Cafe Monstera — Restaurant in Sydney

I’d visited the fabulous Kirribili Cafe, Celsius Coffee Co. before and love the idea of a cafe being right on the water. The owners opened a second venture on Mosman Bay Wharf called Monstera.

The small little cafe is located right at the ferry dock, with a capacity of approximately 20 people with a few tables and bench seats. The kitchen is so small and I’m very impressed at how they get out such good meals so fast.

If you get in early enough you can grab the table right at the window at the waters edge. With hanging plants (presumably monstera plants) and an old row boat hanging overhead. We were there on a super cold day and they also had some heaters to keep the place warm.

The menu has a good mix of beautiful dishes and they do mix up the menu seasonally. A few of our dining party tried the ‘Something Light’ a toasted sourdough topped with heirloom tomatoes, goat’s cheese with half an avocado. A stunning little plate of healthy ingredients prepared well.

We also ordered the ‘Seriously Green’ - toasted sourdough piled with sautéed kale, asparagus, lime avocado puree and poached eggs. This was vibrant, fresh and super healthy.

We tried one of the new menu options / the corn tortillas. These are a gluten free, dairy free and vegan option. The corn tortillas are topped with a chickpea and capsicum hummus, roasted zucchini, seasonal cherry tomatoes and micro herbs. These were absolutely so delicious and were polished off in no time.

In addition, we ordered another of the new dishes, the braised mushrooms and truffle. The braised mushrooms were in a thyme and truffle cream sauce. Served with polenta and sourdough. Despite making the bread a little soggy, the flavour was nice and it was presented beautifully.

Although we didn’t try on our visit, we hear their waffles and chia pudding is a crowd favourite! Next time!

Coffee is by ONA, certainly a selling point to get there! We love a cup of coffee by ONA and the barista pours a good drop.

Just be sure to give yourself time there and look up a map because we parked higher and made the trek down but realised you can also park...

EDIT: I visited recently and noticed the staff has changed and the rude guy is no longer working here! The current staff members were very friendly and attentive, and the food was delicious as per usual. Will now be visiting more often 😊

Coffee and food is great but the service is the worst in Mosman.

The tall guy - he speaks in an extremely patronising way (and not just to me) and I haven’t seen him smile once in my two visits this week.

Just today he told me to stay put while he gets me a box to-go because it’s “unhygienic” for my plate of food to go back into the kitchen… I completely agree but I felt that comment was totally unnecessary.

Then as I was leaving, an elderly couple wanted to take my table to which he told them to stay put as he needed to “sanitise” my table. Again, so unnecessary and could’ve said instead “give me a second while I clear the table for you”.

Such a shame because otherwise this is a really nice cafe. My husband says their brekkie roll is the best he’s had and I love their coffee but unfortunately I won’t be back as I don’t enjoy having condescending...

I took my family here to celebrate my mum’s birthday recently and it was such an aesthetic backdrop for photos. The day we had visited was super sunny, making it the perfect occasion to celebrate. The staff were super lovely and helped us get the table by the water which had such stunning views. The food was also really tasty and I loved their chilli cheese smashed burger. The fried chicken was super juicy and the fries with the aioli sauce was very addicting. My brother also really enjoyed the corn fritters and I love that the food here feels super clean and not oily at all. I quite rate the matcha here as well because it’s not diluted nor overly sweet like most brunch spots I’ve visited. Highly worth checking out and make sure you request for the table by the water specifically - you won’t be disappointed! For more honest reviews be sure to follow along my food journey...