Cafe NAS

Cafe NAS sits inside the National Art School on Forbes Street, Darlinghurst, in the courtyard of the heritage-listed sandstone buildings of the old Darlinghurst Gaol. It runs from 8am on weekdays, opens mid-morning at 9:15am on Saturdays and closes on Sundays. The setting does most of the talking: a leafy, open-air courtyard behind the historic walls, quiet enough that it feels a world away from Oxford Street, which runs busy just outside the gates.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome in the outdoor courtyard seating, which is where most of the cafe actually lives, so there is no second-class seating problem here. Leashed and settled by the table is the expectation, and staff are relaxed about well-mannered dogs joining a slow morning. Shade from the trees and the courtyard aspect keep the tables usable through the warmer months. Ask for a water bowl, and note the campus entry is via Forbes Street, so keep the lead on until you are through and seated, it is an active school campus with students and gallery visitors moving through.

The menu

The kitchen leans European brunch: baked Spanish eggs with toasted focaccia, folded chorizo eggs, truffle mushroom toast and mushroom bruschetta are the signatures, with rigatoni and gnocchi carrying the later side of the day. Coffee is treated seriously, and the pace of the place suits it, this is a lingering-table cafe rather than a grab-and-go. Reviewers rate it highly for the calm of the courtyard as much as the plates.

Getting there and parking

Street parking on Forbes, Boundary and Burton Streets is metered and tight, so public transport or a rideshare is the practical call. The Oxford Street bus corridor is a short walk, and Museum Station is about ten minutes on foot. The entry sits inside the National Art School grounds, so budget a minute to walk in from the street through the campus.

Close by with the dogs

For an off-lead stretch, Harmony Park on the Surry Hills edge is a City of Sydney park where dogs are off leash at all times, unfenced, with mature shade trees and a dog drinking fountain. It is the natural warm-up before the courtyard table. Ward Park and Frog Hollow Reserve give you more on-lead options through the same pocket. If you are pairing cafe stops, Chapter E and Desert Rose Cafe are both in Darlinghurst and dog-friendly at their outdoor tables.

The play here is simple: park once, do the gallery-precinct walk, run the dog at Harmony Park, then take a shaded courtyard table and order the baked eggs. Few Sydney cafes give you this much quiet with a dog in the inner city.

Pepsi: A courtyard with sandstone walls, baked eggs, and a water bowl on request. She calls it our gallery morning.