Algorithm

Aussie cafe culture has well and truly transcended the flat white. While Marrickville’s Algorithm cafe will happily sort you out with a very good one on Mecca’s Moonwalker blend, this corner cafe is emblematic of how much the cafe drinks game has changed. Here, you can get coffee served over ice with orange-zested vanilla cream on top. You can also get iced raspberry Earl Grey tea spiked with wildflower honey, or an affogato ferrying an orb of Mapo gelato. We’re through the looking glass, people.

Algorithm co-owners Baby Angelina Kartiko and Beryl Leomongga are also in the business of elevating brunch classics. Kartiko – who trained at Le Cordon Bleu Sydney, interned at Quay and worked at Luke Mangan’s Glass Brasserie – is adding truffles to folded eggs, sliding hunks of spam onto brekkie muffins, and putting a Japanese spin on the salmon bagel. On the sweet front, a matcha Basque cheesecake joins daily pastries from the glass display case at the service counter.

After considering a move back to Indonesia post-Covid, Kartiko and Leomongga decided to stick around and open their own place. The pair opened Algorithm on Marrickville Road in September 2023. They went with a minimal, concrete-clad look, and the dining room catches a breeze through big wraparound windows. If you prefer al fresco, sip your iced coffee (or old-fashioned flat white) on a funky stool out front.