Cafe restaurants in Australia
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A
Blond Coffee
An elegant, breezy room with huge windows facing the main street, Blond serves nutty coffee and all-day cafe fare, including awesome pumpkin, capsicum and fetta muffins. There's also a cheese-and-smallgoods counter, and a wall full of local produce (vinegar, olive oil, biscuits and confectionery). Fake-blonde botox tourists share the window seats with down-to-earth regulars.
reviewed
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B
Pablo’s Vice
A tiny triangular kitchen half-buried below street level with two tables bolted to the wall outside. Big enough for the best coffee in Darlinghurst? You betcha! Grab a seat and unkempt staff will serve you a croissant, salad, wrap, sandwich or all-day breakfast.
reviewed
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C
Campos
Trying to squeeze into crowded Campos, king of Sydney’s bean scene, can be a challenge. Bean fiends come from miles around – hat-wearing students, broadsheet literati, window-seat daydreamers and doctors on a break from the hospital – all gagging for a shot of ‘Campos Superior’ blend.
reviewed
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D
Cafe Morso
The most popular eatery along Jones Bay Wharf, Morso lures black-clad, laptop-focused business bods and yacht skippers. Sassy breakfasts morph into Mod Oz lunches.
reviewed
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E
La Buvette & Spring Espresso
This elbow-to-elbow pair of linked microcafes are always crammed with the beautiful, the famous and the guppies (gay urban professionals), all clad in designer sunglasses and yabbering into hands-free mobile phones. The salmon breakfast hits the spot every time.
reviewed
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F
Bills
A loyal brunch-hungry crowd has followed Bill Granger's legendary eggs from his Darlinghurst eatery to this offshoot, which offers courtyard seating but slightly less atmosphere.
reviewed
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Stockyard Gallery
This casual cafe is a little gem. There's a delicious range of homemade snacks (focaccia, sandwiches, cakes, muffins) plus fresh plunger coffee, divine mango smoothies and unusual bush-orange ice cream. The art gallery here sells Aboriginal art, jewellery and books.
reviewed
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G
Cafe DOV
Opening onto the leafiest part of Victoria St, L-shaped Dov will tempt you into lingering all morning over your newspaper and caffeine. If they sleep through breakfast, locals, backpackers, style mongers and film-makers squish in for lunch and dinner.
reviewed
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H
Sappho Books, Cafe & Wine Bar
Sequestered in the back of a raggedy bookshop, Sappho is a beaut bohemian garden cafe, its walls scrawled with generations of graffiti. The coffee’s excellent, the staff’s good-lookin’ and the food is a healthy selection of salads, panini and light breakfasts. Wine and tapas kick in after 6pm.
reviewed
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I
Crabbe Hole
Tucked within the Icebergs pool complex (there's no need to pay admission if you're only eating), this crab-sized nook is the kind of place locals would prefer wasn't in this book. Toasted sandwiches, muesli and banana bread star on the small but perfectly formed menu; coffees are automatic double shots unless you wimp out. The views are blissful.
reviewed
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J
Yuga
What a sweet-smelling combo: a florist and a cafe that's stylish, reasonably priced and friendly. Sophisticated and serene Yuga serves Aussie breakfasts morphing into Japanese- and Italian-flavoured lunches.
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K
Deus Cafe
Strewn with vintage motorcycles and kooky two-wheelin’ art, Deus Cafe is an extension of an eccentric motorbike shop on frenzied Parramatta Rd. Start the day with a classic: a Triumph Bonneville T100 or a ham-and-cheese croissant with a high-revving coffee. Hearty mains (burgers, steak sandwiches, pasta) kick in as the day progresses.
reviewed
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L
Barefoot Coffee Traders
Run by surfer lads serving fair-trade organic coffee from a bathroom-sized shop, Barefoot heralds a new wave of Manly cool. Food is limited but the Belgian chocolate waffles go magically well with macchiato. Opposite the wharf, there's a second cafe, which works symbiotically with its neighbour Adriano Zumbo; grab some sublime patisserie and devour it over a coffee.
reviewed
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M
Roma Bar
Roma is a real local institution and meeting place for Lefties, literati and travelling types. Well away from the craziness of Mitchell St, with free wi-fi, great coffee and juices, and you can get anything from muesli and eggs Benedict for breakfast to excellent toasted focaccia and fish curry for lunch.
reviewed
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N
Indulge
Intoxicating pastries, fancy brekkies, decent coffee and consistently good food draw in the crowds.
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O
Cyclone Cafe
Possibly the best coffee in Darwin is brewed at this unassuming Parap haunt. The decor is all rusty corrugated-iron (Cyclone Tracy's favourite projectile), the staff are upbeat, the coffee is strong and aromatic (try the double-shot 'Hypercino'), and there's some great breakfast and lunch fare: croissants, burritos, cheese melts and bacon-and-egg rolls.
reviewed
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P
Mart 130
Where the light-rail trams now run was once a fully fledged railway line with a string of Federation-style stations. Mart 130 has painted the walls and floors a smart black and white, and serves up corncakes, granola and eggs with decks overlooking the park. Weekend waits can be long. From St Kilda, you'll find Mart 130 in the Middle Park section of Canterbury Rd.
reviewed
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Q
Jam Packed
Inside the redeveloped IXL Jam Factory atrium next to the Henry Jones Art Hotel, this cafe is jam-packed at breakfast time. If you're sporting a hangover, the 'Big JP Breakfast' is the perfect reintroduction to civilisation.
reviewed
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R
Fresh
Retro-arty Fresh offers an all-vegetarian/vegan menu that's both deliciously tempting and environmentally aware. It does energising breakfasts, linger-over lunches, and coffees and cakes in between.
reviewed
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Outlook Café
In the light and airy Western Plains Cultural Centre.
reviewed
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S
Danks Street Depot
reviewed
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Machine Laundry Café
Hypnotise yourself watching the tumble dryers spin at this bright, retro-style cafe, where you can wash your dirty clothes while discreetly adding fresh juice, soup or coffee stains to your clean ones.
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U
Toby’s Estate
Coffee is undoubtedly the main event at this cool little charcoal-coloured roaster, but it’s also a great place for a quick baguette, a lamb salad or a wedge of cake. And the caffeine? Strong, perfectly brewed and usually fair trade.
reviewed
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Café Lime
Pick up heat-and-eat gourmet dinners or a takeaway cone of salt-and-pepper squid with lime-salted fries. If you feel like lingering, nab a table for beer-battered Coorong mullet (not a description of a haircut at the pub), baguettes, curries, soups and pasta. Espresso perfecto.
reviewed
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V
Ten Buck Alley
The name pays homage to the back laneway, once a notorious hang-out for transsexual prostitutes. This tiny cafe continues the alley’s bang-for-your-buck tradition, only with delicious food and even better coffee.
reviewed