The Best Breakfast in Sydney
Breakfast is the closest thing we have to a national cuisine. That’s clearest on the weekends. You’ll find Sydney’s cafes crammed with diners scraping their plates clean of smashed avo on sourdough, jazzed-up porridge and more.
For more than a decade, the scene has been dominated by Western dishes. But a wider range of venues are increasingly offering the most important meal of the day, from Japanese cafes to Thai spots like Haymarket’s Boon and Marrickville’s Filipino cafe Tita Carinderia. Here, we’ve curated the places that are shaping Sydney’s breakfast landscape – as well as those that have nailed the classics.
Cafe
Happyfield
Walk past Happyfield any day of the week and there’ll be a crowd of people lining up outside. They’re here for pancakes – fluffy, Instagrammable stacks of them – drenched in 100 per cent Canadian maple syrup. Also, choc-malt shakes and Bloody Marys spiked with Canadian vodka.
Restaurant
Iftar
Head to the family-run spot for awarma and egg manoush, honey-soaked Lebanese village cheeses and a meze menu overseen by a mother-son duo.
Cafe
Superfreak
Superfreak’s head-turning fit-out makes it a contender for Sydney’s best-looking cafe. But there’s plenty more to love – including a fresh, homely menu and a vinyl soundtrack.
Cafe
Pina
The much larger spin-off to Potts Point institution Room Ten counts a couple of Sydney’s top chefs, including Neil Perry and Josh Niland, among its legion of fans. Think scrambled eggs with caponata and huge cauliflower sangas, plus Mecca coffee – best enjoyed al fresco in the picturesque laneway.
Restaurant
Mami’s Bondi
It’s always family night at this unpretentious Mexican spot, which boasts the same bright blue as Frida Kahlo’s house. Buy wine en route and order loaded quesadillas, nachos and tacos – including a knockout pork confit number.
Cafe
Edition Coffee Roasters Haymarket
Breakfast here blends Nordic and Japanese cuisines. That might look like fluffy scrambled eggs with charred avocado, salad and house-made Japanese milk bread. And if you’re dining at Edition’s HQ in Darling Square, it's like being inside an elegant Japanese farmhouse.
Cafe
Tita Carinderia
Tita isn’t your typical Filipino carinderia. Hit this cafe and bakery for brekkie muffins stacked with egg and longganisa sausage; classic Filipino breakfasts of garlic fried rice, egg and adobo; and ube soft serve ice-cream.
Cafe
Bills Darlinghurst
Bill Granger didn't invent avo on toast, but he's certainly responsible for popularising it. Ditto for ricotta hotcakes. His breezy, licensed cafes are still some of the best – and most beautiful – places for breakfast in town.
Cafe
Kurumac
If you’ve never had Japanese comfort food for breakfast, do yourself a favour and hit this low-key cafe in the inner west. Onigiri with miso soup, congee with grilled salmon and roe, chirashi bowls. It’s by the same team behind Cool Mac Cafe in Kirribilli, and you’ll find a tighter edit of the same dishes there, too.
Cafe
Boon Cafe and Jarern Chai
Thaitown’s destination cafe and Asian grocer seamlessly blends Thai and western cuisines into a style all its own. Dishes might include shiitake and crab congee and Thai-style baked eggs – with everything from the cashew butter to the chilli relish made in-house.
Cafe
Celsius Coffee and Dining
Hovering over Kirribilli wharf is one of the city’s most picture-perfect cafes. A swish space inspired by the Hamptons packs in social-media famous waffles and some mesmerising harbour views.
Cafe
Double Cross Dining Room
The “unusual” eggs on toast – sourdough topped with fried eggs, stracciatella, peanut butter, sesame sauce and chilli sauce – is the move at this destination all-day diner. It’s been serving some of the north shore’s most creative brunches since 2016.
Cafe
The Corner Deli by Lox in a Box
The first dine-in venue from Bondi’s Lox in a Box is serving Sydney’s first bagel high tea. Head to the old old Cornersmith site to try it – or maybe some hot salt beef on rye, or a stellar brisket burrito.
Cafe
Noon
The Chica Bonita team takes on brekkie at community-minded Noon. Find the usual breakfast darlings, plus creative morning plays showcasing suppliers you don’t usually see on the northern beaches.
Cafe
Circa Espresso
One of Sydney's first new-wave cafes is still going strong, with its Middle Eastern-influenced menu and consistently great coffee. The Ottoman eggs – poached eggs with crumbed eggplant and garlic labneh on house-baked bread – has been a staple since the early days.
Cafe
Devon Barangaroo
Few places have had a bigger influence on Sydney’s cafe scene than Devon. It was one of the first in Sydney to eschew the standard model of eggs and toast – and instead served restaurant-level brekkie. The menu's real mainstay is Breakfast with Sakuma’s – miso-grilled market fish, a 63-degree egg, smoked eel croquettes and a seasonal salad.
