First Look: Marrickville’s Bright and Friendly New Cafe Pelican Delivers Milk-Bar Nostalgia and Breakfast Dogs

For a long time, 522 Illawarra Road, Marrickville, sat as a mysterious shopfront to passers-by. A sewing machine by the window suggested it was an alterations store – but it also stocked baby formula and vitamins. Most of the time the store’s door was either left slightly ajar or closed. But the space is no longer a mystery. Now, it’s Pelican, the suburb’s newest cafe.

Behind the cafe is a happy duo: Oleh Sokolovsky, former owner of Illi Hill , and current owner of vintage furniture store Juliet’s Balcony in Dulwich Hill; and Anthony Lot, who worked at Illi Hill when it was under Sokolovsky’s ownership.

It’s hard to miss Pelican, which glares out over Steel Park with signal-red signage hanging out the front. Inside, the cafe feels like a modern take on an old-school milk bar: green, orange and white strip blinds hanging in the doorway and painted Neapolitan-style walls striped in sunset orange, white and sky blue. It’s furnished with refurbished furniture from Juliet’s, features plenty of natural wood and boasts a countertop made from recycled plastic by local Defy Design. And there’s natural light aplenty.

Pastries come daily from Brickfields, joining house-based muffins and banana bread in a small glass counter. For something savoury, opt for a snackable all-day breakfast dog, the bun filled with Cantonese-inspired buttermilk scrambled egg – with the option to add a Black Forest Smokehouse sausage and/or avocado. If you’re after something more substantial, choose between the basic long dog (which carries a Vienna-style frankfurt) or the classic, which tops the wiener with sauerkraut, pickles, onion and mustard.

Necessity spurred the idea for these all-day dogs, Sokolovsky tells Broadsheet. “We can’t put a grease trap in here, but we wanted to have a food offering that’s not just pastries.”

Coffee is supplied by The Little Marionette, roasted nearby in Rozelle, for your standard offering or a thirst-quenching coffee frappe. And there are smoothies, just-squeezed juices (classic orange or a green mix of spinach, kale, celery, apple and lemon), and classic milkshakes like choc-Oreo, vanilla malt and strawberry, too. Or branch out with an iced elderflower tea or iced turmeric latte.

“There are a lot of nice cafes around here that do a lot of nice and refined serious things, but I want kids and old people to feel comfortable,” says Lot. “We just want it to be bright and fun.”

Pelican
522 Illawarra Road, Marrickville

Hours:
Mon to Fri 6.30am–2.30pm
Sat & Sun 7am–2.30pm

@pelican_marrickville