Rose Bay Diner

There are two eateries in the car park at Rose Bay's Lyne Park, and they couldn't be more different. One has water views, Pommery on tap, and a powerful list of eastern suburbs A-listers scoffing freshly opened oysters by the dozen. The other has a view of the car park, a fruit-and-veg juice called Frankie The Squealer, and a raggle-taggle bunch of ferry commuters and junior basketballers hoeing into bacon and egg rolls.

And isn't that the best thing about Sydney… that you can do either or both. Dine at Catalina, in a harbourside sweep of ivory splendour wall-papered with Tim Storrier art, or eat at Rose Bay Diner in what was a toilet block, surrounded by yacht trailers, small dogs and very nice parking officers.

Owner Benny Sweeten used to have the caffeine-driven Joe Black on the fringe of Surry Hills for several years, and the coffee here is solid. A hazelnutty piccolo of Single Origin Roasters' Reservoir blend goes down as fast as a dropped anchor. The fitout is a-day-in-the-country, all wooden tables, big jugs of fresh flowers, bowls of beetroot ready for the juicer and take-away rolls ready for the boaties.

Sweeten has teamed up with former Fratelli Paradiso chef Daniele Trimarchi to offer eggy, porky, cafe breakfasts and grainy, tarty lunches at solid wooden tables inside or under umbrellas outside.

Their Johnny Tightlips ($14) is a nice tumble of heirloom tomatoes and avocado with crumbly shanklish (Middle Eastern yoghurt cheese), that needs sourdough or something more substantial than the somewhat steamy toast beneath. The bacon and egg roll ($13) sounds exxy, but it's exactly what you want when you order a bacon and egg roll, a big soft-bunned, double-egged, two-hander that dribbles golden egg yolk and scarlet tomato relish at every bite. Good sailing fodder whether you're taking out the yacht or you get sea-sick at the sight of the ferry.

Fried chicken ribs ($15) are fun to eat because they're still on the bone, served with slaw and a ranch sauce for dipping. It's not a dessert kind of place, but the front counter offers barrels of house-made biscuits and sticky little bread-and-butter pudding cakes. It's all very Sydney, complete with boats sailing past the thrown-open windows – on their trailers, that is. If you want water with that, go to Catalina.

THE LOW-DOWN
Do… come by boat or ferry.
Don't… park in a boat trailer bay.
Dish: Burger and chips, $13.
Vibe: Easy, breezy country cafe by the sea.