Willoughby is finally getting cooler! We've got a small bar. We've got a wholefood cafe. We're…read morefinally loosening the grip of the old people and schoolchildren and 80s dags that washed up here like waves of flotsam after the recession and never left. Here are words associated with Sprout that will tell you all you need to know: kale, quinoa, organic, green bowl, activated, superfood. I was a tad hungover so eschewed the benefits of a green bowl for an organic beef burger with relish on a triangular bun (triangles are back, yo!) that was a proper two-hand job and left me feeling way better than a milk bar burger might. The coffee is all kinds of great too, as is sitting outside on a milk crate in the little corner nook between two shops like some kind of breakfast creep.

A short trip down Willoughby road and you'll notice a new kid on the Naremburn cafe block. This…read morecafe & grocer combo has only been open for two weeks but is already drawing the attention of the locals. We needed to have brunch before another roadtrip and the missus suggest we try this place as she had noted it had opened recently. I guess the first test of any cafe is their coffee. Sprout has great coffee and it was well made. No complaints. I ordered the Egg & Bacon Roll (see photo) which came with rocket, tomato relish and aioli. The rolls itself was one of the triangular Brasserie Bread rolls and with the fillings quite literally became a handheld meal. I appreciated the fact that the fried egg still had a runny yolk - as I have a personal dislike to hard cooked yolk. The missus stepped up and ordered the Big Breakfast with added Avocado (see photo). The whole meal was good, and we both noted that the poached eggs were cooked perfectly (slightly done but still runny). - yeah I'm a runny egg fiend. We sat out the back on the Terrace and enjoyed the fresh air whilst looking at their new garden set up. The man in the store explained that they were growing a kitchen garden down the long side of the backyard and that the smaller patch nearer our table was likely to be some citrus plants. All in all, a nifty little spot that we'll be visiting again.

I was drawn to this sweet little café because it was off the main high street of Military road…read more(despite it's address). But then I saw the leafy fern motif wall and the long narrow layout - Albion's charm screamed sit down, sit down. It's a relaxed atmosphere in here so take a book or a girlfriend for a chat and enjoy the sweet feelings this café induces. The coffee will do the trick too. The barista looks very cosy in the back corner making coffee. Paul Bassett Espresso (World Barista of the year 2003) coffee beans are used to make the hot brew. They serve breakfast (try the Italian baked eggs with tomato, leg ham and shallots for $12.50), lunch (Bruschetta with roasted pumpkin, goats feta and rocket for $12.00 tickle your fancy?) and a few delicious sweet treats. No Wifi, heaters outside. Nice place for a cosy cuppa on weekdays. Susanne - one of the owners - is very friendly.

This is a nice little cafe in Mosman. Down Albion Lane, this is a very small cafe, with a nice…read moresitting area outside. My friends who live here swear about this place, however, I personally don't think it is as good as the Source - but I think most people will disagree with me. As most people in the area are die hard fans. The coffee here is alright, it is drinkable but not brilliant. However, the tea here is great! So if you come here I would order the tea (specifically the Chi) over the coffee. The food here is nice, but nothing amazing. Again, I know that most people will disagree with me. I ordered the salad, maybe it was the wrong thing to order. Saying that milkshakes were impressive. To summarise - this place is nice, but I don't think it is overwhelmingly great. But if you are looking for aumbiance, then this cafe is better than the Source, but I generally care more about coffee and food than anything else. But that is just me.

Great food. Nice small business but they still delivered quality experience! Thank you!read more

Not sure why this place was empty when we came in! We ordered a big breakfast (2 sunnyside eggs,…read morebacon, tomato, 1 sausage and mushrooms or toast - we had both) and a BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) in focaccia with chips and salad, a mango lassi and an iced coffee. The drinks came out in a matter of minutes and food not long after. Was thorughly inpressed with the friendly service, timing of food and most importantly, the quality of food. Everything was so fresh and tasted great! Will be coming back here again to try out the other options on the extensive menu.

This little expresso bar has a near perfect breakfast menu. Eggs, haloumi, avocado, prosciutto,…read moresourdough, (Campos) coffee...all the essentials are there. The menu has a Mediterranean influence (persian feta anyone?), and even better, most breakfast items are $10 or less. If you're lucky, you'll nab a table on the sidewalk in the sun. Of course if a sweet breakfast is more your thing, there is a whole cabinet of delectable sugar-coated, custard-filled pastries and doughnuts (and hey, if doughnuts for breakfast is good enough for Homer Simpson, its good enough for me).

One of the recent swarm of coffee shop additions to Marrickville. Small but funky looking, they're…read morefollowing more of the "let's have stuff around" (like a Vespa) than the minimalist vibe. They seem to fill up their outdoor seats frequently enough. Their position right by the Marrickville train station makes them a popular takeaway coffee spot, and I stopped in last week for just this reason, quite early (they open at 6am I think). They were friendly, service was obviously speedy at that hour, and it was a fine cup of coffee.

What a lovely surprise. Honestly did not expect much at all for whatever reason, but the food was…read moresimple done well. This Korean-run café has interesting interior design choices, and also a back courtyard for outdoor seating. However, it does seem this back section is somewhat neglected as there were dead cockroaches lying around... Anyway, the green tea latte was pretty good and not typically sweet so that was a plus. Comes out in a relatively good sized mug with cute latte art. The salad sandwich was very tasty also. Yes, it is just a sandwich but it was a good mix of fresh ingredients that made a delicious combo. Was only after a light meal and this did the trick.

