Vibrant and welcoming, Buddha Bowl really brightens up the shady-looking intersection of Enmore Rd and Station St, where Newtown has pretty much ended but Enmore hasn’t quite kicked into gear yet. The interior decor is rustic but sleek with warm lighting and lots of indoor plants. The plants are tidy and tasteful (you’d be surprised how often I see them […]
Buddha Bowl, Newtown
Either Or, Newtown
I approached this place with a degree of optimism because it looked and sounded good. I was instantly impressed as I stepped inside and soaked up the minimal industrial decor, all polished concrete, steel and glass. Marring this sleek minimalism was a very prominent and unnecessary sandwich board: “For takeaway, please order from the right hand side of the counter” […]
Ferah, Newtown
While Ferah claims to be both a cafe and restaurant, it’s primarily a Turkish restaurant specialising in sit-down, banquet-style dining with gorgeous ambience and beautiful presentation. I felt a bit awkward walking into a restaurant to order a takeaway coffee, but the girl who served me and made my coffee was absolutely lovely – good service makes such a difference. […]
Sappho Cafe, Glebe
Sappho is a gorgeous vintage bookstore with a stunning courtyard and bar out the back with speckled shade, a lazy cat, live music… I could lounge around here browsing through the books and sipping on summery cocktails all day long. But not today because it’s a Tuesday, it’s raining, and I’m trudging along pushing 30kg of pram and children. The […]
The Front Room, Newtown
I’m just gonna come right out and say it: Allpress Espresso is the worst. If you use Allpress Espresso beans, for goodness’ sake don’t advertise it! That was Front Room’s first mistake. The barista actually did a really good job, leaving me a bit conflicted over whether or not to consider it an average 0, but no, it still had […]
Dirty Red, Glebe ⭐
Dirty Red is set up in a heritage-style terrace that looks like you’ve just walked into the coolest little loungeroom in Glebe. No, you can’t fit a pram anywhere inside, though the lovely staff have often gone to unfair lengths to help me make it work. There’s a bar behind the counter and someone is just plating up a couple […]
The Little Duck, Broadway
Sometimes I run out of patience with small children and the elderly, especially when they’re in large groups, and a large group of the latter can always be found clogging the small seating area at The Old, I mean Little, Duck. They clog it absent-mindedly, they clog it as they “take their time”, they clog it with walkers and scooters, […]
Soul Origin, Broadway
I said this the last time I was at Broadway: I don’t usually review chain cafes. But there are a few reasons this particular Soul Origin bears mentioning. Their coffee, albeit consistently well-executed, is not tasty. For a long time, I considered their BB to be not great, but the definition of my average “0”, i.e. more or less what […]
Footbridge, USyd
Ha, you’ve gotta be kidding. “Footbridge” is basically an on-campus general store with servo-style refrigerated snacks and buttloads of cheesy USyd merch. But just linger here a little and you’ll find something magical gleaming just under its newsagenty exterior. All the USU cafes/kiosks on campus serve the same coffee and bakery sweets, right? Not this place. There’s some kind of […]
Container, Camperdown
The Container is a cafe operating out of a shipping container at the entry to the Camperdown Commons urban farm. It’s not really much of a cafe, since it doesn’t have a kitchen and is almost entirely stocked by the restaurant behind it, but as long as whatever’s in The Homestead is good, The Container will follow. I spent many […]