Cafes are living rooms where we play out our days, from that morning caffeine hit to meeting with friends, or just hunkering down with something easy and delicious.

Stretching from Burwood to Burraneer, the modern Sydney cafe takes many forms, from bakery counter to pancake shop, from salad bar to neighbourhood hub.

Liberated from being just for coffee and cake, they now offer toasties filled with beef rendang, cappuccinos of creamy green matcha, and porridge spiked with wattleseed.

Old or new, inside or out, they’re just great places to be.

A.P House, Surry Hills

When the sun is shining, there’s no better spot in the world than A.P Bakery’s magical rooftop bakery/kiosk/cafe (which has since expanded to Newtown and the CBD as well). Queue and order coffee with a side of double-baked ham and gruyere croissants, a bacon butty or crisp, fluffy pastries, their laminated ramparts crusty with caramelisation. And if the sun don’t shine? You can’t go wrong with the Paramount cafe on the ground floor.

80 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, apbakery.com.au

Baker Bleu, Double Bay

Chef Neil Perry has teamed up with Baker Bleu founders Mike (ex-Iggy’s) and Mia Russell to create some of Sydney’s most coveted sandwiches. And with just one bite of the albacore tuna sanger, or the ham and gruyere baguette, you can see why some are willing to queue for them. If the sandwiches sell out (as they often do), the sourdough pizza is a delicious alternative. Fortunately, there’s a separate (faster) counter for coffee orders, using beans from specialty roaster Mecca.

2 Guilfoyle Avenue, Double Bay, bakerbleu.com.au

BTB, Kirribilli

Aboriginal-owned social enterprise Bush to Bowl supplies native produce to creative head chef Daniel Backhouse (ex-Berowra Waters Inn) at this bright neighbourhood gem. The results are outstanding, with highlights such as wattleseed and buckwheat porridge (with myrtle-poached apples, muntries and apple skin bark) and hearty kangaroo ramen (with bunya nut broth and warrigal greens), each served with smiles and speedy efficiency. For the full brekkie experience, order a creamy Coffee Supreme latte and a Davidson plum brownie to finish.

2 Ennis Road, Kirribilli, btbkirribilli.com.au

Comeco, Newtown

Incredible care goes into the creation of plant-based and gluten-free food at Comeco, a tiny Japanese eatery run by husband and wife team Masa Haga and Yu Ozone. The popular sourdough and sweet potato doughnuts are made fresh to order, with fillings like hojicha (roasted green tea) and yuzu custard. But it’s well worth coming for a full lunch of vegie-packed katsu curry and (on weekends) beautiful big rolls of sushi, alongside a creamy matcha or sesame latte. This is delicious, healthy food, made accessible for all.

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

Cornersmith, Annandale

Community is at the heart of Cornersmith, where neighbours trade homegrown fruit and vegetables for jars of pickles, marmalades and relish. Their produce, in turn, makes it onto a (very reasonably priced) vegetarian menu of cheese toasties, hearty salad bowls and ploughman’s plates. If tables are full at the cosy, light-filled cafe, you can borrow a rug, order your batch-brewed cup of locally roasted Sample Coffee to go, and have an impromptu picnic at the leafy park across the road.

88 View Street, Annandale, cornersmith.com.au

Eksentrik, Maroubra

From the chocolate brownie on your teaspoon to the big greeting from Joseph Kalitzakis (even if you have never been before), Eksentrik is the benchmark neighbourhood cafe. The shakshuka is generous, the butter is Pepe Saya, and the big breakfast is just that ‒ big. There’s everything from cold brew and prana chai to puppycino, and a Campos Superior blend caffe latte is rich and especially chocolatey. Eksentrik has grown into one of Campos’ biggest customers, and no wonder.

