Wildpear Cafe

I have to give it one star. This cafe has been riding off the coat tails of a good review in the paper 2 years ago, and now the Masterchef win. Don’t let that fool you.
The menu hasn’t changed in forever. That’s not because they are unique creations, they have a beef burger, fish and chips, and a “middle eastern” mixed grill as 3 of the times.
However the worst part of this place is the shocking service. They have clearly expanded to fit more tables and make more money but haven’t added the staff. The place was near capacity. It took 55 minutes for a salad and fish and chips to arrive. When I asked I was told it was coming right up but then saw the panic in the kitchen as they scrambled to make it. The staff never service the tables to ask if you need anything, I will never go here again and will openly  encourage others not to as well.

I have been here twice. Both times I have experienced very poor and unfriendly service. They don’t have a decent wait space and the menu is very expensive . The food is decent and they have added a vegan salad which was delicious . The coffee was ‘burnt’ and not the best.
I have decided not to return . Definitely not the top of my list and not the best use of my hard earned dollars.

Summary: Expensive, poor service, fresh, quality ingredients but tasted bland and uninteresting.

Upon entering the restaurant for lunch, it was packed and staff seemed disorganised, and we waited 7 mins for a waiter to greet us and be seated.

Food was overpriced –  the quality was there, you could tell the ingredients were really fresh, clean, and healthy, but there was no magic touch that distinguished the dishes from something I could cook myself, to restaurant quality food. For me, the enjoyment of dining out lies in tasting food that I’m not able to replicate at home myself, and if a restaurant can’t deliver that, then it’s money wasted.

Interesting nursery at the back of the restaurant, but you can find much better nurseries in the area. It’s as though the owners were too preoccupied with the restaurant and have let go of their management of the nursery.

Great food, great service and priced appropriately. But you people have killed it. Too many of you have ruined what was once a delightful experience. Now I have to wait for a hour to get a table. No fault of the restaurant. Go find your own breakfast spot and leave my place alone

All in all a nice cafe, I was here on a weekday morning and it was already starting to fill up when I left at 10.30am (do people who live in Dural not work?!). I had bacon and egg on toast with baby spinach (also meant to come with cherry tomatoes but unless they were the smallest ones in creation I didn’t see any). I did ask the waitress to cook my eggs to within an inch of their life… which resulted in me sending the eggs back to be cooked more as they were still runny when I got them. Not sure what part of ‘kill my eggs till they are almost burnt’ wasn’t clear.

Accompanied by a glass of orange juice, nothing spectacular just juice. I couldn’t tell if it was freshly squeezed or not, it didn’t mention it on the menu. Being that jugs of juice were priced at $16 you’d want to hope they were oranges picked by naked virgins under a full moon. I think that’s what irked me the most about Wildpear – the cost. Granted, Dural is a fairly affluent area, but $25 for bacon and eggs and a juice is just a bit much. I’d probably pay that at Paper Planes in Parra, but their meals are the size of my head and a lot more imaginative (although I am still weeping about the loss of honey baked bacon from their menu).
I did pick up a brownie on the way out and it was pretty tasty, almost made up for my lackluster meal.

My dining companion had a fancier meal, chorizo hot pot style thing. She said it was great, it certainly smelled great, and it was more worth the money.
Overall ok, but Baron at Castle Hill would be a better pick if you’re in the Hills.