rating cafes in sydney by how much writing I get done in them
also: the locations that make up 15% of my monthly spending
There is a small but mighty joy that comes with purchasing a little beverage, having it fit snuggly in your hand or seated prettily atop a coaster, an inexplicable accessory to your work the same way you have a favourite tote bag or handbag or clutch as you head to the shops.
I have discovered that, very consistently, I get a lot more work done at a cafe.
And by work, I mean what I do for fun (real work), not for money (fake work) — in which I have also unfortunately found that I’m more productive in an office setting instead of at home.
An overwhelming majority of the words you read in this newsletter were written at a cafe of some kind, either during my one-hour lunch break, the thirty minutes or so I squeeze during WFH days, and the lucky 1-2 hours per weekend I tuck into a cafe I hadn’t seen before. Sometimes, I make my way to one of the scarce Sydney cafes open at night and spend 1-2 hours there on a weekday night too — which used to be happen quite often but not very much because, well, shit’s expensive1, driving sucks ass, and I’m often very spent by my fake work already.
It’s the student equivalent of going to a library to study even though you could clearly do so with more comfort at home. It’s that comfort which chokes you. These outdoor spaces create accountability, and accountability is one hell of driver, even if you’re the only person doing said thing.
So, over the last eight years in Sydney, I’ve garnered a list of locations where I’ve done a lot of my writing, or have been to once or twice and believe are also excellent place to write/study.
Hopefully, some of these could be the venue of your next study date: whether it’s an actual date where you’ve invited your crush out and now have no idea what to do, studying for your scuffed MATH1131 course of whatever the heck it’s called nowadays, or not an actual date but studying for your MBA / Chartered Accountant / Actuaries Institute exam that you’re too far down to back away from.
Alternatively, if you’re a cool cunt like myself — a venue to build and write your personal newsletter, possibly even talking about awesome cafes to visit.
A couple of disclaimers on my grading system2, seating etiquette3, and my writing habits outside of cafes4 in the footnotes.
Journaling in Public is a newsletter sharing stories and strategies on career, creativity, and finding magic in the mundane — so that the parts you’re quietly figuring out don’t feel like yours alone to carry. If that appeals to you, we should be friends!
Envoy Cafe
Location: Shop 17/259 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
Coffee: Dutch Smuggler
Seating: Bright, semi-outdoor venue that seats 20-30 people. Seldom crowded.
Best for: A temporary tuckaway during your office lunch break
Envoy Cafe’s website
As a corporate slave stationed just next to Wynyard Station, I’m vehemently spoiled for choice when it comes to nearby coffee. However, I’m also cursed with 1) everything being really crowded 2) running into coworkers5. Interestingly, I never run into one at Envoy Cafe, situated on a not-so-commonly used street, serving Dutch Smuggler coffee, matcha and hojicha, and wonderful focaccias. This is currently my most visited spot, because even during the hectic lunch rush, I always seem to find comfort here.
August Coffee
Location: Shop 6/16-22 George St, North Strathfield NSW 2137
Coffee: Ona
Seating: Plentiful seating, both indoor and outdoor. On hot days, they have a habit of cranking the aircon to max.
Best for: Late night study in the Strathfield area, which is roughly the centre of Sydney.
August Coffee on Bakehouse Quarter
August Coffee has one key advantage and that is being next to the disgustingly more popular Bar Biscotti. That might sound like an insult but I mean this with full complement and praise because this lets August Coffee collect the more subdued, peaceful, sophisticated visitors who are really just here for good ass coffee. Another steep advantage is that they open to incredulous 10pm which is extremely rare for traditional coffee shops here, perfect for a late night study sesh.
Bar Lucio
Location: 12 Lenthall St, Kensington NSW 2033
Coffee: Pablo & Rusty
Seating: Almost all outdoor and atop a little verandah, gets very crowded though!
Best for: A taste of Italy in an unassuming Sydney suburb
Broadsheet article on Bar Lucio
A delectable slice of Naples in an otherwise student-domineered neighbourhood, this small sun-kissed venue had quickly become one of my Saturday routines. I’ve tried each of their menu items at least once: woodfired panino, stuffed sandwiches, sweet croissants, and their famous caffe del’ nonno which is like a melted espresso gelato. My only warning for this spot is that they don’t have much protection when it rains and it tends to get packed once the Centennial Park cyclists finish up.