765A Anzac Parade, Maroubra, 02 8540 2936

Good Ways Deli, Redfern

Sydney diners are no strangers to a gourmet sausage roll, but a filling of katsu curry kangaroo (cut with pork fat and Vegemite) might be a first. It’s a sweet, tangy highlight on a strong menu of Australian schoolyard nostalgia, featuring salad sandwiches on thick slices of house-baked ciabatta, lamingtons with apple and raspberry jam, and amber bottles of iced Milo mocha. Everything is available to take away or served canteen-style on branded butcher paper to the retro-green outdoor tables.

Shop 1, 20 Cooper Street, Redfern, goodwaysdeli.com.au

Happyfield, Haberfield

It’s all good vibes at Happyfields, where the pancakes are stacked high, the hip-hop is blaring and the smell of freshly brewed Single O coffee is in the air. This popular yellow diner is pumping out nostalgia-tinged North American classics like drippy eggs with sourdough toast soldiers, McLovin breakfast muffins and Torontian head chef Jesse Orleans’ specialty: fluffy, buttery pancakes topped with fried eggs, crispy bacon and maple syrup. In more good news, table reservations are now available.

Corner Ramsay and Dalhousie streets, Haberfield, happyfield.com.au

Home Croissanterie, Balmain

If the bacon and maple syrup croissant doesn’t make your day, the sugar-dusted kouign amann will. Ben Lai started baking croissants as a hobby; now his light, bright little bakery has tables outside for its devoted followers, who worship at the feet of his roast potato pastry crowned with potato crisps. Eat in or take home, but you’ll need Single O’s Reservoir blend to cut the richness of that creme brulee almond croissant you weren’t going to have but suddenly had to.

418 Darling Street, Balmain

Kurumac, Marrickville

The glass shopfront opens to a minimalist cafe that celebrates Japanese food and cafe culture in equal measures. That means eggplant katsu sando or wagyu beef udon noodles with egg, and a perky Sample Coffee piccolo latte. By doing things their way and nobody else’s, co-owners Eugene Leung and Dika Prianata, and chef Jun Okamatsu are shaping the future of cafes everywhere.

107 Addison Rd, Marrickville, 02 8593 9449

Misc., Parramatta

Anyone who bans avocado on toast for breakfast has our attention. But Misc. owner (and Gogglebox favourite) Jad Nehmetallah says it’s too obvious a dish. (Though you could order avocado and flatbread separately, and DIY.) Take the scenic route through Parramatta Park to this always-packed cafe, lunch spot and event venue by the river, sit inside or out, and cover the table with bright, vibrant Lebanese-inspired pita breads, dips, grills, salads and Stitch coffee. Best thing? You get to walk it off afterwards.

Bynes Avenue, Parramatta Park, misc.parramatta

Padre Coffee, Paddington

With four different grinders and a Slayer V3 espresso machine on one side, and shelves of coffee gear on the other, Melbourne-based Padre Coffee roasters’ first cafe in Sydney looks like a schmick showroom. But this one-stop coffee shop also has a shared table and sunny courtyard in which to try the rotating blend of the day. Add a spicy rendang toastie or Tuga Portuguese tart, and book in for an espresso 101 home barista class.

241A Glenmore Road, Paddington, padrecoffee.com.au

Our Father, Burraneer

Jerome Manion used to drive past this corner site for years, thinking what a great spot it would be for a cafe. And it is. The bright, light, whitewashed room is the spot for maple berry pancakes and hot-honey chicken sandwiches, backed by a busy kiosk and sunny courtyard. Coffee is Single O, breads are Thoroughbread, bagels are Brooklyn Boy, the bacon and egg roll is already legendary (so much bacon!), and service couldn’t be cheerier.

182 Burraneer Bay Road, Burraneer, ourfathercafe.com

Pillar Brewers, Burwood

The brutally monochrome concrete fit-out of Pillar is not what you expect to find in a Burwood laneway, and the surprises keep coming. A serious passion for coffee (and specialty teas) unites Edwin Luo, Uel Lim and Nate Tong, and Skittle Lane Roaster’s finest is served in exquisite hand-made ceramics. And – surprise – breakfast could be a thick slab of shokupan toast with yuzu marmalade, or Basque cheesecake from the delectable 15 Cenchi crew.

