Sydney park cafes to try now lockdown has lifted | full list

Spring is here, lockdown has lifted, and the simple pleasure of sitting in a cafe with an aromatic coffee and the great outdoors are calling. Put these cafes, in pretty park settings, on your list.

Freedom is here (for the double-jabbed) and for many of us, the simple pleasure of sipping on pretty froth-topped coffee at a cafe is one of life’s simple pleasures we hankered for the most during the 106-day lockdown 2.0

While takeaway was still an option and exercise allowed us to uncurl our muscles at parks, now we can relish that coffee and brunch without rushing.

Sydney is brimming with top coffee and fresh, delicious food served rambling parks — many with striking water views.

Here are some family-friends cafes to try where the kids can explore the gardens while you enjoy a meal.

Gatehouse Tea Rooms, Parramatta

It’s hard to find a patch of green in the sprawling construction zone that is Parramatta but fortunately Sydney’s second CBD still has its finest natural treasure, the UNESCO-listed Parramatta Park.

Eucalyptus trees, Moreton Bay figs, soon-to-be blossoming jacarandas, cherry blossoms and wisteria take their turn flowering throughout the year in the 163-year-old oasis, dotted with historic cottages from yesteryear.

The charming Gatehouse Tea Rooms.

The quaint Gatehouse is fitting for a historic park and serves high tea with aplomb. Visitors can sit inside the cosy interiors including or the patio, which offers heating in winter to make it nice and comfy while you slather your scones with jam and cream.

Traditional high tea and savoury variety (filled with pasties and wraps) will be served again from December 1 and an a la carte menu for those opting for something more specific.

The Gatehouse’s neighbours are the Georgie Boy at the O’Connell St entrance while at the opposite side of the sprawling park, Jad Nehmetallah has updated plans to open his Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cafe early next year after Covid forced the August foray to be scrapped.

The Gogglebox star and seasoned hospitality guru has revealed the 200-seat venue, overlooking Little Coogee with glimpses of CommBank Stadium, is to be called Misc. Parramatta. The title lends from miscellaneous and he believes the eclectic theme will be present at his cafe.

“It’s perfect, it’s everything we stand for,’’ he said.

“It means people or items gathered from different sources and that’s exactly what our venue represents. We want to value community, we want to value collaboration, we want to value creativity. There’s something for everyone — there’s a bit of this and a bit of that.’’

Jad Nehmetallah at the site that will become Misc. Parramatta.

The title was hatched between Nehmetallah and interior designer Nic Graham, who has decorated venues such as QT hotels and will furnish Misc. with earthy, minimal tones.

“It’s kind of allowing the venue and surroundings to do the talking,’’ Nehmetallah said.

This won’t be Nehmetallah’s first rodeo when it comes to hosting in the great outdoors. He ran The Picnic at Burwood Park, which he sold in December, and loves making the most of natural surroundings while patrons enjoy their brunch or lunch.

For those diners not perched inside, outdoor picnic-style plates will be available to enjoy on a picnic rug on the lawns outside the eatery.

Corner Pitt and Macquarie streets, Parramatta

Blackfish Cafe & Grill, Como

Cronulla can have its crowds, but Como will take the water views and park vistas with a little more peace, thank you.

Tranquil is the word Blackfish owner Daniel Milgram aptly uses to describe the Como Pleasure Grounds, replete with a marina and public swimming baths along the Georges River.

“You can go to a place like Cronulla, which has nice water views and a nice ambience but Como has that without the population,’’ Milgram, of Engadine, said.

“It’s a laid back version of that; it’s its own little paradise.’’

Shire locals have continued supporting the 10-year-old cafe and getting their (takeaway) coffee fix during lockdown, along with limited food offerings such as fish and chips and sandwiches, but Blackfish is excited about the return of chef Santosh Khadka’s full, sophisticated menu with a seafood slant, now that lockdown has lifted.

Paradise is a fitting description for the Blackfish Cafe and Grill at Como.

Blackfish takes pride in all of its menu.

That includes soft shell crab salad, the seafood platter and salt and pepper squid, along with all your cafe favourites.

“We’re proud of the menu in its entirety,’’ Milgram said.

“For us, we’re proud of it because it provides variety across the board. We feel the menu can tick any box.’’

For those opting for takeaway meals, the park is dotted with picnic tables or for those cooking up their own storm, barbecues. Start or end your day with a visit to the playground, a cycle along the bike track or a stride along the walking loop path.

