Best cafes in Camperdown

Best cafes in Camperdown, ranked

1. #1Cafe Baby Finger for inventive breakfast and a window seat

   $$Outdoor seating🌳 Daranggara Park, 1 min walk

   Cafe Baby Finger on Layton Street opens at 7am from Tuesday to Friday and at 8am on Saturday and Sunday. Customers order the focaccia sando, the nduja beans and the espresso cookie, and say the food is unusual in a good way. The room is calm and bright, with window seats that suit a laptop. A stroll from Daranggara Park takes about a minute, so an early walk before breakfast is easy.

   Best for: Breakfast and brunch with a window seat

2. #2R cafe and restaurant for a cooked breakfast on a budget

   $Outdoor seating🌳 Peter Cotter Reserve, 3 min walk

   Salisbury Road is home to R cafe & restaurant, which trades every day from 9:30am to 5pm, covering breakfast, brunch and lunch. The bacon and egg wrap, the chicken club sandwich and avocado on Turkish bread are what regulars order again. Cooked breakfast plates come loaded with sausages, bacon and mushrooms, and prices sit at the low end for Camperdown. Outdoor tables give it a street-side feel.

   Best for: Cooked breakfast on a budget

3. #3Matty and Johns Espresso Bar for an early flat white

   $🐕 Dogs outsideOutdoor seating🌳 Daranggara Park, 3 min walk

   Matty & Johns Espresso Bar is the first of the picks to open, at 5am on weekdays, and it stays shut at weekends. Coffee drinkers come in for the flat white, which many call the best in the area. The cabinet holds sandwiches and wraps such as chicken schnitzel, tuna smash and chicken hummus, and the mandarin cake is worth asking for when it is in. There is a small room with seating outside, and dogs can sit at those outside tables.

   Best for: Early flat whites and takeaway sandwiches

4. #4Grounded 2050 Cafe for generous brunch plates

   $Outdoor seating🌳 Lyons Road Reserve, 3 min walk

   Missenden Road is where Grounded 2050 Cafe starts at 6am on weekdays and closes at 1pm on Saturdays. Diners order the eggs benedict, burek or the roast beef and caramelised onion sandwich, and say the serves are generous for the price. Fried halloumi and a spicy beef bowl sit on the menu alongside a panko chicken schnitzel. Service stays brisk even on a packed morning, and Sundays are a day off here.

   Best for: Generous brunch plates and sandwiches

5. #5Store Espresso for Turkish eggs after a dog walk

   $$🐕 Dogs outsideOutdoor seating🌳 Camperdown Park, 2 min walk

   Store Espresso on Fowler Street opens at 7am on weekdays and Saturday, and at 8am on Sunday. The Moroccan scrambled eggs and the Turkish eggs are the dishes to order, and avocado on sourdough with feta is a popular second choice. Visitors describe the brew as excellent, and the chocolate milkshake draws its own fans. Camperdown Park is a two-minute walk away, so the cafe suits a stop after a run.

   Best for: Eggs, coffee and a stop after a run

6. #6The Twelve Cafe for latte art and an early start

   $🐕 Dogs outsideOutdoor seating🌳 Daranggara Park, 1 min walk

   The Twelve Cafe on Barr Street opens at 6am every day and closes at 3pm. Latte art is the detail customers mention most, with some cups drawn as detailed as a bear face. Oat milk flat whites get praise for their smoothness, and the tom yum pasta and goji soy pork belly are the plates to try. Coffee comes out quickly at the counter, so it suits a short stop before work.

   Best for: Latte art and quick early coffee

7. #7Deus Cafe for large brunch plates and group lunches

   $$🐕 Dogs outside🌳 Lyons Road Reserve, 1 min walk

   Deus Cafe on Parramatta Road opens at 7am and closes at 2:30pm every day, which suits a long late breakfast. The Ba-ku-dan Benny, which swaps hash browns for muffins, and the huevos rancheros with chorizo are the plates customers order. Serves are large and the staff handle big groups well. The cafe sits in a converted warehouse with a long concrete bar and an attached shop, and dogs are welcome there.

   Best for: Big brunch plates and group lunches

8. #8Gardener’s Lodge Cafe for French toast with a park view

   $$🐕 Dogs outsideOutdoor seating🌳 Victoria Park, 2 min walk

   Gardener’s Lodge Cafe on City Road serves breakfast, brunch and lunch seven days a week from 8:30am until 5pm. Its outdoor tables look over the lawns and pond of Victoria Park, which is within two minutes on foot. The French toast and pasta with large prawns are the dishes customers name, and the kids' menu suits families. Some customers find service slows at busy times, though the staff are described as friendly and attentive.

   Best for: French toast and a park view

Compare best cafes in Camperdown

The table below compares price, brunch, outdoor seating, dog access, weekend trading and the nearest park for each cafe.

How we picked best cafes in Camperdown

Cafes were ordered by how well customers like them overall, with more weight for cafes that have many visitor reviews behind them. For this page, the food and coffee that reviews name came first, then the menu, weekend hours, outdoor tables and dog access. Each cafe's own page text on its food and coffee was read, and the entries here say those things in new words.