Flybridge Cafe

Flybridge Cafe sits directly on the water at 1B New Beach Road, Darling Point, next door to the marina with the yachts moored a few metres away and the Harbour Bridge in the distance. It opens 7am to 4pm on weekdays and until 4:30pm on weekends, counter service, shaded outdoor seating and licensed, which covers everything from a 7am coffee after the foreshore walk to an afternoon drink. Among the eastern suburbs cafe set it has a reputation for being one of the properly dog-friendly ones.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome in the outdoor terrace seating, the casual marina-side tables with room to tie a lead off beside your chair. Water bowls are usually out, though a backup bottle is smart on summer mornings because the terrace catches the sun until the shade sails do their work. Staff are used to dogs and accommodating, and the setup suits a dog who can settle while the harbour traffic goes by. Weekday mornings are the quiet window; weekends fill with the brunch-and-yacht crowd.

The menu

The kitchen covers breakfast and lunch without fuss: the bacon roll is the order locals defend, the almond round is the pastry worth claiming early, and the steak sandwich carries the lunch side. Coffee is solid and the view does most of the heavy lifting. It is a relaxed cuppa-and-chat kind of place rather than a destination kitchen, and that is exactly the point of the location.

Getting there and parking

Free two-hour parking runs along New Beach Road, with more around Yarranabbe Park, though the kerb fills early on sunny weekends. Edgecliff Station is a 10 to 15 minute walk, or you arrive the good way, along the Rushcutters Bay foreshore path with the dog already warmed up. The 200 and 200 bus routes along New South Head Road put you within a few minutes of the door.

Close by with the dogs

The location is unusually good for combining off-lead time with breakfast. Yarranabbe Park sits right beside the cafe, and Woollahra Council allows dogs off lead there at all times, though it is unfenced and runs along New Beach Road, so recall matters and the playground is out of bounds. Rushcutters Bay Park continues the foreshore strip, with off-leash hours from 3:30pm to 10:30am daily and leashed rules in between, and the Reg Bartley Oval field is always off limits. If you want another dog-friendly table nearby, Scramble And Bean is up the road and The Navy Bear is a Darling Point local alternative.

Do the foreshore loop first, unclip in Yarranabbe, then claim a terrace table with a salty dog and a bacon roll. That is the New Beach Road morning in one move.

Max: Off lead in Yarranabbe, then a bacon roll with a bridge view. She orders the almond round every single time.