Wild Sage

I really wanted to like this restaurant. My wife had eaten there and knowing the sweet tooth I am was keen for me to enjoy the desserts she said were exquisite.
Our usual coffee haunts were seething with braying, misbehaving children (that’s a review for another time and another platform) so we decided to give Wild Sage a burl.
It has an appearance of a pleasant beach shack café, open on two sides with a cavernous interior overhung with netting. The furniture is light and bright and there’s plenty of natural light. Wild Sage also has the inside-​outside feeling I really like. All up, an inviting and promising start.
We quickly found a table on the cusp of the inside/​outside terminator — the dining room was busy but not to overflowing — and soon a waitress silently popped a pair of menus on to the table.
The menu is what could be called ‘Café Aussie fusion’ — there’s French toast, and salmon with scrambled eggs but also a Spanish-​inspired tapas and Asian items. Competent but not inspiring. Perfect for the sort of clientele that hang around these parts who seek inviting food but nothing too challenging. Stuff to remind them of their last two-​week jaunt overseas but won’t bring them undone.
The waitress reappeared and coolly stood there, without speaking, waiting for our order. No «hello, I haven’t seen you here before» or a more generic «How is your weekend» or even mention of the specials.
I ordered the aforementioned French Toast for $ 12.00 and my wife grabbed the salmon and eggs for $ 15. Water was served and through tight lips she said thanks and hurried away. The best I could say about that interaction is it was efficient; not warm or welcoming but, hey, we’d given our order in a short time and that’s better than many restaurants so I’m calling that a win.
As soon as she had gone, my wife noticed there was lipstick on my water glass.
A reasonably short time later our drinks came — a different waiter — and the «freshly squeezed» $ 6.50 Mason jar of OJ turned out to be from a carton. My wife was not impressed. My coffee was OK a bit milkier and insipid than I like but standard for these parts. No complaints there.
A few minutes later and another waitress dropped our food on the table. We were impressed by the quantity — portion control is obviously not an issue here.
But quickly my wife found what we hope was an eyelash and fur or fluff in her salmon. And my French toast was burnt — the carbon side face down (did they think I couldn’t taste it?) It should have been binned and not served. Hiding it on the underside an admission of guilt.
We carved out the offending bits and pressed on.
When we had finished, no one was around to take our bill and making eye contact was an exercise in futility so we paid at the counter. Breakfast for two at $ 40.
As I said at the outset, I really wanted to like this restaurant. And none of the missteps from the brusque and muddled service to the extra keratin and carbon in our food were in themselves hanging offences. Any one of them could be forgiven but taken as a whole I can only see it as a restaurant that has become careless and complacent. Wild Sage has a built-​in clientele of yoga mums, small businesspeople and those who live roundabouts and in the flats above to support it and so management no longer tries.
I wouldn’t say I’d never go back — perhaps it was just a bad day — but I’m certainly in no hurry. There are more, better and cheaper options nearby.
Although I do like the indoor/​outdoor thing.
UPDATE: About six hours after eating I experienced stomach cramps. These increased in pain and frequency culminating in a very smelly, uncomfortable and depleting half hour or so in the bathroom. I’m now quite exhausted, shaky and a bit unsteady. I definitely won’t be going back.

A couple of our friends suggested we try this place for brunch. It was a short walk from where we were staying and seemed like an okay option.
For me the service here was over the top. At least three waiters were at our table on average in 2 – 4 minute intervals, wanting to clear up our table or, ask if we were ok or, if we needed any drinks and on and on. Even though the place was not full (there were at least 8 – 10 empty tables), I felt pressured to leave the minute we stopped eating.
The food arrives very quickly and tasted ok. My scrambled eggs were quite greasy and you could taste the fat with every spoonful. The chorizo was quite nice and the banana smoothie was also quite nice.
An ok experience I might repeat just to try something different from the menu.

Every time I’ve been here it’s always busy but that’s ok as long as the staff are on top of there game and this can be inconsistent. Today was ok not great. The food today was good and tasty. I ordered the scrambled eggs with chorizo which very tasty. The other orders in my family was a omelette with ham & brie plus a big breakfast which were all good. Coffee is normally good and today was no exception.

