The Copper Mill, Alexandria

The Copper Mill is a new cafe in the once industrial no-man’s land of Alexandria, joining the neighbourly ranks of cafe luminaries like The Grounds and Bread & Circus. With a rustic and raw interior reflecting its factory heritage, Golden Cobra coffee and an innovative, ever-rotating breakfast and lunch menu, The Copper Mill is well worth checking out. Head there if you love the aforementioned places, or cafes like West Juliett or Reuben Hills.

If you can tear yourself away from the coffee (I had their regular Golden Cobra blend called Human Cannonball and it was the best coffee I’ve had in ages, plus there’s a blackboard featuring the current single origin beans), there are some interesting drink menu inclusions like coconut hot chocolate. Must-have brunch items include the Peruvian sandwich, featuring slow cooked pork, egg and sweet potato, or the galette (think a puffy pie lid) topped with a perfectly poached egg, served with a hearty side of pumpkin, peas and haloumi (tip: add bacon). The menu changes often, and I can’t wait to see what else this tick-all-the-right-boxes cafe has in store.

The Copper Mill, 338-356 Mitchell Road Alexandria, tel: 02 9517 3214

Wandering Chippendale’s dark, desolate streets in search of Ester, we wondered, why aren’t there more restaurants in Chippendale? There are great cafes in the daytime (like Cafe Giulia and Brickfields), art galleries, bars (Freda’s and now Zigi’s Wine and Cheese – which were both frequented for wines pre-Ester!), but why aren’t there restaurants on every corner?! Chippendale will undoubtedly become a new food and drink hotspot come the completion of the ginormous, plant-wall covered Central Park development, but for now, Ester is a shining beacon of promise in a still slightly off the radar patch of inner-Sydney.

So, Ester – where to begin? The decor – minimalist with a 60s touch, the vibe – lively, unpretentious yet city sleek, the service – unobtrusive, friendly and just right, the food – out of this world. Part of the Vini/121BC group of restaurants, the head chef Mat Lindsay is ex-121BC and Billy Kwong, and is now apparently all about the wonders of the wood-fired oven.

We ate a ridiculous number of dishes, but here’s what you should order: the cured meats plate for melt in your mouth coppa, flavour packed nduja and spicy salami; the raw fish, brought to life with the contrast of crunchy, baked capers; the most ridiculously amazing lamb cooked in the wood-fired oven (think silken in texture), the almost show-stealing side of charred broccolini with chilli and crispy flaked almonds, and all of the icecreams (the vibrant, refreshing fennel, the strong, bitter chocolate and the buttery salted caramel semifreddo). There were some wonderful wines consumed (pinot noir and grenache) from the well-curated drinks menu, but mostly I was all-consumed with dying over the food. In a nutshell – you have to go to Ester!!!

Ester, 46-52 Meagher St, Chippendale, tel: 02 8068 8279

Sticky, spicy Bagan chicken

Bagan is an unassuming little eatery in Strathfield’s busy restaurant hub, decidedly daggy inside (think ageing Burma tourism posters and mocha coloured walls) but it’s the food that counts, right? Bagan’s extensive menu spans soups, salads, curries, noodles, rice dishes, meats and seafood, with dishes ranging from the heavily Chinese influenced, to Indian-inspired, to uniquely Burmese.

The only other Burmese place I’ve tried was a hole-in-the-wall eatery in Phnom Penh, run by Burmese people of Indian ethnicity, so it was all paratha breads and curries. Bagan’s menu is quite comprehensive though, so we pick the crispy, sticky ‘Bagan Chicken’, a bit 80s Chinese but with a delicious spicy kick balancing out the sweet honey coating, and tuck into Burmese fried rice, loaded with prawns and richly dark from soy.

A huge fan of all kinds of Asian salads, I eagerly await the Laphet Salad, a traditional Burmese salad of fermented tea leaves often served at traditional ceremonies, but for once am stumped. There is a really strong, fermented odour, almost fishy. The salad has a beautiful mix of textures but is overpowered by the pungent taste of the tea leaves. It kind of reminded me of eating something in Cambodia packed with prahok, everyone’s favourite fish paste. Next time, I’ll stick to green mango, or try the pennywort. The plus side is the ridiculously good prices at Bagan – the salad’s are mostly $5.80 each!

The standout dish was the Watt Thanut, or pork curry with green mango pickle. So rich, earthy and complex, with melt in your mouth slow cooked meat and a subtle hit of green mango pickle, mellowed in the cooking process. If you’re a fat fan, you'[ll love the little chunks of silken pork fat swimming in the curry (too soft and gelatinous for me though). The curry dishes at Bagan are $8.80 – they’re not huge servings, but enough for two people to share if you order several dishes. Bagan is a unique eatery with much to explore, from comforting staples to more unique flavours.

Bagan, Shop 4/41 The Boulevarde, Strathfield, open Tues-Sun 11am-10pm

Thanks to a little research, blog stalking and tweeting I headed off to Canberra for a cold but fun-filled weekend clutching essential information – where to get good coffee (thanks Miss Piggy and Corridor Kitchen!). And I’m so glad I did, as wandering (I mean, driving) around Canberra it’s pretty unlikely a non-native would accidentally come across a decent place for a caffeine fix. But tucked away in some unassuming spots are some amazing places that seem straight out of Surry Hills or Marrickville, or whatever your benchmark best coffee suburbs may be. Case in point:

1) Mocan and Green Grout
Mocan and Green Grout is a gorgeous cafe a short drive from the city centre on the ground floor of a very new looking apartment development, fronted by herb gardens. Inside, it’s all rustic wood and recycled objects, with a warm and homely atmosphere, cool music and cooler staff. The coffee is amazing (strong, smooth, just right) and the atmosphere noisy and communal, in a want-to-stay-all-day kind of way. We had brunch here – a blackboard special of poached egg with smoked salmon, snow pea tendrils and horseradish (delicate and subtly flavoured with high quality ingredients – the salmon was silky soft, the horseradish not too overpowering) and the triple baked eggs with hummous, pickled radish and yoghurt (also subtle, delicious, quality – are you sensing a theme here?!). This was my overall favourite cafe of the trip.

Two before Ten has a sleek, industrial warehouse kind of look and reminds me a little of Double Roasters in Marrickville. It’s a serious coffee joint – they roast their own coffee on the premises and use ethically sourced beans. We had breakfast here twice – the first day I had their warming porridge with poached quince and walnuts, which was the perfect antidote to the chilly temp outside, and the next day, the poached eggs with cherry tomatoes, pesto and greens on sourdough, which was delicious, but perhaps not as refined as the equivalent at Mocan and Green Grout. The staff here were super friendly and it’s the kind of place you can imagine being your regular if you worked nearby.

We only stopped by here for takeaways but I loved it – think photography, bikes and buzz. The coffee was beautiful and caramelly and smooth – a Colombian blend. Just go here!

There are so many more places on the to-try list for next time, but for now, I’m blown away by Canberra’s cafe offerings. I’m loving escaping my Sydney bubble now and then and realising that perhaps this is not Australia’s cafe epicentre after all (and I know most Melburnians would beg to differ that we are anyway!).

Which Australian city or town do you think is worth exploring for unexpectedly cool cafe finds? I’d love to hear your thoughts!