Café restaurants in Sydney
-
A
Blue Water Café
The huge portions are a major drawcard at this bustling beach café adorned with surfboards. Choose between pasta, burgers, wraps, pide and grills, mostly under around A$20 but up to around A$29 for a juicy sirloin.
reviewed
-
B
Bourke Street Bakery
It hasn’t been around forever, but the Bourke St Bakery has quickly become an essential Surry Hills experience, offering up a mean selection of pastries, cakes, croissants, tarts, quiches and organic breads, all baked with that rare combo of deliciousness, dedication and delight. If you’re hungover, the coffee here will right your rudder.
reviewed
-
C
Single Origin Roasters
These impassioned, bouncing-off-the-walls caffeine fiends love to chat about the fair-trade or environmental credentials of their beans. The food’s simple but tasty: muffins, banana bread, baked beans, poached eggs and bircher muesli. Unshaven graphic artists roll cigarettes at the little outdoor tables in the bricky Chicago-esque hollows of deepest Surry Hills.
reviewed
-
D
Park Café
With McEvoy St’s fumy factory fray just a block away, this surprising little mod cafe is a great spot to take time out from shopping with a glass of wine on the sunny terrace. The food’s fresh and fabulous with Mediterranean pep (try the seafood and potato risotto and the custard tarts), and the coffee’s excellent.
reviewed
-
E
Barzura
Frequented by retired Australian cricketers in dark sunglasses, Barzura has views that have to be the best of any cafe in Sydney (if not the world!). The sunbaked stretch north along Coogee Beach to Bondi is a stunner, as are deliciously uncomplicated salads, pides, pasta dishes and generous breakfasts, all served with a smile.
reviewed
-
F
Bar Coluzzi
Legendary Coluzzi has been here since 1957 and still attracts an odd-ball mix of old Italian gents, judges, Kings Cross dealers, Darlinghurst gays, students and suits. The food is fine (bagels, focaccias and pastries) but what you’re here for is the spoon-standing-up-straight-in-the-cup coffee.
reviewed
-
G
Jellyfish
There are much better places for coffee, but this similarly surfboard-strewn café is a good choice for a light lunch or heftier dinner. Keep an eye on the surf as you munch on salt and pepper squid or a tasty smoked salmon and avocado wrap (around A$11).
reviewed
-
H
Book Kitchen
Sunny pavement tables, attentive service, walls of foody books, a braised Wagyu beef-and-mustard sandwich and a Book Kitchen bloody mary - sometimes life just comes together perfectly doesn't it?
reviewed
-
I
Dare
‘Delicious and Responsible Eating’ is the cut and thrust here, and (dare we say) it lives up to the acronym. Expect a slew of healthy, organic and morally well-informed options (salads, pancakes, muffins, slices, muesli, smoothies) with no preservatives or additives, all offered in biodegradable containers. Rainforest Alliance coffee and plenty of gluten-free choices too. Impressive!
reviewed
-
J
Formaggi Ocello
Like lactose? Then Formaggi Ocello is for you – display even the slightest hint of dairy devotion and you’ll have the staff thrumming to your service. Cheeses are mostly Italian, Spanish and French (airfreighted in), with some top Aussie selections, too. Check out the humongous cheese wheels in the ageing room! Also serving focaccias, sandwiches, panini, wine and coffee.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
K
The Gumnut Teagarden
Housed in the leafy backyard of a wonderfully preserved Rocks cottage (1829), the Gumnut serves good, old-fashioned nosh such as sandwiches, pies and ploughmen's platters. The antique theme carries through to tables fashioned from Singer sewing machine bases. Expect quality coffee and cakes Granny would be proud of. Chill out to live jazz on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons.
reviewed
-
L
Pablo’s Vice
Dig it: a tiny triangular kitchen half-buried below street level with a couple of tables bolted to the wall outside. Big enough for the best coffee in Darlinghurst? You betcha! If you can grab a seat, unkempt staff can also make you a croissant, a salad, a wrap, a sandwich or all-day breakfast, singing Curtis Mayfield’s Movin’ On Up all the while.
