Flour Drum

Flour Drum is a Newtown café and artisan bakery built around food made on site. Its offering covers all-day breakfast, lunch, cakes, cookies, preserves and coffee, with the kitchen preparing, baking or cooking the food in-house. Coffee is supplied by The Blind Coffee Roaster, while the drinks list extends to Australian wines, locally brewed beers, cider and a small selection of aperitifs. The café is open daily until 4pm, with the kitchen closing at 3pm.

Breakfast includes familiar café staples alongside more distinctive house creations. The Signature Big Drum Breakfast combines eggs, sourdough toast, bacon, pork sausage, kale and smoked baked beans, with vegan and vegetarian options available. The buttermilk banoffee pancake stack is a sweeter signature, pairing caramelised banana and dulce de leche with cookie crumble, maple syrup, cream and mascarpone. Other choices include mushroom and poached egg on toast, corn and herb fritters, and avocado smash with Bulgarian feta, mint and lime. Lunch brings vegetarian fritters, soba noodle salad, filo pie, housemade pasta and several burgers, including lamb, chicken and veggie versions.

The setting is a notable part of the visit. Outdoors, the pet-friendly garden is filled with rare plants, seasonal flowers, bonsai trees and large succulents, making it especially appealing for locals who want to bring their dog. Inside, the spacious dining room runs alongside a 10-metre mural by Australian street artist Scott Marsh. There is also a coffee and takeaway area stocked with daily baked goods, cakes, cookies and preserves. Table bookings are recommended, particularly for the popular garden seating on weekends.

Sweet baking is central to Flour Drum’s identity. Chef and co-owner John Ageletos, also known as @themoonlightbaker, makes the cakes and baked goods in the kitchen, including whole cakes, custom celebration cakes and the venue’s large M&M cookies. A standard giant M&M cookie is available daily, while the jumbo version requires three days’ notice. With its broad all-day menu, garden seating and takeaway bakery counter, Flour Drum suits a relaxed breakfast, a casual lunch, a coffee stop with a dog, or a pre-ordered cake occasion in Sydney’s Inner West.