Illi Hill

I visited it on a Sunday morning after hearing good things from friends. It seems to be quite well-known—probably because it’s been around for a while. And to be fair, any place that lasts that long likely has its strengths. The staff were lovely—warm, welcoming, and patient. They helped us with coffee first and gave us time before taking our food order. Everything was off to a good start. I ordered the beef brisket hash. It was okay—nothing particularly exciting, but the portion was huge. If you’re hungry, you’ll definitely be full. Coffee was decent too, medium-dark roast with a slightly bitter edge. Solid but not standout. The issue came with the shakshuka, which my friend ordered. The eggs in it were very undercooked—egg whites were still clear and runny, not even close to being set. When we mentioned this to the staff, the response was: “That’s how we serve our shakshuka here. If you want it cooked more, you need to let us know.”Honestly, that felt a bit ridiculous. It’s not our first time eating shakshuka—we know the difference between a runny yolk and raw egg whites. And if the default version comes out this raw, that should really be mentioned on the menu. The way the staff tried to justify it instead of simply acknowledging it was disappointing and kind of absurd. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of the undercooked dish, but to be honest, it didn’t look that great anyway. If you’re after a place with friendly service, big portions, and don’t mind average quality or raw eggs sneaking into your brunch, this might work for you.

Hidden gem in Sydney! Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon swept me off my feet! People it’s mad in there, go in anyway! Foodies this way, please! The staff never forgot to smile. Very highly recommended!!

Lovely community cafe with friendly staff. It's a dog friendly place so you'll love it if you like your dogs. Decent hot chocolate while the food is amazing. I recommend trying out their the Serrano if you like premium meats. Reasonable eait times and decently priced for the area. There is a toilet on site and plenty of parking surrounding the cafe.

I love this cafe, the staff are warm & friendly, the Decor is shabby & rustic. You can sit inside or out, but the real treat here is the food, it's delicious. I ordered the buttermilk & ricotta hotcakes, when it came it had three good sized hotcakes, with half a saffron poached pear, which was so yummy, the hotcakes sat on a vanilla labneh, pistachio with orange & saffron glaze. To cut any overlying sweetness there was a dark chocolate praline which provided the perfect counterbalance. It was $24 & well worth it. I also had an oat capp which was hot, Smooth & made with good coffee. Well worth a visit, the breakfast menu has some good solid choices & a good amount of extras to choose from .

Very nice place to grab breakie or lunch with a small group of friends, do understand it might be busy but more then worth the wait if it is, do recommend the sticky chai

I loved this local cafe. I really enjoyed the mushroom toastie ! The ricotta hotcake was nice too. The English breakfast tea was really good ! Very kid and dog friendly. Heaps of dogs and peaks around in the morning.

I love this cafe and will continue to go back. We ordered the chicken sandwich which I really enjoyed but found the chicken to be a tad bit dry, and iced chais which refreshing but too milky. The best part was the burnt basque cheesecake!

There is really something with their avo toast that makes it superbly good! From the moment we stepped in, we were greeted with smiles and warm welcome. Coffee is awesome too! I would definitely come back and try more of their food.

Had the burger! Was delicious! Well presented and filling, chips are proper potato cut. The restaurant is nicely decorated, bit Art Deco hipster. Staff are super friendly and good!!!

I am lucky enough to live in the mecca of great hipster cafes in Sydney... Marrickville. And now, I have to announce that we have found the best one. It is... Illi Hill. Yup. Sorry. I had one of the best cafe breakfasts ever in life, and as a newly converted pescatarian, hanging on by a thread, forever conflcted between my carnivore tastebuds but philosophical angst over factory farming... I have to say... I think I will have to eat the Illi Hill burger at some stage. I almost cried tears of joy when I saw a pair of them perched on the counter, ready to be dispatched to two very lucky lunchtime diners. Those burgers looked absolutely incredible. I am not exagerrating one bit! And then, also on the menu, ricotta buttermilk hotcakes that I will have to try at some point... soon! I've had a freshly baked ricotta and blueberry muffin from them, which needless to say, was pretty delicious. The cafe standard in Marrickville is very, very high and these guys have dfinitely met it, and even raised the game! Really great little spot, through and through. And they're so nice! Haven't even mentioned that, but yup... super friendly and thoughtful too.

When I first saw that the local grocer had been turned into a Cafe my heart sank a bit as I used to live around the corner and got lots of things I was missing from the old couple that ran it. However Cafe it is, we went in an sat down. Then we waited. And waited. And waited a bit more. And it wasn't until my partner said he'd get some menus did someone appear with menus. We ordered some coffee's and said yes to our waters. Which you only ever get a glass of with no carafe to refill and no one else refilling either. For the life of me I couldn't get anyone's attention to get more water. I left really rather parched. The seating is a bit intimidate (read squishy) but then the space isn't huge so you can't complain. There are bathrooms on site so if you need to go you can. The food was great though. I got some scrambled eggs with ricotta on the side. The ricotta was soooo good. The eggs were done wonderfully fluffy and tasty. So food wise; winning - service wise; there's a few things that could be done better in regards to customer attention. All over? Yup, would eat again. Maybe this time ask for a jug of water.