Shop 1, Unity Place, Burwood, pillarbrewers.com

Pina by Room Ten, Potts Point

The staff will warn you about the sourdough pancake: it takes 15 minutes to make and it’s too big for one person to stomach. Order it anyway. It is the fattest, fluffiest pancake you’re ever likely to find, piled high with crispy bacon and soft, salty butter. Pina’s menu features several amplified adaptations of brunch favourites like this, perfect to scoff while people-watching at dog-friendly outdoor tables, bubbled iced mocha in hand.

Shop 4, 29 Orwell Street, Potts Point

Rollers Bakehouse, Manly

Some of Sydney’s most beautiful pastries are at Rollers, a small Palm Springs-inspired cafe that continues to attract long lines well into its fifth year. The menu revolves around Wood and Co coffee and viennoiserie, with laminated sheets of buttery dough used to make everything from golden croissants to sausage rolls and quiche Lorraine. Watch out for limitededition weekend flavours, like cheesy patatas bravas, but be warned: you’ll have to show up early to score one.

19 Rialto Lane, Manly, rollersbakehouse.com

Salma’s Canteen, Rosebery

This new-wave canteen combines the culinary prowess of Kepos Street Kitchen with now-closed Enmore bakery Saga, creating food displays so beautiful you’ll wonder whether they’re real. The on-hand concierge explains some of your options: colourful salads, date-glazed leg ham and crispy-skinned smoked salmon to start; salted honey tarts, passionfruit palmiers and blackberry lime pavs for a sweet finish. It’s available to take away, but best enjoyed with a can of cold-brewed coffee on a sunny outdoor table.

Shop 2, 797 Botany Road, Rosebery, salmascanteen.com.au

Soulmate, Newtown

Is there anything more quintessentially Newtown than oat milk cold brew coffee on tap? Sweetened with maple, Soulmate’s signature Single O blend is the perfect morning pick-me-up alongside a thick slab of chewy, still-hot licorice bread. It’s a delicious, if off-beat, addition to a menu of brekkie classics and house-made bagels. And if the food doesn’t capture your eye, the dreamy interiors will – minimalist timber and white, beaming with sunlight, and featuring work by Bundjalung artist Shal (Shaun Daniel Allen).

Shop 12, 39 Phillip Street, Newtown, soulmatecoffee.com.au

Two Chaps, Marrickville

The in-house bakery forms the backbone of this cosy garage-turned-cafe, which churns out steaming loaves of wild-fermented sourdough, yuzu-glazed doughnuts and mushroom pies with thick, golden pastry. And they’re just some of the grab-and-go options. Come for a relaxed, sit-down brekkie (with your dog, of course – this is the inner west), to work through the produce-driven menu, featuring umami-rich mushroom congee and rhubarb-laden crumpets. Single O has your caffeine hit sorted with three specialty house blends.

122 Chapel Street, Marrickville, twochaps.com.au

Valentinas, Marrickville

Maple syrup, poured over stacks of fluffy pancakes, is the glue that binds people together at Valentinas. There’s a matching hint of sweetness in the Coffee Supreme caffe latte, too, served in old-school ’70s cups and saucers. The snazzy green-striped awning on the whitewashed building, the breezy welcome and the neighbourhood vibe turn first-timers into regulars. That’s if the grilled cheese sandwich with the tomato soup, and “slice of pie” of the day haven’t already.

132 Livingstone Road, Marrickville, valentinassyd.com

The winners of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2024 Awards will be announced on October 23, presented by Vittoria Coffee and Oceania Cruises. The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2024 will be on sale from October 24, featuring more than 450 NSW and ACT venues, from three-hatted fine-diners, to suburban wine bars, regional chicken shops and food-court icons. Venues listed in the Guide are visited anonymously by professional restaurant critics, who review independently. Venues are chosen at our discretion.