Penny Royal

This place is up there with the most charming cafes on the North Shore. Set in a laneway the cute hole in the wall spills out onto the sundrenched pavement so the ambience is peaceful and relaxed — you’d be forgiven for thinking you were actually nowhere near the eternally busy Military Road. The Campos coffee here is consistently good which is a big win in my book (nothing worse than inconsistency). They also have a delicious looking breakfast/​lunch menu with gourmet twists on the usual suspects like ‘Farmer Jo’s Muesli with Apple Sticks, Cinnamon and Greek Yoghurt’. The only shame about this place is that it isn’t open on a Sunday!

Swift service and smooth coffee I found at this teeny coffee in Mosman. The Penny Royal is always busy but that’s no surprise at it really is small and the coffee really is tasty. The staff are funky but don’t have the hipster attitude that can go with some trendy coffee shops.
If you don’t fancy squishing on to a table inside there are a few outside beside the leafy wall mural. I love the stripy shade awning and the continual buzz about this place.
Campos Coffee Beans is the ingredient of choice and a La Marzocco machine the tool of the trade. The sourdough, ricotta, mushroom and pesto sandwich is worth a try.
No wifi.

I’m not sure at what point I became a coffee w*nker but it happened. I used to be able to drink instant granules that smouldered with the promise of nutty richness but sadly, around the time of my son’s birth, I realised that for all its smoulder, instant just didn’t deliver. I started to drink coffee made by professionals, known grandly as Baristas. These wizards of steam produce coffee that not only smoulders but delivers on the tastebuds too. Luckily, I live in Mosman 2088, where there are a glut of outlets to serve my w*nky tendencies/​refined palate.
Most mornings, I find myself being led, like the kid from the Bisto adverts, to arrive nose first at Penny Royal — a bijoux, achingly groovy (well for the area) café nestled in Myagah Mews. The majority of the business it seems is take-​away and punters jostle for position at the café’s entrance to place their order. A chosen few are occupying the tables backing on to the shop’s graffited outer wall. If you’re brave enough to enter the tiny café itself, you’ll find it minimal and stylish. I’ve never dared to sit inside, as the young, tastefully tattooed (subjective I know) and ridiculously hot boys who work there are just too cool for a mum like me to be in such proximity to. It’s bad enough when I order a coffee and feel my jowls wobble as I tell the equivalent of dad jokes and they smile at me with pity. For all their swagger however, the owner Bo and his crew are an attentive and charming bunch, who brew just about the best coffee EVER. The fact that the pavement outside the café is often crowded with patrons; families with kids, trendy student types, rippling gym bunnies and posturing business men, is testament to the quality of the product. At peak periods the waiting crowd feign coolness whilst eyeing the entrance to the café, eager, to see if they will be the lucky recipient of the next offering. The ‘Campos’ coffee at Penny Royal certainly isn’t instant but as any repeat visitor to Penny knows, if you want perfection in a cup, you have to be patient and the coffee they serve really is worth the wait. Mine’s a Cappucino. It’s smooth all the way down and so yummy that I even lick the lid. As I walk home, I smile contentedly; jowls wobbling and a blob of chocolate on my nose.