Surry Hills comfortably boasts some of the best cafes in Sydney – but it can be oddly tough to find good coffee at the southern end of Crown Street. Brewtown founders Lucia Lenarduzzi and Simon Trigg have been solving this caffeine conundrum with Royale Specialty, a cosy cafe housed inside a breezy renovated terrace.

The menu is filled with crowd-pleasers, from old favourites such as the za’atar flatbread with dukkah, bacon, hummus, tabouli and a soft-boiled egg; to newer additions like the panko-crumbed bacon schnitzel with potato salad and pickles. We also love the buttermilk pancake with bluberry compote.

Naturally processed single-origin coffees roasted in-house are still the focus, but Royale is open on Friday evenings for natural wines and snacks, making it a great local option for a drink, too. There are a handful of blue-tiled tables inside – but we say grab a shady spot on the kerb for primo people-watching.