Ampersand Cafe
Location: 78 Oxford St, Paddington NSW 2021
Coffee: The Little Marionette
Seating: Not much individual seating, some shared seating, all indoor and in super aesthetic spaces
Best for: Fulfilling your American college / dark academia / crazy book lady fantasies
Ampersand Cafe Website
My very first office job was in Paddington and the route there passed by Ampersand Cafe & Bookstore, a spot which I’m surprised hadn’t gotten the transaction other locations have — but that’s probably because it’s an already well-known Sydney classic, recently landing sixth in a Top 10 Most Beautiful Book Cafes in the World ranking. Ampersand is a teacher’s fever dream with floor to ceiling collections of secondhand books that you can freely pluck out, have a read, and actually take home should it so daringly entice you!
La Lune Market
Location: 1/13 George St, North Strathfield NSW 2137
Coffee: Diggy Doos
Seating: Super aesthetic, one hell of a vibe, both indoor and outdoor — though chairs can be a bit tough.
Best for: Acting like you’re in a K-Drama
La Lune Market’s Instagram
Not to be confused with Melbourne’s Lune Croissanterie6, La Lune Market is a Korean-style cafe with clean lines, a cutesy aesthetic, food that you can’t help but squish, and overengineered drinks that are actually really good. They’ve got a wonderful, dog-friendly outdoor area and a nice suburban feel with scrumptious cheesecakes and croffles to munch on. This has become a quick favourite of mine because it’s just got this main character vibe to it. You just gotta be there to know.
Three Beans
Location: 18 Shop 2/20 York St, Sydney NSW 2000
Coffee: In-house (Three Beans)
Seating: Depends on the location but most of the time, a lot
Best for: Your classic and stylish Sydney cafe
Three Beans’s main website
As much as I’d love to support small mom and pop shops, if a big brand franchisecafe delivers, fuck me it delivers. If on Monda you find me at Envoy Cafe, you’ll find me at the York St Three Beans Cafe on Tuesday, tucked in a dark, industrial style building much like other office-core sitdown joints in the city. Brunch classics. Good coffee. It ain’t sexy, but it’s honest work.
Three Beans is available in a multitude of locations but I’ve noticed them being hit or miss at times7 . The York St venue is my favourite.
Edition Roasters
Location: 60 Darling Dr, Haymarket NSW 2000
Coffee: In-house (Edition Roasters), they also have great matcha/hojicha
Seating: The flagship roaster at Darling Square has a good amount of seating but can get really full, the rest are takeaway only
Best for: Late night study sessions in the CBD
Edition Roasters website
From Thursday to Sunday, the darkly artistic Edition Roasters at Darling Square serves excellent iced beverages and Asian fusion dishes into nightfall, including matcha/hojicha if you’d prefer not getting a coffee. It’s admittingly not a place I would go to today as a working gentleman but if I was a student meeting study friends in the city, this is where the cool kids8 hang.
Kafe Kooks
Location: 63 Mountain St, Ultimo NSW 2007
Coffee: Genovese Coffee Roasters
Seating: Fair amount of indoor seating but gets crowded at times
Best for: South-east Asian inspired roti wraps! Also, USYD and UTS students.
Kafe Kooks website
Yet another decidedly student cafe in the Ultimo area, situated between the gorgeious wizarding world of University of Sydney and the ugliest brick fucktard prison cell of University of Technology Sydney. Kafe Kooks weaves in Malaysian roti pratha into their breakfast wraps which works so wonderfully, so be sure to get a snack while you’re here. This rockstar of a place gets crowded at times so be sure to arrive early and guard your table from students of lesser institutions9.
Kurtosh
Location: Darling Quarter, Shop 12/1 Harbour St, Sydney NSW 2000
Coffee: In-house (Kurtosh)
Seating: Depends wildly but usually plentiful, especially the Darling Quarter branch
Best for: A reliable nighttime coffee run that everybody loves
KÜRTŐSH
A few years ago, Kurtosh had a partnership with coupon-based app Liven. Here, I made the totally respectable decision of purchasing a $500 Kurtosh coupon for $250. Twice. With my only regret being not getting it again before they cut the deal.
Kurtosh is your reliable neighbourhood cafe that opens surprisingly late serving decent coffee, sliced cakes by the kilogram, and well… kurtosh — which is a Hungarian chimney shaped sweet bread. They’re on the expensive end for their quality, I’ll admit, which is why I hadn’t visited very much since losing the constant 50% off deal.
Nowadays, I head to the Kurtosh at Darling Quarter — one of the largest yet one of the quietest due to its awkward position — whenever my partner heads out for girls’ night and I’m designated pick up person.
Oliver Brown
Location: East Village, 4 Defries Ave, Zetland NSW 2017
Coffee: In-house, but their real deal is hot chocolate
Seating: Plenty, regardless of location. Some may be more crowded than others based on suburb density.
