Top 20 country coffee stops

It’s not uncommon to find cool cafés dotted through Sydney’s inner-city industrial areas, but more and more they’re appearing in country regions, too.

Northern NSW

Old Quarter Coffee Merchants

6 Endeavour Close, Ballina

First up is Old Quarter in Ballina. Secreted away in an ugly industrial estate and occupying what was once a nondescript factory, Old Quarter roasts its own beans and has a cool ‘vibe by the canal’ thing going on.

It’s also pretty handy from the M1 motorway if you’re heading south from Queensland and want somewhere different to take a break.

Malt & Honey Cafe, South West Rocks

7 Livingstone Street, South West Rocks

While South West Rocks is a long way from anywhere (it’s halfway between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour), it doesn’t want for cafés. The Heritage Guest House and Sixty Degrees both concoct a cracking cuppa, but our pick is Malt & Honey – best coffee, best food, and a sea view.

The Little Shack, Port Macquarie

1a Munster Street, Port Macquarie

Nothingcompliments a morning coffee quite like a stunning location in which to drink it, and few cafés can match The Little Shack in that regard.

In eyeshot of the NRMA’s Port Macquarie holiday park and set right on the waterfront boulevard where the Hastings River runs into the sea, it originally resembled a Tiki bar (hence the name) but its tremendous success has led to some extensions.

It pours Will & Co., a brand that will be familiar to any connoisseur of the thinking juice.

Beach Bums Café, Forster

Cnr of North and Beach Streets, Forster

Sometimes the coffee you savour best is the one you are most suspicious of beforehand. Beach Bums Café, which overlooks Forster Beach, presents as one of those coastal take-away burger places that purports to serve coffee but the espresso machine lies cold and dormant and, when you ask for a cappuccino, the person behind the counter resembles a deer in headlights.

Looks are deceiving in this case, though – Beach Bums serves its own signature chocolatey blend and, even though Forster doesn’t want for coffee shops, it has them all licked.

Frothy Coffee Boatshed, Smiths Lake

1 Amaroo Drive, Smiths Lake

Coffee tends to reflect your mood. If you’re feeling grumpy it will taste bitter, but if you’re at ease on the deck at the Frothy Coffee Boatshed, every sip will be sweet and tasty as the waters of Smiths Lake lap gently on the shore and pelicans perch nearby preening their feathers.

The menu is half café and half coastal take away shop, with good, strong coffee assured.

Crest Birubi Beach, Anna Bay

73 James Paterson Street, Anna Bay

A day at the beach once meant bringing your own lunch or trudging up to the take-away shop for a burger or a sausage roll. But in recent years cafés have popped up to take advantage of passing beachgoers hungry after a morning of sun and surf.

Birubi Beach on the mid-north coast has excellent facilities all-round, including toilets, showers, changing areas and a viewing platform where shutterbugs can grab the perfect snap. Its café, Crest Birubi Beach, has one of the best views on the eastern seaboard and transcendent coffee.

Western NSW

The Tin Shed, Lithgow

69 Bridge Street, Lithgow

The industrial town of Lithgow has undergone a renaissance over the past 20 years and nothing embodies this better than The Tin Shed. Starting life as a produce store in 1903, it’s now a spacious eatery with exposed beams, what appear to be the original floorboards, and a wood stove where you can warm your hands on the frosty winter days common to this region.

A large outdoor seating area also makes it the ideal stop if you’re travelling with a four-footed companion. The Tin Shed pours coffee from The Wood Roaster in Marrickville, and the food is first-rate – be warned, the chips are addictive.

The Old Mill Café and Restaurant, Millthorpe

12 Pym Street, Millthorpe

When you get this deep into the country there’s no guarantee of good coffee – and that goes double for a town like Millthorpe, which has traditionally been a home to antiques (including the human variety, who often prefer their coffee hotter than the sun).

But just like some of the bigger towns that surround it, Millthorpe has moved with the times and there are now a couple of good options. If you’re an early riser, you’ll want Millthorpe Providore, which opens its doors at 6am.

But if you can wait until 8:30am, The Old Mill Café & Restaurant does the best coffee in town. You won’t find a bigger bunch of caffeine junkies than motoring journalists, and car companies often take them here for a lunch/coffee stopover during car launches.

Factory Espresso, Orange

135 Kite St, Orange

If someone transplanted a Marrickville café in right in the heart of Orange’s increasingly bustling retail district, it would probably look a lot like Factory Espresso.

Formerly a Repco outlet that serviced cars, it first opened as a café in 2012 and has changed hands a few times over the years, but one thing hasn’t changed – its dedication to roasting and brewing an amazing espresso on site.

Trader & Co., Yass

92 Meehan Street, Yass

This ‘providore’ style café doesn’t look like much from the street, but inside its rustic décor provides a warm and inviting space. The coffee will satisfy even the most discerning inner-city caffeine addict and if you have a machine at home you can browse the variety of fresh coffee beans for sale.

