Sydney did not invent brunch, but it made it a way of life. The dishes that define brunch in Sydney, how to order well, and a Turkish twist in Darlinghurst.
Brunch in Sydney is less a meal than a weekly ritual. It is the long table on a Saturday morning, the second flat white you did not plan to order, the plate of eggs that turns into a three hour conversation. Other cities eat brunch. Sydney organises its weekends around it.
This is a guide to brunch Sydney style: where the habit came from, the dishes that define it, how to order well, and why a Turkish breakfast might be the best brunch in the city that nobody told you about.
How Sydney Became a Brunch City
The modern Sydney brunch is often traced back to Darlinghurst. In 1993 Bill Granger opened a small cafe on Liverpool Street, a few blocks from where we are today, and his scrambled eggs, ricotta hotcakes and avocado on toast became the template for a whole city. The idea was simple: good produce, generous plates, a relaxed room and no rush to leave.
Three decades later the formula has spread to every suburb, but the core has not changed. A Sydney brunch is built on strong specialty coffee, fresh bread, eggs cooked properly and a menu that lets you choose between virtuous and indulgent without judgement.
The Dishes That Define Brunch in Sydney
Every brunch menu in the city is a variation on a handful of classics. Knowing them helps you spot a kitchen that takes them seriously.
- Smashed avocado on toast: the dish the world associates with Sydney. Ours is sourdough, smashed avo, cherry tomatoes, feta, a poached egg, rocket and parmesan ($19).
- Eggs Benedict: poached eggs, hollandaise and a choice of toppings. We serve it on an English muffin with spinach and tomato and a choice of pastirma, sucuk, avocado and capers, or mushroom ($24).
- The big breakfast: the plate for serious appetites. The Stanley Big Breakfast has two eggs your way, beef sausage, pastirma, hash browns, garlic mushroom, roasted tomato, baked beans and sourdough ($28).
- Something sweet: pancakes or French toast for the table to share. Our French toast is baked brioche and croissant with lemon curd, caramelised white chocolate and vanilla ice cream ($22).
- The healthy bowl: acai, chia or a grain bowl for the lighter order. The acai bowl ($18) and the halloumi bowl ($23) are the most popular on our Healthy Life menu.
The Turkish Brunch Most Sydneysiders Have Not Tried
Here is the secret. Turkey has been eating brunch for centuries, it just never called it that. A Turkish breakfast, kahvaltı, is a spread of small plates meant for lingering: eggs cooked in a pan, white cheese and kasar, olives, tomato and cucumber, honey with kaymak, jam, fresh bread and endless small glasses of tea. It is the most sociable breakfast in the world, and it is made for exactly the slow weekend table Sydney loves.
If you are brunching for one or two, try menemen, Turkish eggs scrambled softly through tomato and green pepper and finished with mozzarella ($20), or çılbır, poached eggs on garlic yoghurt with spiced butter ($20). For the full experience, the Turkish Breakfast Board ($32) brings the spread for one, and the Ottoman Breakfast Feast ($75) is built for two to share.
How to Order a Great Brunch
- Order one savoury and one sweet for the table. Brunch is better shared, and the sweet plate is what everyone steals from anyway.
- Ask how the eggs are cooked. A kitchen that cares will offer poached, fried, scrambled or Turkish style, and will cook them to order.
- Match the coffee to the plate. A flat white suits eggs and toast, while a Turkish coffee or a pistachio latte is the move with something sweet.
- Go early or go late. Arriving before 9.30am or after 1pm on a weekend usually means no wait and a calmer room.
- Check the dietary labels. Good menus mark V, VG, GF and GFO so you are not guessing. Every dish on our menu is labelled.
Brunch in Darlinghurst, Where It All Started
Darlinghurst is still one of the best places in Sydney to brunch, partly because of its history and partly because it is walkable from the CBD, Surry Hills, Potts Point and Kings Cross. The streets are lined with terraces and independent kitchens rather than chains, and Stanley Street in particular has kept the feel of a neighbourhood strip.
Cappadocia Cafe sits at 82-84 Stanley Street, with tables inside and out on the street. We open at 6am on weekdays and 7am on weekends, breakfast is served all day, and the menu runs from classic Sydney brunch plates to a full Turkish spread. Come for the coffee, stay for the second round of tea.
Brunch at Cappadocia Cafe, 82-84 Stanley St, Darlinghurst. Open from 6am weekdays and 7am weekends, breakfast all day.
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