This is the best place to have coffee around the north Sydney /​cammeray area. Great coffee. Great staff. Free parking underneath.

We came to wild sage on a Sunday morning in search of a good breakfast. The waiters were friendly and the coffees came quickly but it went downhill from there. We ordered the corn fritters which were cold when they arrived on our table. They were dry and boring and left much to be desired.
After requesting water when we ordered the food it never came. After requesting it a second time it arrived but the glasses were dirty. We also noticed a couple outside frustrated with the lack of service.
Essentially we didn’t feel that it was good value for our money!

I came here for coffee on a Saturday afternoon and it was top notch coffee, with the right balance of caffeine hit and smooth creamy milk. Looks like a nice place to grab some lunch but I didn’t try any on this occasion.

We drive past the Cammeray shops all the time and one night decided to venture in and check out one of the restaurants. We picked Wild Sage and were very glad we did so; a instant hit.
We had the following items;
Salt & Pepper Squid.
Picture salt and pepper squid for an entrée. Now picture it being fresh, hot, tasty and exactly what you wanted… that is what we experienced. The only problem was that we finished it too quickly.
Sizzling garlic and chili prawn. ($ 27)
A must order. Do it. You’ll be warned by the waitstaff that the dish and oil is incredibly hot (which it is) and to be very careful. You’ve been warned, it’s really hot… but that makes it amazing. I will give you an Italian-​inspired protip; take the break they give you, tear it into a bite-​sized chunk, get your fork and dunk that sucker in the garlic/​chili oil… thank me later.
Daily risotto; rabbit, sun dried tomato, mushroom. (22)
This was a special that evening, and I must say that I’m always a fan of rabbit cooked well. I don’t really know where to begin with this dish (which is ironic considering that is exactly how I felt when it was placed in front of me). The portion is big, the amount of fillings is big, the volume of rabbit meat is big. I couldn’t finish it, even though it was delicious. The waiter joked when he cleared my plate, and I had to ask them if they actually managed to put two rabbit’s worth of meat in there? This particular version might not be on the menu; but they can cook rabbit — so if it’s there, seriously consider getting it.
Crab fettuccine (25)
All I can remember about this was that it was delicious and my fiancé really enjoyed it. She routinely asks for additional chili in pasta dishes, and I think this time they really kicked it up a notch for her and she appreciated it.
We really enjoyed Wild Sage and brought my family here for dinner not long after this visit. The owner/​manager/​waiter is very personable and friendly. I’ve heard they do live music some nights — but haven’t experienced that. The venue can be a little noisy with happy patrons and families with kids… but in the end it is a great spot. I’ll have to come back during the day for a breakfast from other peoples reviews.

Coeliac ALERT!!! YOU can eat here and YOU will love it!
This was a nice Sunday breakfast Surprise. The place was pumping but the staff were very attentive to your needs and not over bearing with their service and happy staff to boot.
The breakfast menu was one of the biggest I’d seen in a long time and had every combination you could think of for breakfast.
The coffee was velvet smooth and when a place gets soy milk right you know that your in good hands.
I had constant food envy as the Artisian chefs sent food out from the kitchen. It was a delight to see and got you excited to see how your plate would fair against the see of delectable’s.
I had the french toast with orange marmalade, ricotta and maple syrup… it melted in your mouth and the flavours danced on your tongue that was well balanced between sweet and bitter, textured and smooth.
The scrambled eggs with chorizo was huge!!! and the GF toast looked like nothing I’d ever seen which makes me believe it was made on site.
The food was so well presented you just want to keep going back for more!!!

