A Pocket Guide to the Best Coffee in Sydney

Sending Melbourne into a small identity crisis, a globally recognised award has tipped a Sydney café as the best in the entire world. Through extremely rigorous voting criteria, Toby's Estate flagship café and roastery in Chippendale ranked number one in the inaugural World's 100 Best Coffee Shops.

It’s a testament to Sydney's stealthy rise in coffee dominance. And while the city’s coffee scene has long been overshadowed by its Victorian sibling, Australia’s history with the bean actually began in the Harbour city. The First Fleet brought coffee seeds into Sydney Cove, planting the seedlings at the site of First Government House. You really can’t get a (single) origin story more definitive than that, even though the climate was all wrong for the beans.

By the 40s café culture was flourishing in Leichhardt, Sydney, thanks to Italian immigrants with a thirst for the good stuff. By the 1950s espresso machines were more common in Sydney, and all the cool kids flocked to Kings Cross where cafés stayed open after 11pm to nurse espressos and listen to jazz.

Today an exhaustive list of Sydney’s best caffeine fountains would take hours to read. Sydney is large, it sprawls, and every LGA has at least one café or eatery that is capital S serious about coffee. However, we have pulled together a mini insider guide to where you can find very, very good coffee across Sydney.

In Sydney’s CBD you’ll find a boom in modern espresso bars that mix old-world techniques with cutting-edge innovation, proving that even in the urban grind, passion percolates.

By day, Kahii serves as one of the best coffee places in Sydney, roasting their own beans to offer a house blend, with award winning single origin, cold brew, and filter options. As the sun sets, the space transforms into an intimate bar, perfect for after-work gatherings. The Japanese-inspired design oozes quiet elegance, it’s the perfect place for a date, day or night.

Inside scoop: Coffee service reaches until 5pm, for those in need of an afternoon pick-me-up, and they even have a coffee subscription service so that you can enjoy their artful small-batch beans at home.

Where to stay: The gracefully refurbished, five-star icon that is Sofitel’s Sydney Wentworth is where true French elegance collides with the city’s raw energy, placing you steps from the Opera House, Circular Quay, and Sydney’s best coffee.

Outta Coffee is the kind of place you only find if you're lost or looking for it. A hidden gem tucked away off George St between Central Station and Chinatown, the coffee here earns rave reviews for being consistently excellent, and with service to match. Nab a seat outside and enjoy your coffee fix in the afternoon sun.

Inside Scoop: While this is a guide to the best coffee in Sydney, and there's no doubt Outta Coffee have their coffee menu solidly dialed in, if you're looking to mix it up a little, the iced matcha here is some of the very best you'll find in Sydney.

Where to stay: Mercure Sydney is just a 5 minute walk away along George St via Railway Square.

Out in the bright bubble of the eastern suburbs, coffee takes on a totally different energy. Here people are grabbing a quick brew before a surf or settling into a beachfront café to watch the world go by.

Even hiding in a very chic little laneway in Potts Point, Piña is rarely visited without a wait time. The tiny café in Sydney's inner east quickly became a cult favourite a few years ago for their elevated breakfast and lunch classics complemented by a robust coffee programme featuring brews from Mecca Coffee.

Inside scoop: Piña’s chicken and mushroom congee is a cloud of fluffy, comforting rice speckled with sweet corn, laced with tender chicken and earthy mushrooms, crowned with crispy fried leeks and garlic. It’s like a hug from the inside.

So close to South Coogee Beach you can hear the waves, Coffeeroom is a teeny café known for single-origin cuppas sourced from boutique brewers Loggerhead Coffee Co. The team faithfully uses two different types of roasters to cater to the characteristics of different beans. Despite its limited kitchen, Coffeeroom offers a selection of delectable paninis that have garnered a very loyal following.

Inside scoop: Operating every day of the week from 6 am to 2 pm, it's the perfect pit stop before or after a beachside stroll.

With a plum location within the historic Bondi Pavilion, Glory Days offers uninterrupted views of the iconic Bondi Beach. The all-day menu features vibrant dishes like the Goodness Bowl, packed with seasonal vegetables, grains, and a poached egg. The rotating blends and single origin beans come from Stitch Coffee, a roaster known for its genuine commitment to quality and sustainability.

Inside scoop: If you don’t manage to nab a seat, you can still get an excellent coffee from their frenetic little takeaway window.

Where to stay: Just a two short train stops from Bondi Junction, the ibis budget Sydney East on William St is in the centre of buzzy Darlinghurst, and has some of the best-kept-secret views of Sydney.

Sydney’s most “Melbourne” set of suburbs are all in the west, where coffee is an art-form set against an industrial backdrop. Lots of repurposed warehouses, and cafés that are as much about the experience as they are about the perfectly pulled ristretto.

Arguably Sydney’s most famous coffeehouse and certainly its most Instagrammed, The Grounds of Alexandria is more a destination in itself than a coffee shop. The expansive space combines a café, restaurant, bar, coffee roastery, bakery, florist, and market all under one roof. The lush gardens, kitschy art installations and resident farm animals add to its charm, making it a favourite for families. Their seven-bean house blend is a testament to their dedication to the craft of coffee and they’ve elevated the take-home experience to include pod capsules.

Inside scoop: Their latest café, The Grounds Coffee Factory in Eveleigh, leans into extreme caffeine whimsy with a Willy Wonka-inspired coffee bean transport system zips beans from one end of the café to the other.

Ona Coffee's Marrickville location is a haven for true coffee aficionados. The café offers a range of unique brews, including a $35 cup that promises an unparalleled tasting experience. The sleek, modern design features dedicated counters for espresso, filter, and coffee-based mocktails, allowing patrons to choose their preferred brewing method.

Inside scoop: Their super knowledgeable baristas love to help you explore their experimental brews and flavour profiles.

The northern suburbs are known for leafy enclaves of suburban refinement, where you’ll find beautifully fit-out cafés on the corners of wide, residential streets.

Opened in 2022, Olea brings a touch of Mediterranean flair to the sleepy suburb of Lindfield. The café's luxe interior combines timber with marble accents, and the menu features dishes like 'nduja scrambled eggs and porchetta paninis. Coffee is by the master-roasters at Allpress Espresso, who designed their own hot air roaster from scratch.

Inside scoop: Hit the frankly glorious charcuterie bar before your aperitivo espresso. It’s perfect for those slow afternoons when you’re ready to savour life’s mouthy pleasures.

Basking on a sunlit corner in Manly, Noon is the latest venture from the team behind local long-time favourites Chica Bonita and Sunset Sabi. They sling coffee from Melbourne's Seven Seeds and Sydney's emerging roaster, Made of Many. The menu includes clever little riffs on café classics, like a house-baked banana bread with espresso and maple butter, and a salted chocolate shake made with Messina's dark chocolate sorbet.

Inside scoop: The orange flavoured, ice-filled espresso with elderflower tonic will gift you a whole new way to get coffee into your body.

Where to stay: The iconic Manly Pacific’s prime position means morning beach walks, midday swims, and all-day strolls to local cafés and breweries.

Each of Sydney's neighborhoods offer distinct café experiences that reflect the city's multicultural tapestry. From beachside brews to inner-city espresso bars, there's a cup for every mouth. Melbourne, you have been warned…