2r/50 Cremona Rd, Como

The Teahouse Camellia Gardens, Caringbah

If you haven't sampled Teahouse owner Julie Hensby’s housemade scones and sipped on the teas in the idyllic surroundings of the E.G. Waterhouse National Camellia Gardens, now is the time to relish the dishes and say farewell to Julie after 19 years helming the cafe.

The grandmother-to-be is making a tree change to Orange in December to help her daughter welcome twins into the world and will leave after delighting customers who have become friends, catering for their morning teas, birthdays, christenings, bridal showers and wakes.

Takeaway trade continued in lockdown and when picnics were permitted in late September, Hensby and staff were on hand to provide spreads for that milestone.

When the population hits 80 per cent vaccination rates on October 25, nature and food lovers can dine in once again, electing for the high tea (featuring the signature scones with housemade cream and jam) or a la carte dishes (Hensby’s favourite is the quiche with caramelised onion, pumpkin with chilli and maple syrup), accompanied by original teas including the bluebell with blueberry, chocolate, vanilla and coconut; the honeybush with rose and vanilla; or the “pretty in peach” pandmanaban white tea with peach.

Julie Hensby is departing Sydney and the Camellia Tea Gardens after almost two decades.

There is an a la carte and high tea menu.

Relish the flavours among the oasis that is the 51-year-old Camellia Gardens that overlook the picturesque Yowie Bay. You might see a wedding while picnicking among the bright blossoms, which boast 400 varieties in the garden, which the International Camellia Society recognised as one of excellence in 2014.

“It’s a beautiful setting here, it’s amazing,’’ Hensby said.

“I’m just blessed here because I’m just surrounded by the most beautiful garden.

“I’m just a destination and I’m lucky my destination happens to be a beautiful garden.’’

President Ave and Kareena Rd, Caringbah

The Incinerator Cafe, Willoughby

American architect Walter Burley Griffin is best known for designing Australia’s capital city but he also created the incinerator on the north shore in the 1930s, and if he was still around would have been a regular at the venue in Hallstrom Park.

The cafe prides itself on assembling meals using seasonal produce, keeping the menu dynamic and presenting dishes that adds a fine dining element to cafe fare.

Diners can sit inside the barn-like building or opt for breakfast or lunch in an alfresco setting. The all-day menu features staples with substitutes such as the bacon and egg roll with spinach and chutney replacing barbecue sauce and health-conscious customers are catered for with a selection of options that pleases without overwhelming diners.

Milkshakes bring the sweet tooth to the yard — there’s chocolate Tim Tam, vanilla malt, banoffee pie and fairyberry (milk, strawberry syrup, fairy floss, ice cream and sprinkles).

The more refined palates can select high tea starting served on Fridays and Saturdays between 2pm and 4pm and starting from $29.

A visit to Hallstrom Park rounds out a visit to the cafe. Named after Sir Edward Hallstrom (1886-1970), fun awaits on the animal-themed play equipment, which is inspired by Taronga Zoo where the Northbridge resident was a chairman for 10 years.

Youngsters can burn off the sugar from their fairybread at the adventure playground, which underwent an upgrade in 2016, and features an interactive musical dinosaur and sandstone-carved animals, a stone crocodile, sandpit and water pump, bike track and basket swing and bike track.

All that exercise surely justifies the Tim Tam shake.

2 Small St, Willoughby

Grounds Keeper Cafe, Blacktown

Avocado pancakes, Asian-Middle Eastern dishes and tranquil views. You would think you’re at a fancy inner city noshery but the Grounds Keeper Cafe sits in the well-equipped Blacktown Showground where owner Sam Hayek treats diners to his imaginative culinary productions.

“It’s Middle Eastern with a twist,’’ he said.

“I create specials all the time. For example, I integrate tahini in my pancakes, I do sweet tahini mousse, I use soy in tahini, so I’ve infused Asian in my food.

“I’m very adventurous with my ideas. Everything on the menu is because I like it to be on the menu.’’

The adventurous tahini pancakes are one of the Grounds Keeper’s original creations.

The Grounds Keeper, a short walk from Blacktown train station, opened in 2016 in the sprawling park where there are 26 picnic tables, a water playground for youngsters, basketball courts, barbecues and tree-lined paths and lakes that can be viewed from the spacious cafe.

