Happyfield

Haberfield is one of most proudly Italian suburbs in Sydney. Along the main drag of Ramsay Street, you’ve got the specialty IGA stocked to the gunwhales with imported pantry items from the homeland, a hand-made pasta shop, a bakery selling Italian doughnuts, fresh cheeses from Paesanella and the original outlet of Pasticceria Papa and their famous ricotta cakes. And into this staunchly Italian scene bursts Happyfield, a bright yellow corner cafe slinging Canadian-style pancakes and Five Senses coffee. It’s ticking all of the millenial café culture boxes, right down to the Pantone colour scheme, and introducing a very different vibe to Haberfields main drag.

Co-owners Jesse Orleans (a native Canuck) and Chris Theodosi met while working at the Grounds of Alexandria where they hatched their plans for a proper, North American-style diner dedicated to pancakes and breakfast burgers. Orleans has very strong views on what makes the perfect diner pancake. “It can’t be too thick, it has to be moist and light, you should be able to eat three and not feel sick, and you must be able to fold it twice without it breaking.” And if you are the sort of person who looks at pancakes on the menu but can’t quite commit to a full sweet breakfast over savoury, fear not - you can order those fluffy, golden frisbees individually with a shot of grade-A maple syrup that’s imported from Quebec.

Theodosi and Orleans have been in the breakfast game for a while, and so they know that people have very exacting ideas about their first meal of the day. Cue a menu of sides that’s as long as the mains. You can mix and match streaky bacon that’s been selected for its balance of smokey meat and fat for crispy edges with salmon, mushrooms, a tip top house-made baked beans, or even salad. But, our pick is the hash brown made from diced potato, onion, egg, and a 13 secret spice blend. They bake it, press it overnight and then fry slices to order.

You can get your eggs coddled if toast and soldiers tickles your nostalgia receptors, or if you need to just eat your way through a force-five hangover they do a breakfast platter for two which includes eggs and all nine sides, plus a fermented chilli and black bean sauce and a green peppercorn Bearnaise.

Coffee is the diva of the drinks menu with a full catalogue of styles to get you buzzed, be it filter, espresso, black, white, iced, batch, bottomless or nitro. Don’t need the hard stuff to get your motor running? Order a lemonade made six different ways or a sticky date shake. They’ve already bent the neighbourhood rules by opening a Transatlantic Café in the middle of Little Italy, you may as well go ahead and break them altogether in the pursuit of your optimum morning meal.