Pond Cafe

Pond Cafe holds one of the better corners of the Torquay Esplanade, with outdoor tables along the beach frontage and a menu that runs from poached eggs to a brisket sandwich. It opens at 6:30am every day of the week, which tells you exactly who it serves: surfers checking the swell, walkers off the coast path and families grabbing breakfast before the sand gets busy. Reported practice is that dogs are welcome at the outdoor tables, on leash, outdoors only.

The dog setup

The Esplanade frontage is where dogs are welcome, per the reported arrangement, and it's the part of the cafe most people want anyway: the sea view comes standard with the outdoor seating. The strip outside is busy in summer, so keep the lead short and pick a table clear of the footpath flow. Staff are used to beach dogs wandering past, and mornings before 9am are the quietest window for anyone with a nervous pup.

Worth knowing

The kitchen leans into its coastal position: a salmon tartine, avocado on toast, gluten free bread on request and the brisket sandwich that gets name-checked in reviews. The crowd shifts from surfers at dawn to families by mid-morning, and it reads more polished-beach-kiosk than destination brunch, which suits a day built around the water. Hours run 6:30am to 3pm daily, so it's a breakfast-and-lunch venue rather than an afternoon one. Esplanade parking fills fast on summer weekends; the side streets off the foreshore are the fallback. As with any reported policy, confirm the outdoor-only setup with staff on arrival, especially on crowded days when table space is tight.

Make a day of it

Torquay rewards a full day outdoors with the dog. The Surf Coast Walk from Point Danger to Bird Rock is the natural partner to breakfast here. For another cafe option nearby, Sandbah Cafe is close to the beach, and Doc Hughes covers you if the day runs long and turns into dinner.