Lil Milkbar

Lil Milkbar is a small, well-loved cafe in the Southlands shopping precinct at Mawson, serving a Vietnamese-leaning brunch menu and serious coffee, with outdoor tables in the pedestrian precinct where dogs are welcome on lead. Under its new owner it trades seven days, and it has become the Woden side's answer to a proper neighbourhood milkbar.

The dog setup

Dogs are allowed at the outdoor tables, which sit in the shopping strip rather than a closed courtyard, so foot traffic passes right by. Keep leads short and your dog close to the table, and bring your own water bowl, since one is not guaranteed during service. If the strip is hectic, a quiet weekday morning is the easiest time for a dog to settle.

The vibe

The picks among regulars are the iced Vietnamese coffee, fresh banh mi and a crispy bacon and egg roll, with banana bread and French toast covering the sweet end. It is a compact, friendly room and a quick counter, not a lingering brunch palace, which suits a dog stop perfectly.

Hours run from 6:45am weekdays and 7am weekends, closing around 2pm, so it is a breakfast and lunch venue with an early-start habit.

Getting there and parking

The cafe sits at 9B/22 Mawson Place within the Southlands centre, with free parking in the surrounding car park and flat, step-free access to the outdoor tables. ACTION buses serve the Mawson group centre.

Close by with the dogs

Mawson District Park and the quiet suburban streets around Southlands make an easy pre- or post-coffee walk, and the nature reserves on the Woden ridge line are a short drive for an on-lead bush leg. For another coffee option in the same precinct, Grain de Cafe is nearby, and more options sit in the ACT cafes guide and on the Mawson destination page.

Pepsi: iced coffee for them, a bacon and egg roll for me, and a strip full of pats on the way past. Mawson does it right.