Tropico – North Beach

Just a block from West Coast Highway, you’ll find the buzzing café Tropico – where it’s not unusual to have to wait for a table. Chef and I waited about 20 minutes on a Friday brunch, which we didn’t mind too much, since we’d expected it. The interior has a cool, coastal vibe about it. There’s a tall communal table, but we opted to sit in the corner, where it is a tad quieter. There is also an outdoor veranda with plenty of seating. At Tropico they use the Will and Co roast – a coffee from Bondi. Chef thought his flat white was pretty darn good and I loved the ceramic cups it came in.

I love a juice and ordered the “punch love”. The cold press juice is a concoction of pineapple, granny smith apple, kale, lemon and ginger. It was a little too punch-y, there was far too much ginger in it, to the point my throat felt like it was burning!

I chose the wood roasted mushrooms ($22). Two perfectly poached eggs sat upon a bowl of roasted mushrooms, which were tasty, but a tad watery for my liking. The Basil pesto gave the mushrooms some oomph and I relished mopping up the runny yolk with the fresh artisan sourdough. Chef, feeling extremely hungry, chose the full breakfast ($24). He had two eggs “any way” – he chose fried sunny side up. He also had sausage, which was a touch dry, house made beans, tomato, bacon, mushrooms – plus a generous side of bacon and another $5 for a very tasty potato hash. It was an expensive brekkie and Chef didn’t enjoy every component – but all in all he liked it. Whilst we didn’t exactly “go troppo” over Tropico, I think that was more about chance and my menu choices, since so many other people seem too love it so much. The service was friendly, they have top notch coffee and the food was mainly good. I’d definitely go back – it’s great to see quality cafes coming to the northern suburbs.