RFK Rankings · Sydney
Best Restaurants for Brunch in Sydney (2026)
Weekend brunch · Sydney · 6 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published July 15, 2024 · Updated June 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Sydney invented the modern weekend morning, or close to it. The ricotta hotcake started here, the flat white travelled out from cafes like these, and the city still treats brunch as the meal that matters most. These six, ranked, are where to spend a Saturday when the cooking counts as much as the coffee, from a Darlinghurst original to a rooftop bakery above Surry Hills.
1.bills Darlinghurst
The ricotta hotcakes that started Sydney brunch; walk into the Darlinghurst original early for the city's defining weekend plate.
bills sits at 433 Liverpool Street in Darlinghurst, the corner cafe Bill Granger opened in 1993 and the room that put ricotta hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter on tables worldwide. Granger died on Christmas Day 2023 at 54, but the kitchen and the menu he built carry on, with the scrambled eggs and the hotcakes still the orders to make.
Plates run roughly $18 to $28, and the room takes no bookings, so the queue curls down Liverpool Street by mid-morning on a weekend. Arrive before nine or accept the wait. This is the first stop for anyone tracing where Sydney brunch began, and it still cooks the originals better than its imitators.
2.The Grounds of Alexandria
A sprawling garden cafe and coffee roastery for a leisurely weekend; book the table when brunch is the whole morning.
The Grounds runs from a former industrial site off Bourke Road in Alexandria, a cafe, garden, bakery and coffee roastery rolled into one rambling weekend destination. The breakfast menu lands mostly between $12 and $25, from the Grounds granola to scrambled eggs with smoked cheddar and a breakfast board around $19, with buckwheat and kefir pancakes for the sweet table.
Breakfast runs to 11:45 daily with lunch following, and a 5% weekend surcharge applies. The point is the setting: kitchen gardens, resident animals and a roastery you can smell from the queue. Book through the website for a weekend table, and treat it as the morning you give the whole morning to rather than a quick bite.
3.Three Blue Ducks Bronte
Kitchen-garden plates a block above Bronte beach; reserve the weekend table for the best beachside brunch in the east.
Three Blue Ducks began in Bronte in 2010 at 141 to 143 Macpherson Street, a block back from the beach, and remains the benchmark for sustainable, produce-led Sydney brunch. Troy Crisante, who came from Peter Gilmore's Quay, now steers the group as executive chef; the corn fritters with poached eggs, guacamole and labneh run about $24 and the black sausage with scrambled eggs lands near $26.
The room is a bustling beachside cafe by day, smart-casual by night, sourcing from its own kitchen garden. It takes bookings and fills on weekends, so reserve. Come for the sea breeze and the garden cooking, and order the fritters before the morning rush peaks.
4.Devon Cafe
The miso king salmon plate that rewired Sydney brunch; line up at the Surry Hills original for the chef-driven morning.
Devon Cafe sits at 76 Devonshire Street in Surry Hills, the original room behind the city's Asian-leaning brunch wave and a Good Cafe Guide best-cafe winner. Chef and founder David Tran built the menu around the Breakfast with the Sakumas, a plate of miso-grilled king salmon, smoked eel croquette and a 63-degree egg that has survived years of seasonal rotation, priced around $26.
The room opens at seven on weekdays and eight on weekends, taking some bookings but mostly walk-ins, so the footpath fills by mid-morning. Most of the menu changes three or four times a year, but the Sakumas and the eggs blini stay put. This is the chef-driven pick when you want the cooking to lead the morning.
5.Reuben Hills
House-roasted coffee and a serious savoury menu; arrive early at the Albion Street roastery for the coffee-led brunch.
Reuben Hills runs from a long industrial room at 61 Albion Street in Surry Hills, opened in 2012 by Russell Beard, with beans roasted on the mezzanine and served downstairs. The kitchen leans savoury and Latin-influenced: the Not Reuben with wagyu brisket, the fried chicken and the shakshuka are the plates to know, mostly in the high teens to mid-twenties.
Hours run seven to four daily, and the room takes walk-ins only, so the queue builds on a weekend. It is not the cheapest counter in Surry Hills once the order grows past one plate and a coffee, but the roasting program is among the city's best. Come for the coffee first, and let the brunch follow.