Thanks Bee's Knees for opening on a Sunday! It was a real saver when looking for a place that's…read moreopen...and I didn't want to hang out in some place at Hornsfield (Hornsby Westfield that is). Thank you also, Bee's Knees for pricing your menu reasonably! Not being in a Westfield has definitely its advantages. Menu items are between $13 and $20+. Small coffee $3.50, large $4. And they're good! The menu is somewhat limited, but that's really ok - unless you've come for some smashed avocado on sourdough (one of those staples every hipster joint MUST have these days). Sitting in the lounge chairs or the court yard is inviting. What I don't really like is the vintage (or should I write "vintage") stuff. There's quite a bit of that around. In fact there are so many vintage items, you could be forgiven to think that you've stepped into a second hand shop. The mix of vintage fashion and café is pleasing to a degree but what bothers me a bit is that there are so many hipster cafés around doing this that this mix seems worn or at least overused. In addition, I doubt that all the items are in fact vintage, or just made to look like they are old or were recycled. A lot of cafés do this. It's pretentious and doesn't have the effect that actual recycling has. Don't get me wrong it's a good place for a sip and bite, but don't pay $74 for a "vintage" mirror.

Trendy place to go for a healthy meal. I had the açaí panda cotta. It was so pretty, but small. I…read morewas left wanting more. The lamb was yummy. The eggs and bacon was good. Although I thought the scrambled eggs were very wet. The gluten free bread was excellent. It was a little heavy, but it tasted like bread.

The service was really slow. We decided to just order coffee instead, which was drinkable. My…read moresister had a quick brekky but wasn't terribly impressed.

Thank you Chatswood for finally bringing it in the cafe department…read more I came here after a friend posted a picture of the food on Instagram (making this the most hipster cafe find I have ever made) - I had never heard of this place and thanks to the old yelp bookmark I had it parked for my next cafe emergency when I was in the area. I think that this place does all the things necessary to be a good cafe- funky interior, great tasting and interesting food, and not just good coffee- but a rotating bean menu. I had the fresh fig and ricotta on toast which was simply delightful. The combo of figs, ricotta, honey, walnuts and mint was a definite winner. And all the rest of the food I saw looked just as tasty. Brilliant coffee too- I just had the house bean (can't remember what it was) but it was great. Well done elbow room- you just found a special place in my heart

There are a lot of places in Chatswood selling coffee. But by far this is one of the best ones…read more Serving different beans for different roasters this is a coffee lover dream. To add the cherry on the coffee heaven, the food here is fantastic. Now the menus is limited but both my friend and I were ecstatic about our meals. I got the French toast and it was divine. It is a small kitchen, so if it crowded you might have to wait a bit. But that should be expected with any small cafe. What completely won it for me was the friendliness of the staff. A small error was made in my order (which was my fault) and they lady could not be more helpful. I will definitely come here again.

I was very happy that this cafe was close to the accommodations we had! We came in a couple times…read morefor coffee, every time we did come in, it was nice and lively but not crazy busy where the wait would take forever. The coffee was nice and they have a good selection of milk alternative although no macadamia milk which I view as an Aussie treat so I always ask about it. I also had a smoothie one day and it was so good! I had mixed berry and mango and the most delicious thing is that they put cinnamon in their smoothies, which apparently is a thing that people do, but this is the first I've ever experienced so now I'm going to do that at home when I make a smoothie!! I was only in their for food once and I had a delicious toast covered in house-baked beans with a perfectly poached egg. It was one of their daily specials which I saw on a chalkboard. Their regular menu had lots of options. The baked beans on toast thing gave me inspiration for breakfast food at home too! The service was great! Since I had gone in there a couple times, I should have asked for my server's name but she was absolutely lovely! It's like she knew exactly when I was ready to order, ready for coffee, ready for more water, etc and she was so kind and great. This a cafe is a nice, cozy, inspiring neighbourhood gem!

AVERAGE at best…read more Mr/Ms Gordons owner. Keep the Cafe, the location, the menu... but get rid of your staff! They're miserable! I've tried too many times to go back and "give it another shot" because I want it to be better than the last time, but one bad experience after another at Gordon's makes me permanently move the 4-5 minutes up the road to somewhere else. Food is ok, standard - but ok. It's the staff that are the worst. Every. Single. Time. I'm disappointed by the staff at Gordons. Order a take away coffee to a rude lady behind the counter who ignores you for 10 min before looking up. Only to wait a further up to 20 min (yes 20 min) on a takeaway coffee, then when you go up and ask if it's far away, you get glared at and handed a coffee without any words. They had a steady stream of customers, but by no accounts were so busy that the 3 people behind the counter could not get a take away coffee done in 20 min. Dine in is no better. 15 min for someone to clear a table (on a quiet day), a further 20 min for a menu, a further 15 min for someone to come back to take an order, a further 15 min for a Soda bottle to be brought to the table all while the wait staff ignore you and chat to each other.. and honestly, look miserable. In saying this, there is 1 nice lady who works there. In summary, walk the 5 min up the road and go somewhere else. Here are some of my favs to get you started. The Village Man and Monkey Clodelly