reviewed
-
M
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. The closest competition is in northern Italy.
reviewed
-
N
Gallery Café
The barista here has the coolest full-sleeve tattoo going ’round. We can’t guarantee he’ll be there when you visit, but the other dudes behind the counter are just as good at cranking out the black stuff. Order a New York–style turkey-and-cranberry toasted sandwich (heavy on the meat) and check out the ever-changing art on the walls.
reviewed
-
O
Café Zoe
A little slice of Surry Hills has crossed Cleveland St and headed south into the forbidden zone…Redfern! So bad has Redfern’s rep been that Sydneysiders lock their car doors as they drive through, but these days things are on the up. Case in point, Zoe – a classy corner cafe serving fab sandwiches, pasta, salads, risottos and super coffee.
reviewed
-
P
Spring Espresso
The pick of Challis Ave’s elbow-to-elbow microcafes, Spring is 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. If you can’t get a seat, try La Buvette next door.
reviewed
-
Q
Sloanes
Don’t be deterred by the tiny shop front: head down the back, where there’s a cute courtyard shaded by mature trees. Breakfasts and coffee are winners, and the lunch blackboard is crammed with fancy pies, salads, panini and soup. This is the place where Paris Hilton famously, like, totally wandered off without paying her bill. Like, shut up!
reviewed
-
R
Tramezzini Espresso
There aren’t a lot of decent downtown places for a reasonably priced, healthy bite, so this Italian cafe in the foyer of the AMP building is worth remembering. Unsurprisingly, the clientele is extremely suity but don’t let that and all the ostentatious marble get in the way of a flat white and a zingy egg-and-parmesan breakfast roll.
reviewed
-
S
Katipo Coffee House Deluxe
Named after New Zealand's only poisonous spider this unassuming café offers a little extra bite in everything it does. Even the tap water is subtly flavoured with fresh fruit and delivered with a smile. For breakfast try the Nouveau Hippy Vego Feast - a banquet of eggs, herb-roasted tomato, garlic mushrooms, kumera and wilted greens.
reviewed
-
T
Crabbe Hole
Chef Andrew Crabbe’s crab-sized nook next to the Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club is the kind of place only locals know about (until now). Toasted sandwiches, muesli, and Adriano Zumbo banana bread star on the small but perfectly formed menu; coffees are automatic double shots unless you wimp out.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
U
Yuga
What a sweet-smelling combo – a florist and a cafe, both stylish, reasonably priced, fancy and friendly. Sophisticated and serene, Yuga serves healthy Mod Oz–style breakfasts morphing into Japanese-flavoured lunches. Try the grilled honey figs with cress on soy-and-linseed toast, or the green-tea noodle salad.
reviewed
-
V
La Buvette
Like its sister Spring next door, La Buvette is absolutely teeny. That doesn't stop it being crammed with the beautiful, the famous and the guppies (gay urban professionals in the latest designer sunglasses). The menu features salads, sandwiches and crepes, but our favourite is the baked eggs with chorizo. Excellent coffee.
reviewed
-
W
Caffe Salina
Salina is onto a winner, with long brunches and hangover specials (bacon, egg, steak, roast tomatoes, chips and a glass of iced Berocca). Fix-you-up food, great coffee and soothing seaside air – perfect for when you’re feeling subpar. It’s licensed too, if you feel like launching another assault.
reviewed
-
X
Deus Café
Strewn with vintage motorcycles and kooky two-wheelin’ art, Deus Café is an extension of Deus Ex Machina, an eccentric motorbike and fashion 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.
reviewed
-
Y
Green's Café
This institution-green neighbourhood café has a 1950s nana-chic aesthetic and is prone to doing oddball things like hosting tea towel and apron exhibitions. Devonshire teas are served, but the menu is contemporary café fare, with excellent all-day breakfasts (try the delicious parmesan scrambled eggs).
reviewed