6.A.P Bakery
Rooftop pastries above Paramount House for a lighter morning; take a window seat for the city-view bakery brunch.
A.P Bakery sits atop the Paramount House Hotel at 80 Commonwealth Street in Surry Hills, a rooftop bakery cafe with a cityscape view from under its aqua awnings. Head baker Dougal Muffet works lesser-known old-world wheat varietals into the daily loaves, and the counter turns out buttery croissants, a bacon sandwich with curry-leaf butter and cheese scrolls, mostly $7 to $20.
It opens around 7:30 and is a counter-and-rooftop operation rather than a sit-down booking, so come for the lighter end of brunch: a pastry, a coffee and a view rather than a full plate. This is the morning for when you want bread done seriously and a rooftop table over a buffet.
Not for everyone
Famous, but skip for brunch
Edition Coffee Roasters, Darlinghurst. The Nordic-Japanese cafe that built its name on Liverpool Street has closed its Darlinghurst room and moved to Darling Square in Haymarket. The cooking is still good, but the old Darlinghurst brunch is gone, so head to bills a few doors along instead.
Sean's, Bondi. Sean Moran's beloved Campbell Parade room is a Sydney institution, but it serves lunch from midday on weekends rather than a true brunch, and the set lunch runs $140 a head. For a Bondi-side morning instead, drive up the hill to Three Blue Ducks in Bronte.
Generic hotel buffets. Several Sydney hotels run a Sunday spread that trades cooking for volume. Skip them for the chef-driven rooms here; Devon in Surry Hills and Three Blue Ducks in Bronte both cook to order from a kitchen that means it.
How to brunch well in Sydney
Sydney brunch splits by postcode. Darlinghurst and Surry Hills hold the chef-driven counters and roasteries that defined the city's coffee culture, Alexandria has the big garden destinations, and the eastern beaches at Bronte and Bondi run the sea-air rooms. A car or a rideshare beats the train between them, since the best cafes cluster in pockets the rail line skips, and weekend parking around Surry Hills fills fast after nine.
The destination rooms take bookings and the counters do not. Reserve The Grounds and Three Blue Ducks ahead; for bills, Devon, Reuben Hills and A.P Bakery, arrive before nine on a Saturday or commit to the queue, which is part of the ritual here. Sydney brunch peaks between nine and noon, and most kitchens stop serving the breakfast menu by lunch, so the earlier the table, the better the morning.
Frequently asked
Where is the best brunch in Sydney?
For the classic morning, bills on Liverpool Street in Darlinghurst still plates the ricotta hotcakes that built the city's brunch reputation, and The Grounds of Alexandria runs a sprawling garden cafe for a leisurely weekend. For a beachside table instead, Three Blue Ducks above Bronte beach on Macpherson Street is the pick, with garden-driven plates and a sea breeze.
Does Sydney have Michelin family or brunch restaurants?
No. Australia has no Michelin guide, so Sydney brunch is not measured in stars. The local benchmarks are the Good Food Guide hats, plus Broadsheet, Time Out Sydney and the Urban List, which is how this list is judged. The rooms here earn their place on cooking and weekend service rather than any Michelin rating, which does not exist in Australia.
Which Sydney brunch is best for a group?
The Grounds of Alexandria is the easiest big-group brunch, a former industrial site off Bourke Road with a cafe, a garden and room to spread out. Three Blue Ducks in Bronte is the other crowd-friendly choice, a large beachside room on Macpherson Street that takes bookings and feeds a hungry weekend rush from its kitchen garden.
Do you need a reservation for brunch in Sydney?
It depends on the room. The Grounds and Three Blue Ducks take bookings and fill early on weekends, so reserve. bills, Devon, Reuben Hills and A.P Bakery run on walk-ins, which means queues snake down the footpath after nine on a Saturday. Arrive before nine or accept the wait at the counter cafes.
What is a good upscale brunch in Sydney?
Devon Cafe in Surry Hills is the dressed-up pick, with chef David Tran's Asian-leaning plates like the Breakfast with the Sakumas miso king salmon around $26. Three Blue Ducks in Bronte is the other step-up, with group executive chef Troy Crisante steering a kitchen-garden menu and a beachside room that takes the morning seriously.
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