At one time, the breakfasts at Bill Granger’s sun-drenched cafe were the yardstick by which all the city’s cafes were measured. This blonde-wood institution still hits with avo on Iggy’s bread, poached eggs with elevated sides and ricotta hotcakes.

A small, easy-to-miss cafe serving incredible Brazilian cakes and home-style meals.

Expect rainbow-coloured brunches and a showcase of NSW produce.

A buzzing cafe doing riffs on Japan’s most famous convenience store item: the katsu sando. The one here is staked with cabbage, pickled carrots, American cheese and more. And considering the size, it’s bang for your buck. Expect katsu salad bowls, smoothies and Single O coffee, too.

A carefully considered hole-in-the-wall cafe.

A shop that sells inventive sourdough-brioche doughnuts by a classically trained pastry chef. Traditional flavours are playfully twisted here – there’s a Vegemite-spiked salted butterscotch and another filled with Basque cheesecake.

An industrial car-park cafe.

A busy hole-in-the-wall cafe.

This modern neighbourhood cafe has an old soul, serving up classic brunches with top-tier Sydney produce. Come for an outstanding ploughman’s board or a three-cheese toastie, and stick around for Mecca coffee served any way you like.