Mezze Bar

Step into Mezze Bar at any time of day and you’ll find yourself in a charming oasis. Expansive windows offer glimpses of Queen St below; plants are interspersed between large tables for groups and smaller, more intimate settings; lanterns hang from the high ceilings. There’s an endearing old-school energy to the place (it’s been open since 1992): on the counter, you’ll find thick-iced carrot cake and dense buttermilk chocolate cake, served with a side of cream or yoghurt. The menu begins the day with a roster of uncomplicated breakfasts (bacon-and-egg chip butties, eggs Florentine) and shifts into afternoons of tapas and mezze dishes ideal for sharing (ceviche, roasted carrots with garlic yoghurt, garlicky prawns with a side of aioli and warmed bread). Mezze Bar is a chameleon: a breakfast haunt, an afternoon tea refuge, a casual dinner spot. But among all the roles it plays, we love it most because you can order a slice of cake and a coffee, or a Turkish apple tea, or a cocktail, well into the night — a welcoming beacon in a city that is light on late-night pleasures. 

While you’re in the area: Daikoku Cosmetics