A simple menu of breakfast and lunch items (including kid-friendly options) makes Trader & Co. the perfect stop for Sydneysiders on their way to Wagga Wagga or Albury.

Coolamon Cheese Factory & Cafe, Coolamon

87 Cowabbie St, Coolamon

Too many country cafés remain stuck in 1980 and think waving a coffee bean over scalding-hot milk makes a flat white. But inside the Coolamon Cheese Factory you will find a Coffee Pedaler Café, one of a small chain that operates in central NSW.

The baristas know their craft and there’s the added bonus of delicious cheeses to snack on, as well as a variety of deli-style soups, sandwiches and pastries.

Southern NSW

Audley Dance Hall Café, Audley

2 Lady Carrington Drive, Audley

In most national parks it’s a case of ‘bring your own thermos of coffee or end up with a caffeine deprivation headache’, but the Royal National Park in southern Sydney is blessed with the Audley Dance Hall Café.

As the name suggests, this grand two-storey edifice was originally built as a dance hall in 1948, and today it’s a café with plenty of seating, excellent service, and of course tasty coffee that will pep you up for the day ahead.

The venue is also available for weddings and events if its lush riverside setting takes your fancy.

Elwrays Coffee and Burger Stop, Robertson

71 Hoddle Street, Robertson

A fairly recent addition to the long-established town of Robertson in the Southern Highlands, Elwrays is a big yellow bus retrofitted to serve as a kitchen. The burgers are good (if rather pricey) but the coffee – a unique blend that uses Arabica beans – is out of this world.

Seating was limited to a few outdoor tables when Elwrays first opened, but it’s since taken over the old farm machinery shop and now has a big indoor area with Elwrays merch for sale.

Minnamurra General Store & Café

1A Rangoon Rd, Minnamurra

The Open Road team frequently heads down south for its car comparison photo shoots and Minnamurra General Store and Café has been one of our preferred launch pads over the years.

It offers indoor and outdoor seating, a simple but tasty café menu, skilfully prepared espresso coffee, and local artworks for sale. There’s also a toilet on site – which matters if you’re on a road trip or out and about for the day.

Greendale’s Café, Pyree

719 Greenwell Point, Pyree

Located in historic Jindyandy Mill, which also offers antiques, artwork, Christmas decorations, toys and lollies, Greendale’s Café is a fine place to stop on your way south or north (it’s slightly less convenient but far more pleasant than joining the scrum at Nowra Macca’s).

Always rich with rustic charm, the café’s menu got a workover a few years ago and now the food and coffee are first rate. The outdoor seating offers a picturesque view of farmland to the north.

5 Little Pigs Café, Huskisson

64-66 Owen Street, Huskisson

This café, located on the main road at Huskisson, first opened in 2013. The coffee is so good that, despite the name, even the local police go there. (Seriously, two officers walked in while we were waiting for our order.)

These days 5 Little Pigs also operates out of a food truck set up at the Jervis Bay Brewing Company.

The Albion, Braidwood

119 Wallace St, Braidwood

The small town of Braidwood seems to exist solely as a stopover for Canberrans travelling to and from the coast, so it’s no surprise it punches above its weight for food and drink.

Its gastronomic pinnacle is probably The Albion Café, which serves up coffee to die for and beautifully cooked and presented food. It occupies the historic Albion Hotel, founded in 1872, which has been restored and is now among the handsomest buildings in this absurdly charming country town.

Three66 Espresso Bar, Lilli Pilli

366 George Bass Drive, Lilli Pilli

A coastal hamlet situated between two larger towns isn’t where you’d expect to find transcendent coffee, but Three66 Espresso Bar – located midway between Batemans Bay and Moruya on the south coast – defies expectations.

Tucked away in an unremarkable cluster of shops overlooking the beach at Lilli Pilli, it serves a dynamite cup of joe (the delicious, chocolatey Ona roasted in Marrickville, last time we visited) and the food is nothing to sneeze at.

It’s well suited to early birds, too, opening at 5am every day!

Boat Shed, Mossy Point

Near Mossy Point Boat Ramp, off Annetts Parade, Mossy Point

For the dedicated coffee hunter, there’s nothing more exciting than discovering a local secret. While The Mossy Café in Mossy Point is popular for good reason, the best coffee in town is brewed out of a shack down near the mouth of the Tomago River.

The Boat Shed opens 7am every morning except Wednesdays, and in the warmer months you’ll find coffee connoisseurs lining up for their morning hit.

Wild Rye’s, Pambula

45 Toallo Street, Pambula

It’s not unusual for bakeries to serve coffee, although in many cases you wish they didn’t. Wild Rye’s on the main street in Pambula (between Merimbula and Eden) is not just an exception – it’s exceptional.

Yes, its baked goods are delicious, but it also roasts its own beans in-house and the results speak for themselves. Have you ever had a coffee where you were sad to take that final sip? That’s Wild Rye’s coffee.