Meet Mica

A kitchen led by a former fine-dining chef. A menu of innovative restaurant-like dishes (without any staples aside from avo on toast or eggs). An elaborate French toast (this time a matcha creation) and filter coffee. It seems to be an increasingly common model for Sydney cafes, and Meet Mica fits the bill.

The chef is Lee Li, who was previously on the pans at Tetsuya’s and Kensington Street Social. His menu is utterly, and perhaps sometimes unnecessarily, luxurious. A $28 congee is stewed with threads of lobster and topped with charred lobster tail, katsuobushi and ginger; rice noodle rolls are stuffed with crab, tofu and bok choy; and porridge, the most standard-sounding item, is doused in silky coconut foam, banana custard and a yuzu sauce, making it more like a dessert.

The fit-out is surprisingly conservative, considering the food, with white tiles, light timbers and sculptural light fittings.

The coffee offering includes Little Marionette for espresso coffees and monthly guest roasters for all filters. To keep up with the menu, there’s macadamia milk as an option for all coffees.