow — waited half an hour for our food.
The lunch options were priced between $ 22 to $ 33 (with the exception of a steak sandwich for $ 19) — very expensive for a café on a main road with views of the street and bus stop.
I ordered the chickpeas, goats cheese and smashed eggs dish and it was very ordinary.

Fantastic tofu salad. Service has been bad both times I’ve gone (as in they lost my order and I was still sitting there an hour later, waiting), but they did offer me a discount when they realised, so I’m still going back. The food is that good!

Definitely one of Sydney’s best breakfast spots!
We had to wait around 20 minutes for our table (would have been shorter if it weren’t for an arrogant couple that thought they could take the first table they saw), but it was worth it. I had the French toast and ohh my was it delicious! Good quality bread with bananas, salted caramel, figs and mascarpone… sooo good and surprisingly not at all sickly. My friends had the bacon and egg roll, the avo toast and the salmon and they all looked great too.

Absolutely fine breakfast and certainly value for money if you like a big serving. But after reading it was supposed to be one of Sydney’s top ten, we trekked by cab from the cbd and then queued. In hindsight probably not worth the trouble. If you are already in Bronte, go for it. Otherwise find something closer by.

Word of advice– get here early on the weekend if you don’t want to wait a long time!
Eh, they’ve got some interesting additions to your standard breakfast menu with their flaked smoked salmon dish or carrot and ginger porridge, but it’s hard to dress up the fact that it’s still a breakfast menu.
Three Blue Ducks tries to get around this by being pretentious (modifications to the menu are «respectfully declined»), having slow service and charging ridiculous amounts– no matter what way you slice it, breakfast just isn’t a fine dining opportunity.
One piece of sourdough, two eggs and an avocado will set you back $ 19 which feels a bit like highway robbery to me, especially as there’s no skill involved in putting together a basic dish like that. Perhaps the $ 24 price tag is justified for their baked eggs or smoked salmon and dukkah dish — others in the group had these and said they were good, but not out of this world.
I was disappointed as I’d heard great things about this place, but maybe it’s more of a dinner place and that’s where they shine. I’d skip it for breakfast for sure.

Really great brunch spot… try the avocado on toast with roasted tomatoes and poaches eggs… you definitely won’t need food for a few hours!

⁴⁄₅
Take a chance and wait in line for more than a simple café meal.
A quick wait both in line and once ordered a full proper plate comes out. When I mean full plate, either you will finish it and not want to eat more, or even one plate to share. That big! Everything on the breakfast menu looks and sounds amazing. Having the Scrambled Eggs with Black Sausage was just the energy needed with matching toppings (red current standing out). Good mix of spices and sweetness is lasting flavours long after downed. But I just had to have a taste of other plates too.
Of course the finishing taste had to be finished with a double espresso to my surprise was quite hard hitting. These TBD guys certainly know what their doing. Waiting for my espresso, the chef was going crazy. With the amount of customers to be served and a single person cooking it was certainly a sight to see him work. To get all those dishes excellent is a master at work.
That was my brunch then off for a walk for Sculpture By The Sea. Hours spent in the sun. A good day.
Afternoon came with hunger again. We had to go back to Three Blue Ducks. This was totally agreed upon without argue. Lunch menu this time. The beetroot & haloumi salad was again excellent with the addition of the multitude of toppings. So big again that easily fed two people.
Your looking at extremely great value for money with a beautifully serviced café. A staff that work well under the extreme pressure of a full seated no reservation café. They know what their doing and know when questioned.
They also grow their own produce as well. The honeycomb… oh my!
Mark My Words

Believe everything they say about 3 Blue Ducks. The food is sensational, service relaxed & friendly.
There are staples like a steak sandwich but for my money try the salads & a main. Can’t fault it.

Fantastic food a gem in the suburbs of Bronte

Lunch:
Ordered the halumi and beetroot salad, and a steak sandwich.
The quality of the produce was pretty good and the beetroot purée was great, but the overall dish was too sweet given the amount of whole beetroot pieces was on the plate as well, the spinach leaves ended up drowned, with the salty halumi the only ything able to cut through.
The steak sandwich also suffered from over sweetness due to the amount of a (very delicious) onion relish again overpowering the very thin and to my mind over cooked steak.
The table next to us ordered the pork belly and the mussels and reported it delicious, so maybe we just ordered badly?

Excellent food in a comfortably bustling atmosphere. A pleasant departure from the general lack of passion I had observed in the working people in Sydney, everyone at Three Blue Ducks was very friendly and genuine, and appeared to actually enjoy doing what they were doing, which naturally translated to a warm and delightful service for the restaurant patrons.
We were a tad too early for lunch when we sat down, but the brunch was nonetheless more than enough to satisfy our savory senses. The food was semi-​rustic, but the flavors were very well balanced, everything was on point. I would definitely come back for lunch or dinner when I have the opportunity.
The nice little vegetable garden with live chicken at the back of the restaurant completed the fulfilling experience at Three Blue Ducks.

Nice cross between café and bar, split down the middle by the entryway. Lovely strong coffee, friendly maitre d was very noticeable. But then as I’ve mentioned previously, the owners are always the friendliest of people. Will be back for food, but the orange chocolate tart was delicious.