Restaurant
Misc
Parramatta Park’s lush Med-inspired eatery is all about communal dining. Build your own brekkie plate with focaccia, sujuk, smoked labneh and more. Or grab fancy pantry items for a picnic in the park.
Cafe
Paramount Coffee Project
Set within the Paramount Building, this architecturally striking cafe has food to match the sophistication of its surrounds. Order the classic avo on sourdough, made here with heirloom tomatoes, pickled onions and a raspberry vinaigrette. There's also a killer fried-chicken waffle with maple-bacon gravy.
Cafe
Cafe Margaret
Neil Perry's breezy all-day venue serves an outstanding bacon and egg roll by day and Australia's top rated burger by night.
Cafe
Room Ten
Don’t be fooled by this cafe’s modest appearance – it can do plenty in its tiny kitchen.
Cafe
Reuben Hills
Central and South America are the jumping off points for Reuben Hills’ breakfast menu, starring entirely dishes such as huevos divorciados (fried egg tostadas with smoked cheese and salsa). Plus, coffee is roasted upstairs in its micro-roastery.
Cafe
Shuk
The owners of Shuk serve the kind of meals they would eat with their families in Israel: a modern interpretation of traditional cuisine. Whether you visit Bondi, Elizabeth Bay or Chatswood, its classic shakshuka or slow-cooked lamb with hummus are still outstanding after all these years.
Cafe
Blackwood Cronulla
The cuisine-crossing menu at Blackwood also exists outside the confines of time. Chicken schnitzel sandwich at 8am? Easy done. Or perhaps a prawn poké bowl with black rice, ginger pickled beetroot, cashew butter and greens? No problem.
Cafe
Angus Marrickville
Hit this breezy cafe-bakery for a monthly rotation of baked treats, from croissants to cookies. For lunch, you can’t go past the hefty focaccia sangas.
Cafe
Valentina’s
From the team behind Grumpy Donuts, this flash spot serves the rich comfort food you’d find in a New York or LA diner. By that, we mean pancake stacks, fried chicken sangas and plenty of filter coffee.
Cafe
Porch and Parlour
Perfect for a post-swim coffee, Porch and Parlour has been a leader in Bondi’s barefoot hospo scene for more than a decade. From the pea pancakes to the kimchi toastie, the greatest hits are solid gold for a reason.
Cafe
Queen Ester
Queen is all about the fresh, vibrant and comforting flavours found in homes and on the streets of Israel. Come for plates of falafel and hummus; or pita breads stuffed with fried eggplant, jammy eggs and salad.
Cafe
Self Raised Bread Shoppe
Details are everything at this retro bakery in the city’s south. The team behind pizzeria My Mother’s Cousin are making sangas with cross-section charisma, fruit-filled danishes and sourdough worth lining up for.
Cafe
Fika Swedish Kitchen
What is fika? It’s a Swedish concept all about the ritual of taking a break, or maybe catching up with friends and family. At this seaside cafe, you can do just that – but with good coffee and skagen toast: poached prawns smothered with a mayo, dill and lemon mixture atop sourdough.
Cafe
Cafe Monaka
Decked out in raw oak, this breezy spot is one of a few Sydney cafes serving traditional Japanese breakfasts, plus brunch classics. The tea-house aesthetic is fitting – artisan green teas from Japan are brewed here daily.
Cafe
Algorithm
Best brunch on Marrickville Road? This corner cafe is a hot contender. Come for plussed-up brekkies by a Quay-trained chef, pandan custard buns and a strong iced drinks offering.
Cafe
Quick Brown Fox Eatery
Set within a heritage-listed, 1840s-built stone cottage, Quick Brown Fox Eatery is one of Sydney’s most impressive – and constantly evolving – cafes. Come here for the congee, topped with house-made XO sauce, glazed speck, fried shallots and a gooey 63-degree egg.
Cafe
Two Chaps
Behind a low-key roller door is vegetarian cafe par excellence, which also does epic pasta dinners. Sustainable and made on-site is the ethos here, and the cabinet is loaded with sandwiches and doughnuts to takeaway.
Cafe
Ken’s Continental
Linger at a table below leafy trees over a continental plate loaded with cold-cuts, house-made pickles, olives and baguette, or a serving of fried eggs with black pudding and mortadella.
Cafe
Cafe Cressida
Part Paris cafe, part LA hotel, this playful spot from the owners of Ursula’s in Paddington is here whatever time of day you need it. Come early for a classic big breakfast, or later on for pasta and salads. It’s all elegant.
Cafe
Deus Cafe
The Aussie lifestyle brand’s eponymous cafe means business. From the seasonal menu with Asian influences, to the solid curation of cocktails and local beers, this place has your weekend covered – whether you ride two wheels or not.
-5c264c35db.webp)
