Breakfast
Kansas City Shuffle
Down the business end of The Rocks you’ll find a hole in the wall café that looks like it has been plucked straight from Surry Hills. Outside you can order from the ‘Little City Window’, from stuff like P. B. & J. Toasted Sandwiches ($7.50) and House-made Doughnuts ($4.50) but it’s worth getting cosy inside on the recycled oak furniture.
The Grind & Co
Restaurant in an abandoned train? Rave in a semi trailer? How about a café in a shipping container? Sure, why not… add it to the list of weird shit I never thought I’d see.
Basket Brothers
In an old skydiving shop, two buddies with impressive restaurant CVs have opened a café that will hopefully be a renaissance for the desolate fringes of Surry Hills and the CBD. Serving up cleverly devised breakfast options like the Smoked Brisket Hash ($18) with egg, aioli, beautifully sweet beef brisket and (a standout) jalapeño salsa, the ‘bros’ Jono Forsythe (founder of Mad Pizza e Bar) and Deepak Singh (formerly of Kantine) know how to lure you into the fish tank-like café.
Majestic Harvest
It’s only their tenth day but Majestic Harvest is already getting slammed by a mix of old school Petersham and those ever-present young renovators. Yet despite some hipster trappings - Edison bulbs, cold drip, food on boards, ‘cold pressed’ Daily Juice ($6.50) and dishes presented in frypans - the food is remarkably honest and free from (much) pretension.
Charlotte Cafe
Balmain, and its surrounding suburbs of Birchgrove and Rozelle, have become awash with visitors from all corners of the city, keen to tuck in to the cosmopolitan selection of trendy cafés and restaurants.
Haven
The end of one-way communication between you and your barista is nigh! After ruling out their native Hong Kong for high rents and fledgling coffee culture, this triumvirate of owners - Roy Yu, Kit Tran and Bruce Koo – selected Sydney for their first customer-focused coffee concept.
Opera Bar Cafe
You can’t get more ‘Sydney’ than breakfast by the harbour, yet choices for Sydneysiders and tourists alike are lacking down on the lower concourse.
Dachshund Coffee
Two russet gold Hungarian Vizslas sit like statues, their eyes boring into the café door, through which their owner has just disappeared. When they break ranks to say hello, he pops out to check we like dogs.
Canberra, Better Than You Think
It’s 6.30am and the first rays of sun are peeking through farm equipment and glistening spiders’ webs. A truckload of Tumbarumba Chardonnay grapes are already being unpacked by winemaker Nick Spencer, and his offsider Hamish Young. Their duelling forklifts perform a skilful ballet of weighing then pouring grapes and free-run grape juice into the destemmer.
Harry’s Bar & Dining
A Bondi institution has joined the 21st century – this launderette-cum-convenience store is now a dining destination complete with organic produce, cold-pressed juices and paleo. options.
