Paper Cup Espresso Bar

Plonk down a wooden bar, expose some wall bricks, install a curious Japanese cold-drip coffee contraption and you have Paper Cup Espresso Bar, the latest venture from cafe obsessive Adriano Matteoni.

He has opened and sold nine cafes across Sydney in the past decade, including inner-west nooks such as Clipper and Clover. Only a few weeks old, this inviting hole-in-the-wall is earmarked to become the first of many Paper Cups.

The place feels lo-fi but it's more sophisticated than its pared-back looks suggest. By staying small, Matteoni can do simple things well.

Take the micro-menu: it includes Arabian Bircher, with fruit, honey and yoghurt ($9) and bahrat beans with labne, maple syrup and toast ($9). Our fried free-range eggs with sage ($10) are fresh and golden, while the salmon plate with egg, ricotta, capers and rye ($12) is great for grazing.

The cafe's blend makes for full-bodied coffees ($3), while the Japanese green tea with rice ($4) has a toasty edge. However, the big hit is the cold-drip coffee on ice ($4) - a sweet, almost syrupy, concoction full of flavour and best sipped ultra-slowly.