Le Monde

This moody little cafe with its soaring dark ceiling and chocolate-hued surrounds is a favoured haunt of designers, rag traders and cabbies. From the runny-yolked poached eggs with spinach and butter emulsion $11 and the smoked bacon with creamy scrambled eggs $11.50, this is your staple Sydney cafe breakfast fare perfected. Chef Chris Merrick (formerly of Oscillate Wildly) has a mystical ability to discern how you like your eggs without ever asking. A lunch blackboard has linguine, chorizo and couscous dishes with your regular sandwiches of roast beef $10 or steak $12. The coffee has also been changed to the deliciously punchy Allpress, a sign that this is a cafe not afraid to evolve. And with chef Merrick at the helm, who knows where it is headed?