Unfortunately, this was one of the most negative dining experiences I’ve had in recent years, and it has compelled me to write my first Unilocal review.
We arrived on New Year’s Eve excited for the evening ahead. The place was full and bustling. The first sign something wasn’t right was when they announced they were out of champagne flutes so we’d have to drink our BYO champagne from wine glasses. No worries, we’re not precious people, so all good. Then, for those of us not drinking, they took around half an hour to offer us a drink. The poor waitress was clearly flustered after what had been a long day, and the announcement that two staff had called in sick that day certainly didn’t come as a surprise. Our friend who had organised the dinner was told to ‘cut her some slack’ and to ‘not be such a bitch about it’ when she asked when our food order was going to be taken. That was interesting to say the least, and not something I’ve ever witnessed in a restaurant before. Calling the patron a bitch? Really?
Eventually, after around 40 minutes the waitress took our food order. The boys ordered some beers. Oh, they’ve run out. Boys go to the bottle shop. Bottle shop is closed (now obviously this is not the restaurant’s fault, but it certainly added to the comical feel to the evening and reminded us that we were well and truly on Sydney’s North Shore. And I grew up there, so I can say that). We ordered some starters which were not very good. The calamari and the mushrooms were stone cold, but I could tell if they had been fresh, they might have been pretty tasty. At this point the empty plates littering the tables around us were cleared after over an hour. They were definitely feeling the pinch of being under-​staffed.
The most bizarre part of the night was when the «famous» opera-​singing waiter got up and sang. Like, really loud. Cue entire restaurant staring awkwardly at the floor. Had our meals been on the table, this might have been kind of enjoyable. But we were still waiting for mains, and we were hungry. My favourite part was when he reached what we thought was the end of his song and everyone clapped, and then he indignantly cried «I’m not finished!» and kept singing. Awkward.
Our mains arrived 2 hours after the time of our booking. I had the sizzling garlic and chili prawns and they weren’t great. I didn’t finish them. It IS worth noting that some of our friends really enjoyed their mains. I think the lamb went down a treat, as did the soft-​shell crab.
And just to top it all off, after I finished eating I asked where the ladies’ was, and was told I’d better hurry because the bathroom closes at 11pm. Really?
All in all, based on past reviews it looks like this is a good place for breakfast and not such a good place for dinner on a busy night. I think a set menu for NYE would have made much more sense, in fact that’s what I was expecting when I sat down in such a large group. Staff calling in sick is a real shame, but sadly, this is not really the customer’s problem. Having lived in New York City for the past two years, I thought maybe the restaurant was new and was just experiencing some teething issues. A quick Google search indicated otherwise — the restaurant has been open for quite some time.
Next time, we’ll probably just go watch the fireworks.

Ooh. Com-​pe-​tition!
Wild Sage looks directly onto it’s neighbour/​rival Cicco (which — I’ll be honest — is my regular haunt). Two cracking cafes sat directly opposite one another.
Both with great coffee and vittles!
Both with helpful wait staff!
Both with close proximity to the quadrangle proper!
Like two great rivals (Jordan VS Bird! Holden VS Ford! Maggie Simpson VS that baby with the unibrow!) the establishments stare into the each others’ eyes, puff their chests out and snort hot steam from flaring nostrils. It’s latte against latte. Frittatas at ten paces yo!
As much as I want to play favourites (like I do with my two children, Golden Timmy and ol’ Stinks McGoo) in this case they’re very hard to split.
Wild Sage is difficult to fault. It offers a convivial atmosphere, strong coffee and an inventive menu well prepared and delivered. The only thing its missing, really, is a sunny aspect. .. which is worth 2 stars, unfortunately. That may seem costly, but can you really put a price on Vitamin D? (Yes, apparently, because I just did: 2 Stars.)
Still, it’s one of Cammeray’s better options, especially on a weekend when the place is buzzing with hungry North Shorers. .. . North Shorians. .. North. .. ah, forget it.

We were hungry and in the area so decided on a whim to drop in to wild sage. Prices on the menu are on the high side so we expected good things. My wife had a marinara pasta thing while I had a meatball pasta. My meatballs were cold in the middle and very very bland, her pasta tasted of old dishwater. The food here is terrible, the prices through the roof and the service slow. We probably should have kicked up a fuss but we just wearnt in the mood. We paid the bill and swore never to return.

