Canberra’s café scene has levelled up big time in recent years. From north to south, you’ll find plenty of places to grab your morning cup of joe with a side of avo toast, eggs benny or French toast with all the fixings. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill cafés either. They’re brewing some of the nation’s best coffee while showcasing local producers and suppliers from the ACT region.
You could easily kick off the day with a kimchi jaffle from the sleek Southside café, Intra. Or maybe a cinnabon from Braddon’s longstanding vegan bakery, Sweet Bones, is more your vibe. If you’re after something nourishing, a Japanese salad bowl from whole foods café Eighty/Twenty will also do the trick. And that’s not even scratching the surface of what’s up north.
Our Time Out Australia Travel and News Editor, Melissa Woodley, lived in the capital for four years and has handpicked the top spots for this list. Where are you headed first?
There’s one way to easily win the morning in Canberra easily and it’s by hitting up this sleek yet laid-back café in Campbell. Here, you’ll find Euro-Japanese remixes, like kimchi jaffles and chashu bacon and egg rolls. Sip on housemade sodas or rare Chinese teas, and if you’re visiting on weekends, match your cuppa with a cardamom bun from the legends at Under Bakery.
If you’re hanging around the city, don’t be shy about stopping into The Cupping Room. This offshoot of legendary Canberra roasters, Ona, pours all its coffees flat white style. Just pick your blend – don’t worry, they’re more than happy to help – whether it’s the Aspen with hints of chocolate and hazelnut, the Raspberry Candy or just decaf. With a coffee in hand, pull up a chair next to the sun-drenched windows and dig into chorizo burrito bowls, salmon eggs benny and seasonal French toast.
Everyone has their own idea about what makes the perfect café breakfast, which is why this sustainable, free-range loving, gently industrial café on Kingston Foreshore provides the building blocks to make your own morning masterpiece. Toast is the foundation, and you can opt for simple spreads, or customise with eggs, goat’s cheese, house-cured salmon, smoked bacon, avo or a tomato medley. Throw a salted peanut butter caramel smoothie in there for good measure and it’s a strong start to your day.
This sunny, suburban café and bakery is a love letter to its local community. Put your name down for a table in the front courtyard and skim the all-day menu, featuring Mexican baked eggs, Teriyaki chicken bowls, rosti burgers and vegan pumpkin bread. Pair your brunch with a hot cuppa or refreshing bevvy from Canberra’s very own Redbrick Coffee, Adore Tea, Yarrh Wines and Bentspoke Brewery. Don’t leave without saying hello to the pastry cabinet, where you’ll likely be tempted to grab a cream-filled doughnut or fruit and honey loaf for the road home.
Canberra’s answer to wholesome, balanced and healthy fare is found at Eighty/Twenty. At all seven of their cafés – including a 100 per cent gluten-free cafe in Belconnen – you'll be spoilt for choice with acai bowls, nourishing salads, buckwheat waffles and nutrient-rich smoothies. Make sure to save space for that 20 per cent indulgence, whether it’s a side of loaded potato wedges, a snug hot choccy or a house-made raw dessert.
You can get very Parisian at this bakery that managed to gain the attention of the New York Times on their last visit to the Capital. They stuff buttery croissants with ham and cheese, pipe matcha mousse onto brioche French toast, and fold chorizo and harissa into your scrambled eggs. Not to mention, they bake fresh baguettes and pastries daily, and won’t bat an eye if you order five pains au chocolat to go.
Farm-to-table isn’t just a tagline at Two Before Ten, Canberra’s most sustainable café empire. Over the last decade, their original Aranda café has evolved from an abandoned shopping village into a bustling community hub and urban garden, complete with an on-site roastery, beehives, fruit trees, expansive vegetable garden and industrial composter. TBT’s Urban Garden provides year-round produce to support its 13 cafés, with seasonality taking centre stage on the 70 per cent vegetarian menu.
Canberra’s famous sustainable coffee roaster, Ona, is behind this light-filled all-day eatery in Dickson. The cafés sunshine-dappled wooden interiors were designed to reflect the raw yet refined natural landscape of our Bush Capital, with an equally considered menu to match. Highroad’s offerings change with the seasons, but the egg and bacon roll with Swiss cheese, hashbrown, barbecue sauce, and chilli chutney is a mainstay. You can even customise your roll to be vegan or gluten-free.
