It could be said that, while restaurants are perfect, special places to be, the venues we spend the most time in are on the casual side. The relationships run deeper. Your daily coffee joint or favourite sandwich shop, the onigiri spot you dash to any time you need a post-lunch snack. Or Sunday-morning go-tos when you want a big brekkie.

2025 has seen us go mad for bread, lick globetrotting scoops and line up for morning tiramisu and fried cream-filled sandwiches. And it’s venues just like these that we’re celebrating in this list of 16. See you there.

BAKERIES

AP Quay, Circular Quay

Did we really need another AP Bakery? When you see (and smell) the blackened spatchcocks and crispy, crackling porchetta spinning on a French spit at the team’s flashy new outpost in Circular Quay, the answer is obvious: hell yes we needed another AP Bakery. This one stands out from the growing pack for the aforementioned beasts, served in hot rolls or focaccia. But will you add a side of rotisserie drip potatoes – with a texture that’s part-roasted, part-confit, made in very limited supply each day? Hell yes, you will. – Dan Cunningham, national food and drink editor

Daifuku, Lane Cove

The squishiness is out of control at this little daifuku mochi counter that popped up, surprisingly, on a leafy suburban street in Lane Cove. The Japanese parcels are made fresh every morning by Chisato Nakayama, a nurse-turned-mochi-maker. They’re available in five flavours. Go for the original (and most traditional), plump with red bean paste and a whole strawberry. Or go for the fun factor with the purpley-blue daifuku that’s so soft you can cut it with string. And you do – each orb arrives with a length of string on the side, ready to wrap around its middle and pull. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Fiore Sandwich, CBD

This year, Fiore Bread – the McMahons Point bakery known for dark, chewy loaves of sourdough; wheels of dinner rolls; and a homely line-up of sweets – made big city moves. Its sibling kiosk hangs out in Martin Place, under an electric-blue sign. There are seven grab’n’go sangas on whopping slices of soft sandwich loaf, along with self-serve batch-brew taps and an impressive cream-topped Mont Blanc. Nab your fill then pull up a seat in the “retro Italian” fit-out by Make Haus, where big blue tiles clash (in a good way) with a funky, lino-covered cabinet and marble-topped bench. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Khanom House, Chippendale

When you order a slice of cake from Khanom House for the first time, you’ll look down at it and think to yourself, ‘How on earth am I going to get through this thing?’ Whether you’re having one of the coconut-pandan chiffons, a classic sponge, or its signature layered honey cake, the servings at this Thai bakery are generous – teetering on the verge of ludicrous. But then you start eating it. And within about 120 seconds, there’ll be no cake left. Barely a crumb. And then you will either go and order something else or immediately plan to come back again soon. I did both. – Callum McDermott, Hot List editor

CAFES AND CASUAL EATERIES

Bote, Manly

Trust the northern beaches to do something so breezy, so pared back – and have it bring a crowd. That’s what the OG Effie team has done here: coffee and pastries. That’s it. On the deck surrounding Manly Boatshed. The people come – to laze around, dangle their feet over the water and take in the on-the-water view. “There’s a gazillion dogs,” co-owner Aniella Batten, who owns Bote (pronounced “boaty”) with her husband Sam, told Broadsheet in March. “It’s family-friendly, it’s pet-friendly – it just feels so homely even though it’s so open.” – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Cafe Cressida, Woollahra

If there’s a vibe we like, it’s a high-low one. Chef Phil Wood and Lis Davies (the couple behind Ursula’s) opening a cafe is exactly that. Cafe Cressida offers more casual meals with a cheffy edge. The Queens Court space was once home to Caffe Agostini, where people flocked for Margie Agostini’s orange cake. Wood has replicated the buttery, zesty original, and is serving it alongside brekkie classics done very well: gruyere toasties on Iggy’s bread, silky scrambles with bacon and an LP’s sausage, a pudding-y French toast. Yes, the menu shifts as the day goes on, but it’s that breakfast – in the pastel pink dream of a courtyard – we’re coming back for. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Berta’s Deli, Marrickville

Berta, darling, you had me at spicy, sweet hashbrowns with zingy burger sauce. But then you kept going with the Fennel Two-Ways! The sanga where a tangle of roasted and pickled fennel is cut by stracciatella, red-hot honey and radicchio, with house-made grape compote swiped over the Infinity Bakery focaccia-style Turkish bread. So now I am yours. I’ll be back to your swish Sydenham Road digs for that Macca’s-style brekkie muffin, stat. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

El Taco, Marrickville

One of life’s greatest joys is ambling up to a taco stand, watching a taquero work their magic, and then consuming their tacos. It’s usually something best experienced overseas, but cousins Edson Dominguez Tapia and Miguel Seynos of El Taco are doing a spectacular job in Sydney. We’re talking tacos made to order – with charcoal-grilled steak or chorizo – on hand-pressed corn tortillas with your choice of house salsas. Plus, agua fresca to wash it all down. In a city where birria tacos appear to be king, they’re forging their own way. Selling out almost every night, Sydneysiders clearly know what’s up. – Howard Chen, contributor