“It’s really an experience,’’ Hayek said.

“The location in Blacktown is fantastic. You’re away from the main road. The ambience in the cafe is really nice — it’s all glass as if you’re sitting outside.’’

The venue has capacity for 200 guests without Covid restrictions and is often buzzing with functions, people on weekend coffee jaunts or those collecting meals ordered on the cafe’s app.

The Grounds Keeper Cafe, corner of Balmoral St and Richmond Rd, Blacktown

By the Bay Cafe and Grill, Carrs Park

It’s not hard to return to work after lockdown when your workplace is in the pretty, Norfolk pine tree-studded Carrs Bush Park.

“It’s gorgeous,’’ Marie Saad, who runs By the Bay with her husband Danny, said.

“It’s just beautiful. We’re in the middle of the park but we’re right opposite Kogarah Bay so the whole cafe faces the water.’’

There’s also a playground and picnic tables for customers opting for takeaway options.

The Saads are reopening on Tuesday, October 19, each day from 7.30am to 3.30pm and, after several setbacks that came with taking over the business during a pandemic year (last August), they are excited about reopening for breakfast, lunch and, for dinner with musicians performing on Friday and Saturday nights.

Diners are treated to a modern Australian menu.

“We have a lot of Mediterranean flavours but it’ all very modern with a mix,’’ Marie said.

“We’ve got your salads, your schnitzels and burgers and at dinner it’s a little bit finer.’’

107 Carwar Ave, Carss Park

The Flying Fox, Mona Vale

UberEats might have been a saviour for the hospitality industry during lockdown but it is hard to match a delicious meal while soaking in the sunshine and serenity of the great outdoors.

Cue Northern Beaches favourite The Flying Fox, where manager Samuel Farias and his team whip up endless enticing dishes that include prawn tacos, beef quesadilla and veggie burgers.

“It’s very international,’’ Farias said.

“We’ve got Mexican, Asian, burgers, fish and chips.’’

The most popular dishes remain the classics — fish and chips, and bacon and egg rolls, washed down with Adore coffee.

For the health conscious or those that favour something wholesome, beetroot bombs (apple, beetroot, ginger and lemon) and green dream juices (kale, apple, lemon and ginger) are on offer.

Of course, the tucker tastes even better with splendid water views and its location at the Winnererremy Bay Park.

“It’s very kid-friendly, we’ve got a playground and a lot of elderly people come for a walk,’’ Farias said.

2 Mona St, Mona Vale

Sheltered under a spacious marquee in Burwood Park, diners can slurp on sublime watermelon and lime juice, and savour a host of temptations at this little oasis opposite Westfield.

For a while, they can forget about being in the middle of Sydney and enjoy the Burwood Park outlook with well established palm trees, a lake and the sandstone war monument and beds of bright blooms.

The menu is a crowd-pleaser that combines the classics and some twists to cafe fare a la the funny-punned Leb’s benedicts, a dish assembled with bacon or sujuk, Middle Eastern-spiced hollandaise sauce and mixed pickles on thick hunks of brioche bread.

The Picnic is at picturesque Burwood Park. Picture: Phil Rogers

Other Middle Eastern flavours are big on the menu (a legacy of founder Jad Nehmetallah’s Lebanese background) but other points of the globe are not forgotten courtesy of dishes such as the spring noodle salad, with lemongrass chicken, pickled radish, vermicelli noodles, lettuce, cucumber, peanuts, fried shallots, chilli and Vietnamese dressing.

Even if the heavens open, the venue is sheltered and makes a pleasant alternative to indoor cafes.

1/17 Elsie St, Burwood

Daily Break, Glenmore Park

At the foot of the mountains in the rambling Blue Hills Wetland, the Daily Break makes the most of its location and is a dream for families, courtesy of the scrumptious dishes that caters for youngsters, who are also treated to cubby houses and ample room to play in a fenced-in ground.

Mum-of-three and former personal trainer Susan Keith, whose sons range in age from 11 to 26, knew she wanted to make children a priority at the venue when she took over the cafe four years ago.

“I love kids. I’m all about the children, just seeing them smiling, happy and well,’’ she said.

“I’m really trying to do what wasn’t available to me when my kids were five and under.

“What I’m trying to achieve is where an average family can come and be catered for, so the mum’s who’s vegan can get something, the child who likes jelly can get something, the dad can get a big breakfast.

