Where to grab brunch under $15 on the North Shore

Have you decided to treat yourself on a dusty Sunday morning, only to be left with your head spinning at the price of some avo on toast or a bacon and egg roll? 

We’ve put a list together of nine cafes across the North Shore where you can grab brunch for under $15.

Did we miss your favourite spot? Let us know at [email protected]

Flock Eatery 

For a cafe located in the middle of North Sydney, Flock Eatery provides a surprisingly affordable, diverse menu. The cafe serves breakfast staples — pastries, croissants, toast and bagels — all well below the ten dollars mark, along with a $7 sausage and egg muffin, $12 bacon and egg roll, and spinach and cheese burek (a Balkan pastry) for $10. 

Where: 8 West St, North Sydney

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Vento Espresso

Another rarity among a sea of up-market North Sydney cafes, Vento Espresso is a small corner cafe on West street that will still serve you simple breakfasts at an affordable price. The prices have been that way for years: and I know because a while back I worked there, and can attest to the solid food and friendly owner — Richard — who's always happy to have a chat.

Where: 60 West St, North Sydney

Chefs Cafe Gordon

This cafe, just across the highway from Gordon station, serves a range of toasted sandwich and croissant meals for under $10, as well as a $10 bacon and egg roll. 

Where: 880 Pacific Hwy, Gordon

Don Don Coffee

Right beside Killara train station, Don Don Coffee currently runs a combo deal where you can get a bacon and egg roll with a small coffee for $12. If you’re feeling like something a little sweeter and lighter, they run the same combo for $7 with a slice of cake (banana, blueberry, carrot, or sultana) instead. 

Where: 23A Werona Ave, Killara

Cafe Archie’s Lane Cove

Just by Lane Cove National Park, Cafe Archie’s serves specialty coffee (Deluca) as well as a variety of affordable food options: standing out among the rest is a $10 avo on toast.

Where: 1/705 Mowbray Rd, Lane Cove North

Archies Cafe co St Ives

It seems there isn’t just one Archie in town, however. Up in the St Ives Shopping Village, Archie’s Cafe — not to be confused with Cafe Archie’s — makes a reasonable offer to brunch-goers too, with a $13 avocado toast and $10 bacon and egg roll.

Where: 166 Mona Vale Rd, St Ives

Ciao Down

Smashed avocado and eggs on toast for $13. Nice. Though it seems it was just yesterday when I would laugh at the idea of coughing up more than $10 for some avocado toast, in today’s world, $13 isn’t looking too bad. You can find this cafe just down the road from Lindfield station.

Where: 358 Pacific Hwy, Lindfield

Comme Chez Nous

Move over Paris, Pymble is the new city of love. This French cafe serves traditional baked goods — croissants, pain au chocolat, pain aux raisins — at a reasonable price. While these delicate pastries might not be as filling as your average cafe feed, I’m giving them bonus points for making their own bechamel sauce for ham and cheese croissants.

Where: 1/97 Grandview St, Pymble

Cafe Carino

This one’s a little different. Every morning at 6am, Steve drives his coffee cart down to set up along the waterfront at Tunks Park. According to the sign on his van, Cafe Carino is open everyday “except during cyclones, monsoons and earthquakes.” 

While operating with a modest kitchen set up, the mobile cafe does serve toasties — including a signature Italian meatball toastie — for under $10. It’s not the most traditional brunch setting, but you can hardly get those harbour views anywhere else for so cheap. 

Where: Tunks Park Sports Field

Image Credit: Flock Eatery, Cafe Archie’s, Dan Smedley via Unsplash