Just like the Marrickville original but with a deli, picnic boxes and a completely vegetarian menu.

Ordinary, extraordinary and everything in between in a 1920s Orient Express like setting. We'd expect nothing less from the canny operators of Sydney's most successful cafe.

Get "proper" pancakes topped with real maple syrup, “happy” eggs with an assortment of sides and a Canadian take on the Bloody Mary (complete with Clamato juice and Canadian vodka) at this sunny cafe.

An unpretentious corner cafe serving all day crowd-pleasers and Single O Coffee. Batch brew on tap – served cold, hot, or topped with whipped cream – is about as fancy as it gets here. For food, try the comforting black-sausage sanga, or the vegan tofu scrambled “eggs”.

Japanese comfort food by the Cool Mac crew. Coffee paired with onigiri, a staple Ox tongue curry, and the occasional ramen pop-up has turned this minimal joint into a weekend destination. On a Saturday morning, the footpath outside gets crowded.

Whether you come here or hit up Devon's Barangaroo counterpart, you're in for much the same thing: rich, flavoursome food that's wilfully ignorant of the boundaries between cuisines. The menu's real mainstay is Breakfast with Sakuma’s – a log of miso grilled market fish, a 63-degree egg, smoked eel croquettes and seasonal salad.

Bill Granger didn't invent avo toast, but he's certainly responsible for popularising it. Ditto for ricotta hotcakes. His breezy, licensed cafes (also in Darlo and Surry Hills) are still some of the best places in Sydney for a daytime meal, regardless of tastes or dietary requirements.

This architecturally striking cafe has food to match the sophistication of its surrounds. Order the classic avo on sourdough, made here with house-dried tomatoes and "everything bagel" seasoning. For the less health-conscious, there's also a killer fried chicken waffle with maple bacon gravy.

For inimitable breakfast ramen with a buttered-toast broth, bacon and eggs.

Dressed up and unconventional all-day meals in a laid-back and sunny setting.

Central and South America are the jumping off points for this unusual menu, where unfamiliar but entirely delicious dishes such as huevos divorciados (fried egg tostadas with smoked cheese and salsa) show up regularly. Also, the fried chicken is a classic.

One of Sydney's first new-wave cafes is still going strong, with its Middle Eastern-influenced menu and consistently great coffee. The Ottoman eggs – poached eggs with crumbed eggplant and garlic labneh on house-baked bread – has been a staple since the early days.

Mediterranean-influenced, vegetarian breakfasts and outstanding vegan doughnuts.

The breakfast menu here offers traditional congee, Thai egg dishes and a selection of toasts.

Enter this extravagant cafe in a corner art deco building – featuring a striking Keeley Baird (from Something More Design) fit-out and a mural by artist Andrew Dennis – for a menu designed by an ex-Momofuku Seibo chef.

For bagels and all kinds of pickled, cured and smoked New York deli-style dishes.

The three owners of Shuk serve the kind of meals that they ate with their families in Israel. Which is to say, a modern interpretation with a few global influences. Great – but we still love the classic shakshuka or slow-cooked lamb with hummus.

Fenugreek-crusted chicken schnitzel at 8am? Done. Or maybe grilled octopus with charred baby peppers, saffron confit tomatoes, labneh, and side of toasted za'atar flatbread? Easy.

If you'd asked us, we wouldn't have said there were too many parallels between Nordic and Japanese cuisines. That was before Edition came along.

Health-focused food doesn't usually taste this good, nor have a sense of humour about itself. Try the Breakfast with Gwyneth: two fried biodynamic eggs with sauteed quinoa, kale, spinach, garlic and chilli. Or maybe a beautiful fruit plate.

A sophisticated American-style diner that's all about the sort of fuss-free food that you’d find in a New York or LA diner: biscuits and gravy, vegan sloppy joes, fish-finger sandwiches and pancakes.

The most creative, well-executed menu anywhere on the Lower North Shore. The food offering changes regularly, as does the coffee – it’s a who’s-who of the country’s most exciting artisan roasters.

Where else can you get a cheese melt with a plate of katsu or ochazuke? The dining space doubles as a gallery spruiking a rotation of Sydney artists. Anything goes at this long-standing Kirribilli joint; a Japanese through-line brings it all together.

This tiny Potts Point institution counts a couple of Sydney’s top chefs among its legion of fans. Neil Perry and Josh Niland both hail its classic brunch fare and Mecca coffee – best enjoyed al fresco in the picturesque laneway.

A classic beachside all-rounder, from morning to night.