I will judge a breakfast joint by the quality of their coffee and the state of their Eggs Benedict. Call me a cantankerous old codger if you will but I have standards.
It was a busy Saturday morning, 10am thereabouts, and the place was moderately busy. Situated in the middle of open shopping mall courtyard, nothing else breakfasty was open during the Christmas Summer Hibernation. We selected Wild Sage as they had Eggs Bene on the menu and they had some adventurous options including chorizo so that won us over instantly.
The place was littered with families where kids were buzzing around playing with their new Christmas toys (seriously, Stockland — no ball games?! Come on, it’s a shopping precinct for goodness sake: P) and parents with that tired look on their faces i recognised so well.
We waited for someone to seat us but after a few minutes of waiting we seated ourselves and promptly ordered what we wanted, Eggs Benedict with bacon ($ 14.50) and for me the Roast Corn, Zucchini and Shallot Fritters with semi dried tomatoes, rocket and lemon ricotta ($ 13.00) and an extra poached egg ($ 2). Our coffees came our first (cup $ 3.20 mug $ 4.70) which were a little weak for my liking.
When the food came out I tucked into my Fritters with glee but was not a fan of the lemon ricotta it came with as it had turned my fritters soggy when they were nice and slightly crispy in the beginning. They should really have pared it with a relish like the folks at Lumiere (my review
). The Eggs Bene sadly for my boyf came out with Hollandaise sauce that looked like it came out of a packet, runny and looking curdled. I think the culprit was too much vinegar as it was really sour! Normally I would ask to take it back but we were really in a rush and way too tired to kick up a fuss.
I’m sure it was a one-​off, the reviews here while not overwhelmingly positive suggest this is a half-​decent place normally. But given most nicer cafes in the area would have been open if it weren’t for the Christmas break, I will most likely be giving this place a miss next time.

Wild Sage had me at «late breakfast.»
I have no doubt I’ll come back for one of their tapas style lunches, or BYO and book a dinner with friends. But on this particular earlyish afternoon, it was eggs I craved.
You know when your day just hasn’t gone to plan. You’re a bit too wired on coffee, but for some inexplicable reason you haven’t managed to eat yet. And just maybe there’s a mild hangover involved.
Yes, that.
So catching up for (another) coffee with friends, I muttered something unintelligible about needing eggs and quickly ordered the
Brekky wrap, minus the hollandaise (scrambled egg, crispy bacon, spinach, tomato relish, hollandaise $ 13.50).
Sinking my teeth into that bundle of deliciousness, I was transformed into a functioning human being again.
Note to future frazzled selves: «Late Breakfast» is served until 5pm.

Wild Sage is a decent restaurant in an ok location. Set amongst a Stockland square on a busy Miller Street in Cammeray it’s the kind of place you might go for an impromptu week night dinner or quick business lunch.
The breakfast menu is extensive as is the lunch and dinner menu. They also have a fine selection of wines. If you go for breakfast the omlettes are delicious. I had a caramelised leek, mushroom and Gippsland brie ($ 14.50) but asked for the buffalo ricotto instead of the brie. It was joy — the leeks were braised and the omlette was supper fluffy. The bacon was crisp and perfectly cooked.
I grabbed a take away mocha the other day too. The barista was really lovely but when I asked for her to slow down on the choc chips for the mocha as she was pouring them in she made the mistake of telling me they were ‘full of other stuff’. I want to know ingredients for anything I consume are as unprocessed and fresh as can be. Bummer.

I’m always wary of cafés located within shopping developments, much like the relatively new Stocklands complex in Cammeray. Plonked in the middle of all that hustle and bustle, it feels like they’re there to service people in a hurry — kind of like a food court shopfront jazzed up with nicer seating and waiters.
Wild Sage was the complete opposite. I went for lunch with my family on my grandfather’s 92^nd birthday. We called ahead to advise there’d be a bit of zimmerframe action heading their way; they accommodated our group of six with an easy-​to-​access indoor table and helped pack away the bulky wheelers.
The menu was impressive in its scope and quality — between us we ordered beer battered fish and chips, substantial salads and sandwiches with fancy fillings like prawn with wasabi mayo — and service was attentive and friendly. At the end of the meal, the head chef even stepped out of the kitchen to see how we had enjoyed everything and to wish my granddad a happy birthday. Granted, it was a quiet Monday afternoon for them with not many other customers to attend to, but they made what is often a difficult outing with the oldies very easy, enjoyable and memorable.