Best cafes in North Sydney

Best cafes in North Sydney, ranked

1. #1The Foliage Cafe for pies and an early breakfast

   $🐕 Dogs outside🌳 Watt Park, 2 min walk

   The Foliage Cafe on Blues Point Rd opens at 6:30am every day, so an early coffee fits easily. Order the steak and pepper pie, or go for the croissant eggs benedict, the two dishes most often named. The room is small and full of plants, and the vegetarian menu runs to acai bowls and seed quiches. Watt Park is close enough to take a coffee on a lap of the grass.

2. #2Blue 36 Cafe for a fast breakfast near the station

   $$🌳 Watt Park, 4 min walk

   Blue 36 Cafe sits across from North Sydney Station and opens at 6am on weekdays. The morning steak with braised kale, and the pancakes heaped with cream and berries, are the plates to order. An early-bird coffee deal pairs with a toast or roll from the specials board, handy for commuters. There is a kids' menu, and Watt Park is around four minutes on foot.

3. 

   #3Venn Cafe for cooked breakfasts and the weekend fish burger

   $$Outdoor seating🌳 Ted Mack Civic Park, 2 min walk

   Venn Cafe on Miller Street serves breakfast and lunch every day until 2:30pm. Bacon and eggs cooked with care, and pancakes with butter and maple syrup, are the stand-out orders, along with the weekend fish burger of crumbed fish, pickled onion and fennel. Coffee comes out consistently good. The room is bright, with outdoor seating and a kids' menu. Ted Mack Civic Park is about two minutes on foot.

4. 

   #4Bacino Bar for a cappuccino and takeaway foccacia

   $🌳 Warringa Park, 6 min walk

   Bacino Bar is a small espresso counter on Mount St that opens at 5:30am on weekdays. Most coffee drinkers come for the cappuccino, which stays good even when the queue is long. Roman-style foccacia is made to order, from meatball and provolone to prosciutto crudo. The large cup is cheap for the area. Warringa Park is about six minutes on foot.

5. #5Flock Eatery & Catering for big, good-value plates

   $🐕 Dogs outsideOutdoor seating🌳 Ted Mack Civic Park, 3 min walk

   Flock Eatery & Catering on West St opens at 6am on weekdays and until 1pm on Saturdays. Portions are generous for the price, and the chicken and chips were enough to split. A smashed avocado plate arrives with poached eggs and feta. There is a kids' menu and an outdoor terrace, and the team also takes office catering orders. Ted Mack Civic Park makes an easy detour from the door.

6. #6Rusty Dust for a bacon and egg roll and a strong flat white

   $Outdoor seating🌳 Warringa Park, 5 min walk

   Rusty Dust, a tiny shop on Walker Street, is open weekdays from 5:30am to 3:30pm. Smooth, strong espresso draws the regulars, and the bacon and egg roll is the food to order, which one visitor calls the best in Sydney. Cookies are baked soft in the middle. Staff remember orders, and the rolls come wrapped for eating on the go. Warringa Park and Ted Mack Civic Park are close by.

7. #7Rustic Board Cafe for prawn and scramble toast and kimchi fried rice

   $$Outdoor seating🌳 Warringa Park, 5 min walk

   Rustic Board Cafe on Walker Street serves breakfast and lunch on weekdays from 6:30am to 3:30pm, and from 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. Prawn and scramble toast, with eggs on sourdough, prawns and parmesan, is the breakfast to order. At lunch, go for the kimchi fried rice with a fried egg, or the Nagasaki ramen. The kitchen adjusts the spice on request, and there are outdoor tables.

8. #8Public Coffee for coffee and inventive breakfasts

   $🌳 Clark Park, 5 min walk

   Public Coffee sits on level 1 at 90 Arthur St and is open weekdays from 7am to 3:30pm. Coffee is the reason many visitors come, and it is served in ceramic cups. For breakfast, try the prawn omelette with bisque, or baked eggs with pork mince. Lunch means pasta, with chilli prawn and bolognese both praised. Clark Park is around five minutes on foot, which suits a business meeting.

Compare best cafes in North Sydney

The table lines up price, brunch, outdoor seating, dog access and the nearest park for each cafe that qualified.

How we picked best cafes in North Sydney

The list is ordered by customer feedback, giving more weight to places with a larger body of comments. Each cafe was then tested against this page's topic: whether breakfast is served well, weekend hours, dogs inside or outside, and outdoor tables. Food and coffee notes come from what visitors describe on each cafe's own page.