Cafeography
Sydney

Bakery cafés in Sydney

Pâtisseries and bakeries that pour coffee, from Little Portugal to King Street.

Photo: Valeria Boltneva, Pexels License

Sydney's bakery cafés follow the city's migrations: Portuguese custard tarts in Petersham, Italian focaccia in Leichhardt, French pâtisserie in The Rocks, and a strawberry watermelon cake from Newtown that spread on Instagram. CBD & The Rocks and Marrickville & Petersham have the most of them, ahead of Kirribilli & North Sydney and Bondi & Bronte.

Many keep longer hours than the usual 15:00 café close. La Renaissance Pâtisserie and Cafe at 47 Argyle Street and Honeymoon Patisserie at 96 New Canterbury Road both stay open until 18:00, Top Impression Bakery opens daily 07:00–18:00, and Saint Germaine Patisserie serves until 17:00 on weekdays.

Local tip: For pastéis de nata, walk New Canterbury Road in Petersham from Sweet Belem at 35B to Honeymoon Patisserie at 96; on a Sunday, skip Locantro in Leichhardt, which is closed.

Where these cafés are: CBD & The Rocks (6), Marrickville & Petersham (6), Kirribilli & North Sydney (5), Bondi & Bronte (4), Alexandria & Green Square (3), Darlinghurst & Potts Point (3), Bondi Junction & Waverley (3), Newtown & Erskineville (2), Crows Nest & St Leonards (2), Pyrmont & Ultimo (2), Redfern & Waterloo (2), Kensington & Randwick (2), Annandale & Leichhardt (1), Mosman & Cremorne (1), Glebe & Chippendale (1), Balmain & Rozelle (1), Cammeray (1), Paddington & Woollahra (1).

At a glance

46Cafés listed
25With opening hours
06:00Earliest opening
19:30Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Bondi Boulangerie, from 06:00 (Mon–Fri 06:00–14:00 · Sat–Sun 06:30–14:00).
  • Closes latest: Lamrock Cafe, until 19:30 (Mon–Sat 06:00–18:00 · Sun 06:00–19:30).
  • Most listed streets: King Street (2), George Street (2), Campbell Parade (2).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (37%), takeaway (20%), smoke-free indoors (15%).

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Little Portugal in Petersham

Petersham is considered the heart of Sydney's Portuguese community. Portuguese migrants who had first settled in Paddington moved there in the late 20th century for cheaper housing, and Portuguese businesses line New Canterbury Road and Audley Street.1 The community's ties to the suburb span about 40 years, and the Geographical Names Board has approved Little Portugal as the name of the precinct.2

Time Out has called New Canterbury Road the main street of Little Portugal, lined with patisseries selling a sweet, flaky Portuguese loaf.4 Sweet Belem is at 35B: its original chef learned to make pastéis de nata (custard tarts) in Belém, Lisbon, and passed the recipe to the current owner, and Time Out's reviewer rated them the best in Sydney.3 Honeymoon Patisserie, at 96, opens daily 07:30–18:00.

Italian Leichhardt

Leichhardt's Italian story is older. Italian fishermen worked from Iron Cove from at least 1920, and after the Second World War the suburb became a social and cultural gathering place for the Italian community. In 2020 the Geographical Names Board endorsed Little Italy for the precinct along Norton and Marion Streets, from Hawthorn Parade to Balmain Road, the second such name in Sydney after Little Portugal.5

Locantro Bakery at 9–11 Catherine Street has been part of Leichhardt since 1994, baking pastries, cakes, bread and its signature focaccia, and it pours Allpress coffee.6 It opens Monday to Saturday 06:30–15:00 and closes on Sundays.

Black Star Pastry and the watermelon cake

Christopher Thé opened Black Star Pastry on Australia Street, Newtown, in 2008, naming it after a Radiohead song as a nod to the suburb's alternative culture. He sold the business in 2019, and the Newtown shop moved around the corner to 325 King Street.7 It opens daily 08:00–16:30.

Its strawberry watermelon cake was first made for a friend's wedding. It layers almond dacquoise, rose-scented cream, watermelon and strawberries, with rose petals and pistachios on top, and Thé links its fame to the rise of Instagram around 2012.8 Black Star also runs bakery cafés at 500 George Street in the CBD and at 85–113 Dunning Avenue, Rosebery, which opens at 07:30 every day.

Pâtisseries across the rest of the city

In The Rocks, La Renaissance opens from 07:00 on weekdays and 08:00 at weekends, and The Tea Cosy at 5–7 Atherden Street serves from 09:00 or 09:30. Saint Germaine Patisserie at 88 Rosehill Street, Redfern, opens on weekdays from 07:15 and on Saturday until 15:30; Wild Flour is at 150 Abercrombie Street.

On Illawarra Road in Marrickville, Lox in a Box at 312 opens daily 07:00–14:30 and Miss Sina is at 132. Primary Coffee on Ward Avenue, Potts Point, is one of the earliest bakery cafés, opening at 06:00 on weekdays, and Grandma Moses in Kensington & Randwick opens at 07:00.

Sources

  1. Petersham, New South Wales, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Naming a Portuguese precinct in Petersham, Inner West Council, Your Say Inner West, accessed October 2026
  3. Sweet Belem, Time Out Sydney (November 13, 2015), accessed October 2026
  4. Petersham area guide, Time Out Sydney (March 2, 2016), accessed October 2026
  5. How Little Italy got its name, NSW Geographical Names Board (October 1, 2024), accessed October 2026
  6. Locantro Bakery, Destination NSW (Sydney.com), accessed October 2026
  7. Black Star Pastry, Broadsheet Sydney (updated June 16, 2022), accessed October 2026
  8. How It's Made: Black Star Pastry's Watermelon Cake, Broadsheet Sydney (August 13, 2019), accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

Other ways to browse Sydney

Specialty coffee

54 cafés

Outdoor seating

369 cafés

Open by 6am

99 cafés

Brunch

53 cafés

By area: CBD & The Rocks Darlinghurst & Potts Point Glebe & Chippendale Redfern & Waterloo Newtown & Erskineville Alexandria & Green Square Marrickville & Petersham

FAQ

Bakery cafés in Sydney: questions

Where can you buy Portuguese custard tarts in Sydney?

Petersham, the heart of Sydney's Portuguese community and officially named Little Portugal, has patisseries along New Canterbury Road. Sweet Belem at 35B New Canterbury Road makes pastéis de nata from a recipe its original chef learned in Belém, Lisbon. Honeymoon Patisserie at number 96 opens daily 07:30–18:00.

What is Black Star Pastry's strawberry watermelon cake in Sydney?

It is Black Star Pastry's best-known cake, first made for a friend's wedding by founder Christopher Thé, who opened the bakery in Newtown in 2008. It layers almond dacquoise, rose-scented cream, watermelon and strawberries under rose petals and pistachios. The Newtown shop is at 325 King Street, with others on George Street and in Rosebery.

Which Italian bakery café is in Leichhardt, Sydney?

Locantro Bakery at 9–11 Catherine Street has been part of Leichhardt since 1994, selling pastries, cakes, bread, its signature focaccia and Allpress coffee. It opens Monday to Saturday 06:30–15:00. Leichhardt's Little Italy precinct, named in 2020, runs along Norton and Marion Streets from Hawthorn Parade to Balmain Road.

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