Oh boy, have we found a spot Sydneysiders will flock to this summer — the café inside Andrew Boy Charlton Pool, Oh Boy, has reopened for spring with a new breakfast and lunch menu, as well as a bottomless brunch offering.
To curate the menu, Eric Tan, Executive Chef of the Bird and Bear Group — also behind Sydney waterside venues Mosman Rowers Club, Navy Bear and Flying Bear — focused on locally sourced, fresh produce and freshly baked treats.
For breakfast or brunch, choose from dishes like Chickpea Breakfast Bowl, Bear Breakfast and Egg and Bacon Roll, a Bird and Bear venue menu staple. And for lunch, choose from offerings like Crumbed Chicken Schnitzel, Angus Steak Sandwich and Spaghetti and Cuttlefish Ragu, made with cherry tomatoes, herbs and extra virgin olive oil.
It’s that last dish Tegan Burford, Bird and Bear’s Head of Marketing and Events, considers her favourite, particularly when paired with a glass of Lino Ramble ‘Yoyo’ Pinot Grigio.
Lunch options include poke bowls, sandwiches, cheeseburgers and schnitzels. A hand stretched burrata dish is served with ox-heart tomatoes, aged balsamic, olive oil and grilled sourdough.
“The new menu is less fuss allowing the flavours to really shine,” Burford says. “It’s simple and honest food done well.”
Oh Boy’s Bottomless Brunch is available Friday to Sunday, and will set you back $78 per person. It includes a three-course menu that showcase the café’s most popular dishes and two hours of mimosas, blanc de blanc or rosé.
Interiors-wise, Oh Boy Café features whites and terracotta that frame the vivid blue of the pool and ocean beyond. The design team also drew inspiration from neighbouring Royal Botanic Gardens, with the space integrating native flora elements throughout. A reconfigured floor-plan gives space for new indoor and outdoor cushioned seating.
Though, for the first time ever, you now also have the option to dine poolside. In other words, from your pool sun lounger. Poolside ordering via a QR code is available seven days a week with pickup at the kitchen, and on Saturdays and Sundays, delivered straight to your lounger.
The pool was named after Australian freestyle swimmer Andrew Murray ‘Boy’ Charlton. The site of the pool is where he broke a world record in swimming in 1924. The café’s name was inspired by the awe guests often experience stepping into the venue and catching sight of the pool, ocean and even Harbour Bridge beyond.
To make a whole morning out of a visit to Oh Boy, Burford suggests you spend a couple hours beforehand around the harbour-side area.
“Catch the train to Circular Quay and walk past the Sydney Opera House, through the Royal Botanic Gardens for a photo of the harbour from Mrs Macquarie Chair,” she says. “Follow this with a sun bake and some reading by Andrew Boy Charlton Pool to work up an appetite before heading up to Oh Boy to meet friends for a bottomless brunch.”
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