I love Saturday mornings for the reason that wonderful places like this exist ....... the coffee ... Heavenly ...... the food (anything off the menu) ..... an adventure in your mouth !!!! If you are nearby pop in .... You will have fun.

Great spot in Marrickville across from the Henson. Pretty good range of food in the menu. We came in for breakfast and ordered the baked eggs and the Jamon Serrano (truffle oil!!). Breakfasts was delicious and eggs baked perfectly. The baked eggs were a generous size and the Jamon was perfect size too. Coffee was great

My partner and I came here for brunch after a 90 minute cycle along the Cooks River and a side trip to the Marrickville Markets, only to realise that they were only held on Sundays (it was a Saturday) and we needed to find an alternative spot. The place was full so we had to wait for a table, but one of the guys took our name and told us we were second in line and also took our coffee orders, which they then delivered in take away cups so that we could sip them and wait outside on the crates - a nice gesture. They also suggested we store our helmets and gloves in one of the crates outside rather than bring them inside as they said there wasn't much room and they were right, the tables are very close together so you are elbow to elbow with your dining neighbours. I ordered the green scrambled eggs served with rye toast - the green part was because the eggs were mixed with peas, shallots and pesto, plus topped with toasted sunflower seeds and feta. My meal was tasty but a little more feta would have added that extra taste kick. I also tried my partners ham and egg roll with sundried tomato chutney and ended up with food envy as it was delicious! The guys that run this place cracked jokes with us and were friendly and accommodating. Definitely somewhere I would go back to.

What a sensational upgrade the new owners have provided to this gorgeous space. Great food, great coffee and wonderful service

Excellent coffee, delicious baked eggs, friendly service and lovely local customers. Great, relaxed decor too - will definitely be back.

Probably the best coffee I've had in Sydney. I had the baked eggs yesterday and that was also awesome. With white beans and mushroom it was enough to last me through till dinner. I'm looking forward to trying more of the menu from this new friendly cafe and I will absolutely be there daily for more amazing coffee. Highly reccomended.

Recently started up (in the last few weeks) and produces some good coffee, this is a small cafe that takes up two shop fronts, just opposite the Henson pub on Illawara Rd in Marrickville. Friendly staff and looking forward to eating here as its on my way to work. Breakfast here we come.

One of the most disappointing cafe experiences I've had for some time. Although the food and coffee was okay, we were asked to leave if we weren't planning to order anything further. This is despite ordering two rounds of coffee & breakfast for two in around 45mine. I get the economics of running a business but I assure you asking customers to move on will cost you WAY WAY more than the customers waiting for a table outside. Visit the likes of cornersmith, Reuben hills, three Williams and you would NEVER be asked to wrap things up despite wait times of up to an hour. Understanding the importance of customer service clearly doesn't come naturally for some

The coffee was quite weak had flat white. ham and egg roll which was ok hard to get that wrong I guess. Wont be back.

I've tried a few choices on the menu and also some specials too, but my ultimate favourite I would have to say is the breakfast salad. This brekkie salad is the bomb!!!

Great first stop in Australia - we came straight from the airport, because we needed some sustenance. We ordered the corned beef brisket, green omelet, baked eggs, and the hotcakes. Everything tasted great, the portion sizes were good, and the service couldn't have been friendlier. Highly recommended!

THIS CAFE IS A++ stumbled across this wonderful place on the hottest day ever in Sydney with 2 friends. The staff there couldn't have been more helpful. They sat us at the coolest table under the air conditioning and immediately brought us a giant jug of water with ice and glasses. This was great and let us cool off enough to sit and appreciate our surroundings. The cafe is in an old corner shop / fruit market. It has an industrial style that is light and very pleasant . The tables are made of wood with beautiful brass tops, they made me happy just to be sitting there. they were just pretty. There were lots of small touches in the cafe that showed that the staff really cared about the place. The toilet was a nice surprise - it was clean, neat and had flowers which is a big step up for most cafes. One of the owners came over to see if we were OK and I asked from some suggestions, he said he would go for the salads - which are his favourites on such a hot day . One friend ordered from the all day breakfast menu and chose the avocado smash - this was sourdough bread with avocado , feta, cherry tomatoes and black sesame seeds - she was delighted with her choice. My other friend ordered the Israeli cous cous salad - I can't remember all the ingredients that were in it, but she did a lot of Ooo yum delicious noises. She was especially impressed that it was not a bowl of cous cous with some salad veggies in it. It was a bowl of salad with some cous cous in it - she said it was perfect. cost 15.50 There were a lot of item on the menu that I saw and wanted to try the hotcakes from the breakfast menu look divine, but I decided on the the pea and bean salad, and I was really glad that I did. The salad was light and fresh , there was barley, sundried cherry tomatoes bursting with flavour , pea shoots, mint, parsley , small pieces of cauliflowers and delicious feta cheese and lots of fresh green . While the salad was a generous serving , all the ingredients were daintily sized and beautifully prepared. cost $15.50 The staff at the cafe really seemed to care about the food they served and were genuine when they asked whether we enjoyed our food. We all had vegetarian options and there are more good options for Vegans and vegetarians. Carnivores also have a good choice here. .I appreciate when a cafe serves me good quality ingredients and I especially love when a restaurant/cafe serves you good quality feta, you know this is somewhere you want to come back to and I will definitely be back .