Best for: When you’re not feeling like a coffee at 7pm
Oliver Brown
As much as I tell myself that I’m able to sleep just find after drinking caffeine, I am a shitting liar and that’s not true at all. When coffee is decidedly NOT the go, chocolatier franchise Oliver Brown peers into my decisions set. OB is, in my opinion, much better and less pretentious than competitor Max Brenner and tends to open in places more convenient for me, with the main one being the Zetland venue in East Village shopping centre.
This Oliver Brown is actually the birthplace of the Journaling in Public newsletter and what my side newsletter, choccy run, is named after.
Honourable mention: Moon & Back
Location: Shop 7/2 Crewe Pl, Rosebery NSW 2018
Coffee: Artificer Coffee, though their specialty is matcha/hojicha by Marukuy Koyamaen
Seating: Not a lot and mildly uncomfortable, but fuck does it look good
Best for: Your Instagram Feed
Moon & Back Instagram
Tucked away in high-density residential Waterloo is one of the pioneers of matcha and hojicha in Sydney. Moon & Back is a great spot to have a chat, procure a snack, and do a quick photo shoot when the light hits just right. The two things keeping it away from being a great study cafe is that 1) it’s always so desperately congested 2) all seating is an uncomfortable bench with no forward-looking table and 3) is really hard to access without a car.
I don’t need to remember this list as much as my previous list outlining restaurants for Asian parents, but I do seem to freeze up when asked for my go-to cafes. Alas, here’s my little compendium, and I foresee many, many more words clacked away at these venues alongside new and emerging favourites to be added to the above. It’s one of the wonderful parts of living in Sydney and what can I say — we really are a coffee capital :)
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Where do you normally write your newsletter?
What drinks are you usually accompanied with?
Articles I’ve really enjoyed recently:
🔭 The Scarcest Thing on the Internet - by Chris Aston Chen
🍵 always give yourself a chance to tie the game - by raymond
🪧 The Great Millennial Career Crisis - by Out Of Office Community
🔨 I asked AI to be my content strategist and got bonked on the head with a giant cartoon mallet - by KP Pilley
💘 150+ Questions To Ask Your Partner To Laugh Together, Increase Intimacy, & Fall In Love All Over Again - by Mostly Dating (this was a fun exercise)
💭 we should all write more short form - by lina
Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom! Journaling in Public is a newsletter sharing stories and strategies on career, creativity, and finding magic in the mundane. All posts will be free in the foreseeable future but any forms of support — likes, comments, messages, free/paid subscriptions, coffee donations — are so tremendously appreciated. Yours truly, Sav.
In my humble opinion, $5-8 for a delicious little treat alongside 1.5 hours in a humble, uplifting environment that encourages creative work is a well-worth expense. My partner does not think so.
The cafes listed here are graded based on how well they are as study cafes. Thus, the main metric is not actually quality of food/drink, but how comfortable they are to sit in for long periods of time. If they’ve got excellent food and drink, that’s a plus — though, places with great cuisine tend to be poor study cafes because they get a lot of unappreciated foot traffic.
My stance is that assuming a place doesn’t have 100% of its seats full or an accumulating queue, you are entitled to stay 1 hour per drink and 2 hours per food time, regardless of size. Perhaps 1.5 hours for one of those super expensive drinks that taste like birthday cake icing. Do your part and support local cafes. They have stories, livelihoods, and dreams attached to them.
Not all my writing takes places in cafes. A decent amount happens on my desk at home, and more particularly, most of my editing takes place at home. Another spot where I do a lot of writing, which is actually where I’m editing this right now, is the lobby of Barangaroo’s International Towers. I am usually accompanied with a drink here too. Usually tea.
This just happened for the first time today. Please don’t be a regular.
While the most proficient croissant in terms of culinary technique and layering, Lune is horrendously overrated and does not justify its line. Flavour-wise and creatively, ENA/Moon Phase in Sydney is outstandingly better.
Three Beans does run a franchising model though so I suppose each of them really are mom and pop shops, just running the Three Beans name.
The biggest downside to Edition Roasters for me in particular is that it’s in the very Indonesian suburb of Darling Square. The last thing I want to deal with when working on my newsletter is running into someone I know.
I am a University of New South Wales alumni who by default thinks everything else is dogwater.
eeee what a delightful write up! Also double eeee at you mentioning my article!!!
When will I be in Sydney? Unclear. Am I still saving this for when that happens? Yes!
Yay I’m glad you enjoyed the questions!! Also saving this for when I’m in Sydney 👀