Nielsen Park Cafe and Restaurant.

The cafe/ restaurant at Nielsen Park dates from 1914.

The verandah is a particularly pleasant spot to sip coffee, and watch dolphins travelling up the harbour.

Inside there's a lovely dining area as well.

Website here.

View from the water, Nielsen Park

Floating, looking back at the cafe/restaurant at Nielsen Park.

Favourite coffee shop

When I used to work, this was my favourite coffee shop. They also sell flowers. On Sundays they clean the shop and prepare the flowers for sale.

Parsley Bay: A Little Piece of Paradise

Hula milk crates

Have a cup of coffee at Cafe Art in Surry Hills, and you could find yourself sitting on a hula milk crate, resting your drink on a double-decker.

It's a new use for all those old vinyl record storage units!

Pavilion cafe, Maroubra

Plenty to look at from the corner window seat at this beach cafe. 

Cafe chairs (Sally and Ann's Excellent Adventure 51)

Maybe there's something special about these chairs at the South Curl Curl kiosk which is worth a bird's eye view?

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Cafe chairs.

Sally and Ann's Excellent Adventure 11: Refuelling

No excellent adventure would be complete with adequate hydration and nourishment. Day Two began (after a bust trip back to the previous day's end-point) with an uphill walk, a downhill walk, and a restorative tea and coffee at Whale Beach.

Seasonal bounty at The Boathouse

Last time I was at The Boathouse at Palm Beach it was autumn (1 May 2010). This time it was spring - 29 October 2012.

The Boathouse Cafe, Palm Beach ...at water's edge

You don't mind waiting a while when the setting is so sublime.

Clover Cafe, Annandale

I recently ate at this cafe in Annandale with a couple of really good friends, including Colette from the UK.

I had the fabulous fruit platter. I have never had such a wonderful array of fresh fruit at a cafe!

Watermelon, blueberries, apple, passionfruit, mango, grapes, kiwifruit, strawberry, nashi pear, orange.

Cafe Latte

A beautifully presented latte at Cafe Clover in Annandale.

The first espresso machine was imported into Australia by an Italian in the 1950s. History here.


This was the heyday of post-WW2 Italian immigration to Australia (my in-laws for example) & had a profound impact on us. US Italian immigration largely predated the modern espresso machine, invented by Gaggia, so they missed out and had to wait for Starbucks to approximate a version of espresso coffee.

Starbucks has pretty much failed in Aust due to the widespread abailability of independent cafes. Even the smallest places have espresso machines. Latte, cappuccino, macchiato, short black, long black, flat white (like a latte but a bit less milk and frothiness) are part of out language!

Carss Park - last light

The light fades over Kogarah Bay from Carss Park. Friday night we went to the Carss Park Cafe and Grill for dinnner (for my birthday!). The food was superb, and the setting beautiful, and I enjoyed the company of my family.

Nookie

Reportedly the smallest cafe shop in Sydney.
Read more here.
Of course, there's a facebook page.

Food with a view

The view from the cafe and restaurant area at Westfield shopping centre, Bondi Junction is fabulous - right across Sydney Harbour. A bit too chilly for outdoor eating when I was there recently, and a bit too early for lunch! (Thanks to Michelle for the tip-off!)

Tuk tuk

No, not in Thailand, but inside a Thai restaurant in Pitt St, Sydney - the Khao San.

Coffee, Surry Hills

On Sundays I like to go to a Pilates class in Darlinghurst, and then enjoy a large latte at Toast cafe, on the corner of Reservoir and Mary Sts, Surry Hills.

Cafe at Ramsgate

I previously wrote about the fate of the Omeros family restaurant, the Paragon, at La Perouse, washed away in a storm in 1974.

The current generation of Omeros's run this place on the beach at ramsgate, further around Botany Bay. Here's the view from the water.

Large latte, please

Coffee break

Boatshed Cafe, La Perouse;site of Paragon Seafood Restaurant

Nick and Angelo Omeros, with their mother, Helen, emigrated to Australia from Greece in 1953. They, and their three older brothers, became restauranteurs.

Nick, Michael, Costa and Comino opened the Paragon Seafood Restaurant at La Perouse in November 1968. They transformed the Paragon Café and Boat Shed from a café, milkbar and take-away with boat hiring facilities. It was the second restaurant to specialise in seafood in New South Wales.

When diners turned up for lunch on the last Sunday in May 1974, they were horrified at the sight that greeted them. The collapsed restaurant building was literally slipping into the sea, a victim of the previous night’s storm. This was regarded as the worst in twenty years and caused a great deal of damage in Sydney. The restaurant was a total write-off, and the Omeros brothers moved on to success elsewhere.