Kurumac

Kurumac, which means “Cool Mac” in Japanese, serves more of the East-West fusion of its northern sibling Cool Mac. Like at the Kirribilli cafe, there’s hip-hop and jazz on the speakers. There’s a colourful mural by Sydney collective Ar-Chive overlooking polished black tables and a white La Marzocco machine.

The all-day meals are light and emulate the morning staples you might find in family-run joints all over Japan. Expect dishes such as onigiri (rice balls) packed with pickled mustard greens, or mixed vegetable tempura with green tea soba noodles. Then there’s the spicy cod roe melt – a toasted, inch-high cut of shokupan (Japanese milk bread) spread lightly with peppery roe and grilled with tasty cheese.

For lunch, there are salads and a couple of heartier rice dishes, including a velvety ox tongue curry and the tempura eel, which you can steep in a green tea broth to your taste.

The sweets cabinet is decked out with pastries from The Bread and Butter Project and MaPo Gelato from Newtown guest stars on the drinks list. Add its fior de latte flavour to an iced latte, or go for the hojicha green tea gelato shake.