It is pouring with rain and we are pacing up and down a road with barely any marked numbers in search of Outpost Espresso. By the time we find it — tucked behind a street corner — we are sodden and ever-so-slightly grumpy.

Thankfully, the small cafe is cosy and welcoming. We tuck our wet feet beneath a communal table decked with bright orange flowers. In a jiffy, the friendly staff have prepared three large cups of excellent Campos coffee ($3.20).

We are feeling more cheerful by the minute. Behind the counter, a blackboard menu offers a few simple options: muesli, toasted sandwiches and pastries.

It is too early for the full-to-bursting sandwiches on Brasserie bread, so we go for ham-and-cheese croissants ($5.50) and sour cherry and raisin toast ($4.50). This is not your average raisin toast, however — the sour cherries burst with flavour as we bite down on them.

Despite the rain, bedraggled workers from nearby shops drop in for their morning coffee fix. Most dash straight back to work but a few linger, gazing meditatively out the large front window to the park across the road.

Address Outpost Espresso, 996E Pittwater Road, Collaroy, 9971 0444.

Open Monday-Friday 6am-2pm; Saturday 7am-3pm; Sunday 8am-2pm.