What makes good cafe food great? It can be the comforting feeling you get when the chef uses a family recipe. It might be the excitement of trying something new, such as rice flour doughnuts stuffed with matcha custard. And sometimes, it’s just bloody good eggs, cooked with skill and care.

This was a question we thought deeply about when compiling the list of the cafes for best food in Good Food’s Essential Sydney Cafes and Bakeries of 2025. Presented by T2, the guide celebrates the people and places that shape our excellent cafe and bakery scenes and includes more than 100 venues reviewed anonymously across 11 categories, including icons, those best for tea, coffee and matcha, and where to get the city’s best sweets, sandwiches and baked goods. (These reviews also live on the Good Food app, and are discoverable on the map.)

Read on for what made our list of best cafes for food.

Algorithm

Algorithm opened on a sunny street corner in 2023, and it’s been pumping ever since. It could be the specialty coffee (excellent) which makes it so popular, the service (even better), or the clean industrial interiors. Most likely, however, it’s the food. Co-owner Baby Angelina Kartiko serves a refined menu inspired by contemporary Australian and Japanese flavours, ranging from banana loaf with Earl Grey caramel butter, to sourdough muffins stacked with roasted Spam, egg, and chilli aioli.

Good to know: A proudly dog-friendly venue.

109 Marrickville Road, Marrickville, instagram.com/algorithmsydney

BTB

Expect native ingredients sourced by Indigenous social enterprise Bush to Bowl woven into Aussie brunch classics. Highlights include a breakfast version of prawn toast – golden sesame-crusted prawns on a sourdough crumpet, enlivened by lemon aspen curd – and the pure fish-and-chip-shop perfection of potato scallops liberally seasoned with flaky sea salt and vinegar. (BTB stands for “by the bridge”, by the way.)

Must order: Potato scallops with malt vinegar.

2 Ennis Road, Kirribilli, btbkirribilli.com.au

Cafe Tanja

Lamb tajine may be the main attraction at Cafe Tanja, but it’s not the only standout at this terracotta-hued home of North African cuisine. Tchouktchouka, a sizzling Tunisian take on shakshuka, is a masterclass in runny-yolk, served with thick slices of house-made matlouh (leavened bread) and a crunchy crescent of golden brick pastry, filled with paprika-spiked potato, cheese and egg.

Good to know: Venture outside your coffee comfort zone and order some atay, a fragrant Moroccan tea with a minty-sweet zing.

638 Crown Street, Surry Hills, instagram.com/cafetanjasurryhills

Comeco

This Japanese cafe will change how you think about vegan and gluten-free food. Stop by for a smooth soy matcha latte with one of the acclaimed brown rice sourdough doughnuts (try the yuzu filling), or linger for lunch with a larger plate of onigiri. Its signature dish comes with two onigiri, five okazu side dishes and a main of either miso teriyaki tofu, agedashi tofu or crisp tempura vegetables (our pick).

Good to know: Specialty Japanese ingredients are also available to buy for home use.

524A King Street, Newtown, comecofoods.com.au

Ellen

It’s difficult to make muesli exciting, but at Ellen it’s a textural delight of puffed rice, yoghurt and crunch, served with a big scoop of green pistachio cream and fresh strawberries. It’s that kind of commitment to the small things which makes this place special. Fish burgers are generously portioned, carefully wrapped and full of acidity and heat from pickles and seeded mustard. Weekly specials take it further, with charred octopus, say, paired with the one-two punch of orange vinaigrette and Tajin spice mix.

Good to know: About half of the seating is outside — lovely on a sunny day, less so when it rains.

153/18 Huntley Street, Alexandria, instagram.com/ellen_cafe

Kurumac

Amidst the eclectic jumble of shopfronts on Addison Road lies this cosy retreat for Japanese comfort food. All-day dishes, such as the onigiri set, are light-but-generously-portioned. It’s served with two rice balls plump with peppery mustard greens, delicate dashi-braised eggplant, pickled bamboo shoots, miso soup and spinach in sweet sesame dressing. Pair with a batch brew from Sample Coffee or try the cult green-tea gelato milkshake.

Must-order dish: Spicy cod roe melt.

107 Addison Road, Marrickville, kurumac.com

Maggio’s

Maggio’s is a traditional family-run cafe first established in Cammeray by three brothers, Andrew, Carlo and Christian Maggio, back in 1998. The North Ryde cafe is new, bringing a slice of Italy into suburbia with window displays of pastries, bread, pizza and filled panini.

Must order: Pasta and hefty sandwiches are also on the menu, but it’s the Italian eggs poached in tomato and basil sauce that’s our go-to.

457 Miller Street, Cammeray and 8/144 Coxs Road, North Ryde maggios.com.au

Parami

Parami, the Japanese cafe from former fine-dining chef Mika Kazato, is best known for its onigiri: portable, palm-sized packages of cooked koshihikari rice filled with tart ribbons of pickled mustard greens; salty, seared cod roe; or the gentle heat of slow-cooked chashu pork. Grab-and-go, or make it a meal with umami-driven soups, ceremonial-grade matcha lattes and still-warm (and stupidly good) muffins in flavours including matcha cheesecake.

Good to know: Dine-in seating is weather-dependent, limited to low-set outdoor tables.

101/21 Alberta Street, Sydney, parami.com.au

Pina

Don’t be deterred by the ever-present queues crowding the laneway – Pina is worth the wait. Service remains friendly under pressure, moving efficiently through the cafe’s blushed industrial interiors to deliver a vast menu of classic brunch fare, made better. Sourdough pancakes become supersized, just-sweet-enough, and glossy with butter; omelettes are creamy, pulsing with curry sauce. And it’s all adaptable, with more than 15 sides, spanning hash browns to kimchi.

Good to know: Pina is licensed, with a short selection of Australian wines.

4/29 Orwell Street, Potts Point, instagram.com/pinapottspoint

Taguan

The coffee, batch-brewed from specialty Filipino beans, arrives in a custom-made stoneware mug resembling a smiling pomeranian. You’re instantly charmed. It’s one of several happy surprises emerging from Taguan’s small Filipino kitchen: breakfast burgers hum brighter with the sweet warmth of banana ketchup; toasties turn memorable with velvety slow-cooked beef; and chicken adobo, from a family recipe, is the impossibly tender, tart centrepiece of it all.

Good to know: The ube matcha might be the most expensive drink, but it’s worth every dollar.

191 Regent Street, Redfern, instagram.com/taguancafe.syd

Good Food’s Essential Sydney Cafes and Bakeries of 2025, presented by T2, celebrates the people and places that shape our excellent cafe and bakery scenes and includes more than 100 venues reviewed anonymously across 11 categories, including icons, those best for food, tea, coffee and matcha, and where to get the city’s best sweets, sandwiches and baked goods. Download the Good Food app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store to discover what’s near you.