Buku Eatery Cafe — Restaurant in Sydney

Buku – Neighbourhood gem

We found this café through social media when we saw some enticing pictures of some interesting and colourful dishes. Coincidentally, we’d also driven past the sign for this café on the same day. Without the signage and social media, we may not have found it. Tucked away in Zetland within the city of Sydney council site, this café is located under an apartment block, with a park and open area adjacent to the cafe. It’s has a pleasant outlook that could be described as ‘rustic Australia’, a mix of wood, sandstone and eucalypt trees. The café has outdoor seating, so bring your puppy for a walk and there’s also a park so your kids can be occupied too.

We love the look of the café, with some cool graffiti on an outside wall, the interior is stylish with some cool industrial photographs adorning the walls. There are few smaller tables and a long share table inside, it’s great for a small or large group. It is comfortable place to sit and dine for a while with a great music playlist of classic tunes. David, the owner has a fun personality and is extremely welcoming. He seems to buzz around the place and it’s great to see the zest he has for this café. The chefs come with a wealth of experience and that certainly shows on the plate, with not only beautiful plating, but a choice of flavour combinations that add a little bit more depth to the traditional café choices.

The menu is a mix of breakfast and lunch options, sweet and savoury, with a few rotating “specials” each week. On our first visit it was lunchtime, and we were straight for the protein bowl. Keen for a healthy meal, this certainly hit the spot. A decent sized bowl, served with lentils and charred vegetables including Brussel sprouts, carrot, roasted beetroot and topped with a drizzle of dressing and a poached egg. We selected the addition of chicken, but you can also add salmon if that’s your preference.

On a subsequent visit we went more for brunch options. The fluffy and charred corn fritters serve with double smoked salmon and salmon mousse, a poached egg and topped with black roe, fresh herbs and pico de gallo we loved the flavour combination of this dish and that the used lemon myrtle. It also presented like a work of art. We also enjoyed the sourdough with brocollini, Brussel sprouts and a poached egg, flavoured with cauliflower puree and sumac.

We also tried one of the super tasty specials, all made in house including a beetroot hummus, whipped labneh with goats cheese, burnt butter sauce and pistachio dukkuh atop Turkish toast & a poached egg. The flavours worked super well together and could certainly be a regular menu item.

Other options which may tickle your fancy this spring include a 10 hour slow cooked pulled pork burger with smoky BBQ sauce, pickles and slaw on a milk bun or for the healthy folk, grilled salmon with quinoa, green beans, poached egg, onion and olives (suitable as a Gluten free option), amongst plenty more

We cannot finish without highlighting that Buku do a good coffee using Artificer coffee. It has been a long time coming, Zetland/Victoria Park have a great cafe in the area.

As we leave, Kurt gets a twice baked chocolate and almond croissant for the road. It is soft and fluffy on the inside, filled with chocolate and some fruit, whilst being rediculously crispy on the outside, topped with crunchy almonds and drizzled with chocolate, one of the better croissants you will come across in Sydney. Buku source the dough mixture from the famous Abbots and Kinney Adelaide Bakery. Buku roll and bake fresh in the Zetland café. It is a quality pastry that we thoroughly encourage you to try for yourselves.

Hot tip – visit this place soon and thank us later.

Buku Eatery 1/130 Portman St Zetland NSW...

The word Incredible doesn’t even match up to the taste of the dishes here! 😍The BFC Benedict special is the perfect combination of everything indulgent into one! It's 2 beautifully poached eggs 🍳 on top of a crispy southern fried chicken and topped with Cajun hollandaise sauce on a flakey buttery crispy croissant! 🥐 The chicken is definitely the highlight of the dish! The batter is super light and not oily at all, yet is super crispy and flavourful. The chicken itself is tender and juicy and with the addition of the other toppings… it’s AMAZING! The hollandaise sauce is made fresh each morning ☀️ and you can tell that the ingredients put into this sauce is high quality and made with love! It’s super creamy and glossy and packed with lots of flavour! 🥰The beautifully runny poached eggs makes this dish extra creamy and indulgent! It’s honestly what makes the dish that bit extra special! The presentation of the dish is stunning! & the pink plate makes its 10x better 💓 🤩It’s layered on perfectly and the sauce and is thick and shiny! The texture to the dish is also incredible! Lots of crunch from the perfectly fried chicken and the croissant but matched with the silky smooth sauce and creamy eggs! It’s unbelievably good!! I highly recommend you guys try this dish out before it’s too late! & Ofcourse the service here is exceptional and super inviting! I loveee this place!! & I can honestly say we smashed these 3 dishes in less than 10 minutes it was...

I stopped in for breakfast on a sunny, cool winter’s morning, en route to the office. I’ve been here once before, had a great first experience, and thought it was time for round two.

Located at the southern end of Zetland, near the old Women’s Hospital, Buku sits in a quiet, sun-drenched spot next to the park—a great little pocket of calm to start the day.

Still on the hunt for a good local eggs Benny with house-made hollandaise, I asked the question—sadly, it’s another spot using the jarred version, which just isn’t for me.

Instead, I went for the:

Crabby Truffle Scramble

Chilli scrambled eggs with house-made chilli truffle oil, crispy soft-shell crab, fried onion, finger lime, and tobiko (flying fish roe), all served on a croissant.

The dish was beautifully presented, and the flavours were spot on—the right amount of heat, the crab perfectly crispy, and the roe adding a subtle, luxe touch. Balanced, creative, and absolutely delicious.

So no house hollandaise? No worries—they absolutely nailed this dish.

I also had a flat white, which made for a great second coffee of the day. Smooth, well-made, and just what I needed.

Final Thoughts

Buku might not tick the eggs Benny box for me, but I’d happily come back for more of their thoughtfully prepared,...