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 […]

The Farm Bethel, Killarney Heights

Today, I went back to my lil’ ol’ hometown. A tiny island of a suburb, Killarney Heights is almost like a little untouched time capsule from the 1960s, having been largely undeveloped. The houses are still on large blocks of land with plenty of space in between, which I find remarkable since in Newtown I can hear my neighbours speaking […]

My Grandma’s Louisiana BB

Just to be clear, not a cafe, just my Grandma. She’s achieved all the major points I wish I could when it comes to baking-your-own BB: it’s got some good height and has risen properly with an even consistency (mine always tend to be stodgier towards the bottom), it’s deliciously moist and has a good level of sweetness. It’s very […]

Redleaf Cafe, Double Bay

This little beach kiosk could practically be considered a real cafe, with its very decent kitchen and cafe-grade fare. I would normally expect a sub-par coffee somewhere like this, but this coffee is good (albeit too hot for the occasion – next time remind me to order an iced latte). My BB is also good (albeit slightly sandy, thanks to […]

Flour Drum, Newtown

Flour Drum’s Christmas bakery treats, which I was there purchasing, are absolutely phenomenal. I’d been there once before, at Easter, when they had little baby bunnies in a hutch out the back. You could hold them, so I took the kids for a fun outing. The courtyard and garden is eclectically styled and very cool. Today, the coffee was perfectly […]