Burnt Orange at The Club House

Sometimes you want it all: a great view, historic location, surrounding parklands, good food, an exclusive gift shop and a heritage house. Too much to ask? Not in the case of Burnt Orange, an eatery that ticks all these boxes and more.

Situated at the old army base in Mosman (Middle Head), it’s worth the short drive for the parklands and views across Sydney Harbour alone. You can see Balmoral Beach on one side and then out through the heads on the other. The cafe/restaurant itself occupies an old sandstone federation house that started life as a golf clubhouse in the 1920s, before being converted to army barracks. Today the restaurant seating occupies most of the sweeping, wrap around veranda, taking advantage of that vista.

It’s easy to imagine that you’ve stepped back in time here, with the welcome addition of buttermilk pancakes with double smoked bacon and syrup for breakfast, or signature fish pie for lunch, topped off with a thoroughly modern Single Origin coffee. The scones have a reputation all of their own, along with long afternoons of cheese platters and wine.

It’s a regular haunt for the pram brigade on weekends and ladies-who-lunch during the week, so bookings are recommended. But that doesn’t stop everyone from uni students to business lunches from getting a slice of that view.

It’s impossible to skip the extensive gift shop on the way out, but with everything from designer homewares to providore goods, why would you miss it?

The kiosk downstairs has been transformed into a function space named the Signals Room after the historical use of the clubhouse during WWII when it became the barracks for 12 L of C Signals.