Flora, Newtown

Some venues are diamonds in the rough, with sublime dishes hidden in unassuming places. Flora ’s promises begin at its facade – butter yellow with soft curtains in bay windows – and are made good by its vegetarian menu. One quarter of the Continental Deli team’s Australia Street hold, Flora’s menu comes straight from head chef Jude Hughes (of Adelaide’s now-closed Summertown Aristologist. The winner is the ricotta and cacao husk short stack, where the syrup is silky and there’s a deeply flavoured honeycomb-laced nob of quickly melting butter. Flora does the day-to-night dance well too, with rainbow pickle plates, pierogi, purple gnocchi with lentil miso and more. It’s one of those venues that defies categorisation; is it a cafe with a great dinner menu? Is it a restaurant that also does brunch? Whatever it is, we’re here for it. – Lucy Bell Bird, national assistant editor

Greenbergs, Bondi

“You had to have the big salad!” George yells at Elaine. He may as well have been screaming at me, as I hyperfixated on my Greenbergs salad last week. And I’d do it again. The “counter and caterer” just arrived in Bondi, direct from the Lox in a Box team. As established, the bowls are big, served in a homey room splashed in yellow. My herby mix of greens, couscous, cauliflower and beetroot was studded with chewy little currants and pomegranate jewels. There was feta to cut the sweet, and a gently zingy pomegranate molasses dressing. It was too much for one, especially with the serve of hot, crunchy, bright-green falafel on the side. These big salads are serious business, and I’ll be treatin’ myself to them forever more. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Iftar, Merrylands

Chef Jeremy Agha’s dance between tradition and creativity shines in Iftar ’s dishes of Wagyu kofta dumplings. In shawarma tacos. In the “sausage sizzle”, where the flavours of the Levant hit an Aussie classic. The macaroni bi laban delivers the pasta drenched in a herbed-up yoghurt and browned butter. Then there’s the splashy brekkie board, where fried eggs cosy up to a zesty house-made foul; Lebanese village cheeses, haloumi, akawi and baldiye; pickles aplenty; and little soft puffs of labneh. It’s the food of the Levant, ready to eat exactly as it was intended: generous servings piled high on heaving tables. “Middle Eastern hospitality is about abundance,” chef-owner Jeremy Agha tells us. “Even if people say they’re full, you keep feeding them. That’s how you show love.” – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Otogo, CBD

Move over, Macca’s. Otogo Town Hall is the second grab-and-go onigiri shop from chef-founder Mitsuhiro Yashio, who’s asking a big question in the era of peak fast food and expensive everything: if you had a choice between onigiri and soba noodles for the same price as a Big Mac meal, what would you choose? “I think people will choose the healthy option,” Yashio told Broadsheet back in March. If the enduring queues are anything to go by, we’d say he’s onto something. Enter the blond timber space, order your healthy Japanese lunch from a touchscreen terminal and the team will make it faster than a teenager on minimum wage. You’ll be back at the office (sigh) in no time. – Dan Cunningham, national food and drink editor

Taguan, Redfern

Filipinos are the fifth largest migrant group in Australia, so it beggars belief that there are so few Filipino restaurants in Sydney, outside hubs like Blacktown. Will Mahusay led the charge bringing now-closed Sydney Cebu Lechon to Newtown, and now neighbourhood cafes like Taguan in Surry Hills have taken the baton. On a street packed with pho shops, the little sage-green cafe pays homage to classic Filipino food while also riffing on classics. That’s why you’ll find co-owner Vincent Baquiran’s late father’s adobo served with garlic rice, then that same sauce punctuating the Croque Mamser toastie with smoked ham, tomatoes and Swiss cheese. Not wanting to offend anyone’s mum or grandma, Taguan bills its adobo as “second best”. Don’t tell my mum, but I reckon it rivals the one I grew up on. – Pilar Mitchell, contributor

Wilburs Deli, Brookvale

Wilburs is named after the adorable pig protagonist from EB White’s 1952 children’s novel Charlotte’s Web. And indeed, you should channel Wilbur at the expanded outpost of the adored Manly sandwich shop. Go on, then – order a focaccia heaving with hot sopresso, Calabrian pepper and smoked scamorza. Or a rare roast beef and giardiniera baguette slicked with spicy horseradish. You’ll be in good company. Because, after all, owner Rob Hardie is damn right: everyone loves a sandwich. “The queen, the king, whoever.” – Dan Cunningham, national food and drink editor

ICE-CREAM

Bubooza, Concord

The best flavours can be punchy, layered, complex. But sometimes, the simplest ingredients are the most delicious. Take ashta-flavoured booza, an Arabic ice-cream made from just milk, sugar and orange blossom water, along with mastic and sahlab that gives the sweet its chewy, stretchy texture. Roll it in pretty pink and green roasted pistachios and you’ve got a close-to-perfect treat. In Concord, dessert master and Bubooza founder Abu Hassan serves scoop after scoop just like he used to back in Tripoli, Lebanon, in 1973. For now, Bubooza is a schmick counter inside a very good shawarma shop, but a permanent location and many more flavours are in the works. – Pilar Mitchell, contributor

Kreamu, Marrickville

Vietnamese ice-cream, you say? That means punchy flavours like soursop and tamarind, and sticky rice and ginger. Or Vietnamese iced coffee, and a mix of avo and durian. There’s a golden scoop that pays homage to che bap, the sweet corn pudding adored in Vietnam, and when Broadsheet dropped in to try Kreamu ’s flavours – all made with coconut milk – we were left dazzled. Siblings Amy Phan and Harry Nguyen are behind the gelateria, which opened in Cabramatta last December – and was so popular, this Marrickville outpost opened soon after. Seasonal specials and an energetic team will keep you coming back for scoop after scoop. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Additional reporting by Daniel Phu and Marie-Antoinette Issa.