Sydney does smashed avo fine. It does breakfast better when the kitchen grew up somewhere else. Every pick below comes from Broadsheet's unconventional breakfast guide, and every one of them beats another flat white.

My 2026 Winner: Tento, Surry Hills

Malaysian-fusion brunch: sambal-egg-stuffed croissants, waffles with pandan and a nasi-lemak burger that should be illegal before 9am. It is not, so go.

My 2025 Winner: Pina, Potts Point

Ramen for breakfast. A hearty bowl in a room that used to be a motorcycle workshop, and the reason half of Newtown skips cereal.

The OG: Henry Lee's, Redfern

Taiwanese congee with doughnut dipping sticks and peppery pork buns. The doughnut stick in congee is one of the great breakfast moves and Sydney barely knows it exists.

New kid on the block: End of King, Newtown

Thai breakfast attached to the Jarern Chai grocer. Shiitake and crab congee plus Thai-style baked eggs, with everything from the cashew butter to the chilli relish made in-house.

Best Drinks: Jibbi Coffee Roasters, Surry Hills

A Malaysian breakfast spread on the south side. The kind of morning menu that makes the toast places nearby look like they stopped trying.

Best specialty: French Toast @ The Brothers Project Cafe, Rosebery

One of the few cafes in Sydney serving a traditional Japanese breakfast, with artisan green teas from Japan brewed daily. Worth the northern beaches drive on its own.

On my list: Jinius, Dawes Point / Circular Quay

Nom banh chok: fermented rice noodles with fish paste and fresh fish in a thin curry. A Cambodian breakfast you will not find in ten other rooms in this country.

More entries land here as I re-eat the field. The app carries the live leaderboard, ranked by verdicts from people who actually went.