Katipo

Sometimes you just need a cocktail for breakfast. Whether you’ve had a big night or a crappy morning, there are going to be days when the only thing fit to wash down your Eggs Benedict is a Bloody Mary. Fortunately that's not going to be a problem if you are breakfasting at Katipo - licensed café by day, cosy neighbourhood bar by night.

It’s all action stations on weekends and competition for the breezy outdoor seats is fierce, but if you're feeling a little tender, head on through to the back room, for comfy chairs and muted light. The place is filled with your typical café mix of vintage and op-shop furniture, wall-mounted bicycle (note to prospective cafe owners: if we see another one of these we're going to shank someone), and in the spirit of further education, the menus are mounted within the pages of second-hand books on everything from hallucinogenic drugs to Darwin’s essays.

In the AM, traditionalists should order the pukunui breakfast. It does a very good job of ensuring that all the elements pull their weight. The sausages, the Achilles heel of so many big breakfasts, are juicy little morsels and the sweet potato hash gets our nod for best supporting veg. There’s no fuss about the meal, just well executed classics in slightly indulgent serves, which is the whole point of a big breakfast.

If it’s more lunch than brunch, order the wagyu steak sandwich, which is big enough to make you want a bit of a walk down to the beach afterwards, but not big enough to make drowning a serious risk. In a stroke of brilliance they have forgone the slices of beetroot on your classic steak sarnie and substituted it for a sweet beetroot aioli, providing the perfect moisture content in a glorious coming together of vegetable and condiment.

By night Katipo gets a little continental with tapas and cocktails, but during the day it is a Bondi institution where bacon and vodka can finally be seen together in the cold light of day.