The Eight Best Ways Sydney Restaurants Are Using Kale

As you've no doubt heard by now, there is a worldwide shortage of kale. The leafy green that until recently was just cabbage's little known and even less popular cousin is suddenly in hot demand, and we're all to blame. We love us some kale — and the innovative cafes, restaurants and bars of Sydney insist on feeding our obsession by doing interesting things with it.

If we thought we'd reached peak kale before, it's nothing compared to now that the no-nonsense vegetable has jumped from health-food trend to all-food trend. Green smoothies and superfood bowls are great, to a point. But kale entered a new, embraceable era when it landed in our daiquiris and next-day bacon and egg hangover cures. Kale, for all its sensibleness, has never been so fun, and here's the delicious, delicious evidence.

Crunchy chip and kale sandwich at Scout's Honour

Don't ask how or why, but this sandwich of chicken, carrot, kale, alfalfa, hummus and crunchy potato chips (like this style of potato chip) is actual heaven. Slightly salty, slightly bitey, slightly gooey and mostly healthy, it's the lunch you feel like almost every day of the week. Beyond this one Holy Grail of handheld food, Scout's Honour keep kicking goals with their rotating menu of sandwiches (all $10), salads of the week and soups of the day.

oKale and Ginger Daiquiri at Freda's

Kale daiquiri? Seriously? We didn't come here to spend a Freda's Friday night being all healthy. Hold up there, haters; this green-hued kaletail packs more punch than a Long Island Iced Tea (without the throbbing, next-day Headache of Regret). A subtle blend of kale, Mount Gay Silver rum, King's Ginger liqueur, real ginger, lime and apple juice, Freda’s latest winter cocktail cleanses the palate and gets you pretty tipsy pretty damn quick (pace yourself on these vert-coloured babies). It’s the ginger-kale balance that rounds this refreshing bev out, proving the leafy superfood's not just for early morning power smoothies.

Kale, bacon and egg roll at In the Annex

Kale as the main ingredient and bacon as an extra? Surely that’s the equivalent of Hoyts showing the movie 'Robin' and making people pay extra if they want it to include Batman. Not so — the kale, rather than awkwardly hanging around outside the bacon and egg friend circle, actually fits in and gets along with everyone. It gets along so well, in fact, that this greenified B&E held its own in our Bacon and Egg Roll Road Test. That's by no means where the kale journey ends at In the Annex; consider pairing your roll with a kale, banana, coconut and chia smoothie ($8) for a taste of suburban Tropicana.

Wagyu Bresaola, crumbed eggs and kale at Nook

NoOk Urban Fresh Bar in the CBD is a celebration of fresh produce. The menu is divided into all-day brekkies, hearty winter salads, burgers, soups, sandwiches and a specials list so innovative we just can't go past it. Their wagyu bresaola and crumbed eggs ($20) take brunch to an entirely new place. Thinly sliced wagyu meets the sweetness of spiced poached pears, crusty sourdough, masses of fresh and crispy fried kale, goat's curd and perfectly oozy eggs coated in a crumb. It's devilishly delicious, and if you're a real kale fiend, you can wash down with a kale and pineapple juice garnished with, yes, kale.

Paleo Brekkie at About Life

Simply walking into About Life will make you feel healthy. Obviously this organic wholefoods space positively crawling with post-yoga brunch-ers is going to have kale. We recommend the Paleo Breakfast, which features an indulgently tempura-like sweet potato and kale hash brown. On top of that are perfectly poached eggs, fresh spinach and a hearty side of bacon.

Slow roast lamb shoulder and kale at SoCal

From the team that brought us Bondi Hardware and The Botanist, SoCal in Neutral Bay is inspired by the sunny sights and flavours California, and as everyone knows, Californians love them some superfoods. Apart from the perennial favourites (sliders and tacos), the menu also features a series of share plates. The standout is one of rich, slow-roasted lamb shoulder on kale and fellow superfoods faro, freekeh and quinoa.

Green Brekkie Bowl at Porch and Parlour

Ultimate Bondi, ultimate breakfast. With a short and sweet breakfast menu, Bondi's Porch and Parlour does serious health food that doesn't make you feel like you're missing out on culinary excitement. Though the Green Brekkie Bowl really couldn't get any greener — sauteed kale and spinach is generously served with herby quinoa, two soft-boiled eggs and half an avocado — the five-star delicousness rating of this dish will well and truly put those childhood veggie phobias to rest.

Breakfast with Gwyneth at Bread and Circus

With fresh fruit and veggies on display and pot plants on every table, the 'earthy-goodness' vibe of Bread and Circus Wholefoods Canteen is hard to miss. Named after the official Queen of Kale, their Breakfast with Gwyneth would no doubt make the actor-turned-Goop-guru proud. The breakfast plate features two fried biodynamic eggs atop sauteed kale with chilli and white quinoa. Missed breakfast? For lunch, they also do a bonza salad of shredded cabbage, kale and sprouts with a yuzu pomegranate dressing.

By the Concrete Playground team.