Shepherd’s is surprisingly quaint, given its high-traffic shopping mall location. It’s more like a takeaway bakery with an espresso machine rather than a proper cafe, but Shepherd’s does what it does pretty well. They have a wide range of rustic-style baked stuff, and although pretty much everything must be baked off-site, the food still manages to carry a home-baked kind […]
Shepherd’s Artisan Bakehouse, Broadway
Merchants of Ultimo, Broadway
Hands down, this is the best place to get your coffee and BB in Broadway. Merchants of Ultimo is a cute little indoor imitation piazza with a few different kids of authentic Italian fare available around a central seating area. The vendor at the front with all the crowd-attracting eye candy is a baker with a windowful of beautifully decorated […]
The Sip Inn, Erskineville
This place is very recognisable – you would’ve driven past it a thousand times and seen its huge, outdoor courtyard right in the middle of the Erko shopping stretch. A beautiful, shady spot to sit and soak in the ambience, for sure, but as I drew closer to the cafe, I noticed that the only people doing so were “elderly”. […]
Double Barrel Coffee & Foodhouse, Newtown
I had a fantastic breakfast experience here a couple of years ago. The menu was excellent and my brunch was so delicious I wanted to come back and try other menu items. But most of all, the guy running the place was really passionate about his coffee. I’m always impressed when a cafe has a dedicated coffee menu, and I […]
Brewtown, Newtown
I have a love/hate relationship with Brewtown Love: The gorgeous vintage-style decor and post-industrial converted warehouse location. The menu and its skilfully executed simple yet stylish fare. Its authenticity as a quality Newtown cafe, neither bought out nor sold out. Hate: The service – slow and careless with a terse air of arrogance. The last two times I dined in, […]
Picnic, Burwood Park
One day, I found myself in Burwood. I actually lived in Burwood for a little while, back in the day, and my go-to back then was the iconic, family-run ‘Cafe Bello’ in its high-exposure Westfield corner on Burwood Rd. It was there last time I checked, but now it’s a Starbucks. C’est la vie. There was no way I was […]
Cordial, Newtown
Cordial is the closest cafe to my house, and I never go there. There’s a reason for this. The friendly, family-style service is great, that’s not it. And it’s not the decent range of humble breakfast products on the menu – I like being able to get a toastie on thick, pillowy white bread rather than a sprouted rye every […]
Store Espresso, Camperdown ⭐
Store Espresso is the real deal – an authentic example of well-executed local cafe culture. Store has a wide-ranging menu, is very accommodating to individual requests and delivers very personalised service. The owner is a bit of a character and a recognised local who really understands his targeted audience and knows how to work Store’s fantastic parkside location, with its […]
Gather on the Green, Camperdown
This was my old local. I lived directly across the road, so I started getting my coffee here every morning, but it was really not great. A bit over-extracted, a bit watery, in Campos cups but it didn’t taste like Campos to me. Gather is a prime example of a cafe that has been bought, rather than started, in the […]
The aftermath of the Sydney coffee boom
Newtown was the epicentre of the Sydney coffee boom from about 2005-2010. This coincided with my uni days, while I was living in Newtown for the first time and frequenting all these groovy little cafes started by hipsters with a passion for coffee, a hoard of retro kitsch, and the naive assumption that that was all you needed. At the […]