No meat? No worries. Sweet Bones has been winning the hearts of Canberra’s vegan crowd and beyond since 2012. Don’t let the punk rock-inspired interiors and skull table numbers fool you. These guys make plant-based eating approachable for all with their fully vegan cakes, ‘sinnerbuns’ and Mexican-inspired brunch items. Go all out with loaded banana bread, a stack of almond protein pancakes, a tofu riff on the McMuffin, or the almighty nacho mountain with smokey baked beans and coconut bacon.
On a sunny corner of Canberra’s edgy arts and culture hub, NewActon, sits this stylish little nook dishing out ethical edibles and fair-trade coffee. It’s easy to pick your breakfast poison with the all-day menu divided between small things, favourites, salads and rolls. Močan and Green Grout’s classic bacon and egg roll or apple and lemon balm bircher will do the trick in the morning, while their smoked trout salad or corned beef and Swiss cheese roll will keep the lunch crowd happy. For those who love a daytime tipple, there’s even a tight selection of wines.
If you like your breakfast in as many styles as backpackers like passport stamps, head to this smart casual café in Belconnen. You could start your morning adventure in Japan with chashu pork tacos, then take a Moroccan detour with the romesco couscous salad bowl. America is represented in a waffle burger featuring buttermilk Kentucky-style fried chicken, while Aussie classics like avo toast and sausage rolls also get a look in. Bonus: fur babies are welcome to dine with you outside.
Much to Melbourne’s dismay, the best coffee in Australia hails from Canberra. Ona Coffee’s founder, Sasa Sestic, once won the World Barista Championship and is now one of the world's most influential people in the coffee industry. Ona has three shopfronts around Canberra, but their rustic and spacious Fyshwick coffee house is where the roasting magic happens. Here, classic Australian café fare, like halloumi fritters and avocado toast, is also crafted with precision to match the prize-winning roasts.
If you need a cosy place to gather with your nearest and dearest, pick Gather. Founded by a group of close friends, this community-minded café in Braddon spotlights local producers in its zucchini and pea fritters, tuna nicoise salad, soft shell crab scramble and smoked salmon hash brown stack. Their house blend coffee is roasted just down the road, while all their kombucha, kefir and juice are made in-house. Plus, they warmly welcome and pamper four-legged friends with doggy biscuits, steak tartare and puppychinos.
On one hand, you could start the day with baked eggs shakshouka or a bacon and cheese brekkie burger. But you could just as easily find yourself slicing into buttermilk hotcakes because you’re a dessert person who isn’t afraid to start the day with vanilla bean gelato, cookie crumble or whatever seasonal goodness the weekly specials board has to offer.
It’s A’s across the board for this specialty coffee house sitting just a few streets back from Kingston Foreshore. Be prepared to wait, as you’ll be joining the other half of Canberra eager for a taste of their Japanese-inspired plates, including the crowd favourite okonomiyaki savoury pancake, katsu chicken burger and seasonal miso salmon bowl. Need a hit of caffeine? Penny’s house blend works best with milk, while their single origins are best-served black. Your brunch can easily turn into a boozy affair with Mimosas, Bloody Marys and Espresso Martinis.
Every plate is a canvas at this neighbourhood café and art gallery in Lyneham. It’s the place to head for fluffy pancakes piled high with more fruit than a Carmen Miranda headdress; a classic brekky burger beefed up with cheddar, sausage and slaw alongside your egg and bacon combo; and avo toast sprinkled with a litter of Egyptian dukkah. After filling your bellies, head to the gallery next door to catch the latest exhibition by local Canberran artists – and maybe even some after-hours entertainment on opening night.
The Scandi superstars at Rye sling smørrebrød (Danish open sandwiches), skagenöra (creamy prawns on toast) and shakshouka from their bright café on Braddon’s bustling Lonsdale Street. There’s a reason why their fluffy Dutch skillet pancake has been a mainstay on the menu, along with the Rye breakfast board featuring gravlax, buttermilk biscuit, rye bread, herb cream cheese, prosciutto and kanackebröd (crisp bread). Enjoy the Euro summer vibes at a streetside table, sipping on an Aperol Spritz, Bloody Mary or Cold Brew Martini.
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