The menu is naughty and nice.

The children’s breakfast and lunch menus offers fruit salads, pancakes, burritos, fairy bread and burgers.

For adults, be prepared to be tempted with an extensive menu that includes the classics and more modern staples such as the vibrant crispy nutty maple granola (rolled oats, walnuts, pistachios, pepitas, cranberries, strawberries, banana, honey with Greek yoghurt) and smashed avo (the good green stuff comes with cherry tomatoes, whipped Persian fetta, rocket, dukkah on sourdough) and the sweet French croissant with strawberries, berry compote, caramelised pistachios and whipped ricotta.

Keith doesn’t skimp on the drinks either — there is a list of fresh juices to make any nutritionist happy, a collection of teas you might only find at a high tea venue and artisan blend of coffees including turmeric latte.

If you’re lucky enough not to have to wait to the weekend, free Wi-Fi is available to those working remotely.

Takeaway is on the cards until December 1, when the Daily reopens for dine-in service.

At nearby St Marys, Cassandra’s on the Park, owner Cassandra Ratcliffe admits Coachmans Park might not have the most enviable, lush setting but makes up for it with her hearty menu with “big portions and comfort food”.

“We have a huge variety, a lot of all-day breakfasts, salads, smoothies, coffees, burgers, ’ she said.

“All our customers are pretty much local.’’

31 Blue Hills Drive, Glenmore Park

Armory Wharf Cafe, Sydney Olympic Park

Ferry commuters can always find families barbecuing and picnicking along the banks of the Parramatta River as the vessel glides towards the densely-populated middle ring suburbs of Wentworth Point and Newington.

It’s a part of Sydney known more for its high-rises than its lush green grounds, so you can see why so many flock to Blaxland Riverside Park to get their fix of the great outdoors, complemented with coffee.

Housed in a building that appears like a giant picnic shed, the Armory has fun fare that’s big on flavour.

For early risers, the breakfast menu goes from Vegemite to violet French toast (a very

colourful purple brioche bun supporting ream cheese, violet anglaise, coconut pulp and berries). You can see the Insta snaps going into overdrive.

There are dishes galore on the other side of the food pyramid, too. The Green — smashed avocado, edamame beans, feta, broccolini, crispy kale, salsa verde, pepitas and dukkah or multigrain toast — is one of many salubrious dishes.

For lunch, halloumi, mushroom and reuben burgers add kick to the palate while grilled salmon or linguine might tempt your tastebuds more.

Proving the cafe doesn’t do things in halves, there is also an extensive alcoholic menu.

Building 13, Blaxland Riverside Park, Jamieson St

Centennial Homestead, Centennial Park

Sprawled across 189 hectares, Centennial Park treats its visitors to a scope of cafes, from kiosk-style eateries to the more formal but still relaxed Centennial Homestead, which doubles as a function centre in the grand setting of the 133-year-old park.

Sir Henry Parkes dedicated the eastern suburbs recreation drawcard as a public open space in 1888 when many trees, including stately Port Jackson figs and holm oaks, were planted.

They make for an appealing setting more than a century later.

The Centennial Homestead takes pride in its paddock-to-plate approach, using fresh produce and crafted into traditional offerings with a twist courtesy of chef Gary Schmit, who enjoyed a stint with renowned French chef Alain Ducasse.

“The menu caters for everybody, with a French twist,’’ Alex Kerner, the general manager for Trippas White Group, which manages Centennial Homestead and the more casual Queens Park Kitchen.

“The old world meets the new world.’’
Despite the end of lockdown, customers with a penchant for picnic hampers can take comfort in knowing the treats are still available. That includes charcuterie hampers, fruit salads, sandwiches and champagne.

The light-filled Centennial Homestead. Picture: John Appleyard

“People may just want to dine in comfort outside in the parklands,’’ Kerner said.

“It’s a big trend.’’

So too is alfresco dining, which gives peace of mind to customers still cautious over Covid rules.

At the rustic Queens Park Kitchen, options are more family oriented with a playground but the fresh, seasonal approach is still applied to customers, who get to relish double-roasted coffee and your usual cafe favourites. Kerner says there are plans to reintroduce cold drop and single origin blends.

MORE NEWS

El-Bayeh to expand Cafe El’s and open deli at Winston Hills

LilyMu, Rivareno, CicciaBella open at Parramatta Square outdoor dining