Review York Lane - Sydney

This cafe have invented a new coffee, the espresso tonic. And it's brilliant. It fills the gap between breakfast coffees (for me black, bitter and short - like my mood). And the later part of a day when a gin and tonic becomes acceptable. It's lighter, a little zesty and somehow magically just works with the espresso. I also appreciate the spirit of a man who adds new stuff to a coffee menu. Like it's a cocktail list which can be played with. Who does that? My respect goes to this cafe for their adventurous attitude and excellent coffee.

Lovely hole in the wall bar. Great atmosphere and super friendly staff. Wonderful cocktails.

A hole in the wall worth finding. A beautiful little hideaway was hidden below our hotel that very quickly became our go to stop in as we wandered the city. Wonderful vibe and atmosphere and some truly professional and well versed staff. Any excuse to visit the city will just be a another reason to stop in again. Thank you for making us feel so welcomed.

Great Japanese beer on tap orion I think it was. A great drop after a ride to quench a thirst. Sorry Phil Tooheys not cutting it anymore😉

Excellent coffee combined with a bar. Spoilt for choice 🙃

My fav little place in the City... They do a warm whiskey which is something unique that I have never tried anywhere else. It's not on the menu so ask the owner. The coffee is great as well.

Great bar intimate friendly staff, reminded me of small bars in Japan with a do whatever you want attitude 💚

Excellent location next to wynyard station and little national hotel great vibe

It was gloomy day when I visited. I must say it is The warmest spot I have ever been. My hidden gem and tranquility in busy CBD amongst all the fancy cafes .Would love to be back again after seeing they are actually bar in the evenings. it was just simple brekkie I ordered , but it's that place that things can be so simple yet so satisfying. Nothing more nothing less. :)) warm pat porridge with right sweetness, slices of banana and topped with raisins . I also uploaded my fave picture by the demitasse and backgrounder by all the boozes!

Went here for lunch. Nice small and quaint place in the by lanes,giving it a cozy feeling. The food is good and delicious. If you want a place that's in the city but doesn't feel like that, this is the one.<br/>

A back alley breath of fresh air!👌🏻@yorklanebar has a quirky atmosphere, hand written menu and wooden box seats that give it that cool Melbourne cafe culture vibe🍴☕️✌🏻️Best of all the food is fabulous! Try the Thai beef salad... Amazing! 😝 @mybondisummer #yorklanebar #mybondisummer

Food is good - menu changes regularly, though not much variety, servings are small. Coffee is good. The service is a bit hit and miss. The bar is not so great - limited choice.

Friendly service. Good coffee. Relaxed atmosphere. Great coffee. Now zomato is making me get to 140 characters to write this review.........

York lane is the place which helps me kick start the day . It is the place which rejuvenates me when work seems to get the better off me. Just at the back alley from my office , this place provides my everyday fix. Their flat white is one of the best in the area. I have their avocado, feta and cherry tomatoes on bread almost everyday. It is healthy , filing and oh so yummm. Those three words rarely exist together and it means something. And their service needs a special mention. Excellent food with warm and friendly staff means it's a relationship forever.

When your lunch consists of this ••••>just ahmazzzzinggg

Food: Had canapés for a friend's birthday function there.  Variety of canapés will differ depending on what you pre-order.  The canapés were decent and filling<br/>Service: 5/5<br/>Ambience: cosy, intimate, fun.  But they definitely should consider installing an air-conditioner.

Tucked deep in a hidden laneway, York lane is one of the few laneway bars in Sydney. Ordered a portuguese chicken with saffron polenta and a prawn orecchieti with chilli, garlic and parmesan.<br/><br/>The dishes here are sparsely flavoured so you can really taste the ingredients and you can add salt and pepper to your liking. May not work for everyone but I did enjoy having total control.<br/><br/>The spiciness of the portuguese chicken went quite well with the more subtle polenta but there was nothing unique about the dish. The prawn orecchieti was al dente and the prawns well cooked but possibly a touch overdose with the oil. Just a nice sprinkle of chilli for a mild kick. There's a large slice of parmesan on the pasta which didn't fuse very well, I would have preferred a sprinkle of parmesan.<br/><br/>Dieter and his crew are very friendly and will make you feel just right at home. Overall a good place for a lunch but nothing over the moon.

York Lane is the closest I've seen to a Melbourne laneway bar in Sydney. It is tucked down the end of a dodgy looking lane, looking like something of an urban mirage against the dingy surrounds. It is tiny but well formed, with different levels and spaces creating an illusion of a larger space than it actually is. I popped in for breakfast - avocado, tomatoes and feta on toast and a latte. Both were fine but not exciting. The service was pleasant but the waitress seemed to be having an unco morning, spilling some of my food on the table and then exacerbating the situation as she tried to mop up. Overall a cute little place but probably wouldn't rush to return.

We ordered the lamb risoni, the vegetarian frittata and the prawn dish. All three were AMAZING! The owner was also super nice and chatty - excellent service, would definitely come back!

York Lane (or YoLa as they affectionately refer to themselves) epitomizes everything that is a small bar. This hole in the wall, 30 seat bar/cafe is tucked away down a dinghy (York) lane located behind Wynyard train station.

An awesome cafe in the daytime and a sick chill out bar at night...

Hidden gem . I had a little bit of trouble finding this bar. At the moment you can not access this bar via the Margaret St entrance to York Lane, due to the construction going on. This bar is very small but is one where you are able to catch up with friends whilst you sip on some wine (happy hour during 4-7pm, food is served after 5pm). We only tried the house dips but it was delicious! They had a tuna and mayo dip, beetroot dip and hommus dip. The turkish bread was nice and warm! We had a lot of dip left over, so we asked if we could buy more bread but they gave it for free

York Lane through the day is a café, keeping the folks of Wynyard well caffeinated. As such, their bar options are kept a little simpler, with a focus on wine and beers. The mostly Australian wine list was reasonably priced at $10 a glass, and the menu also included some of our favourites 4 Pines and Apple Thief cider. Due to the opening time of 6:30am as a cafe, it’s worth noting that York Lane isn’t open on the weekends; this is a strictly week day affair.<br/><br/>I was going through one of those periods whe

Probably one of the smallest bars in the CBD, it's both rustic and modern with friendly staff.

Their coffee was great with a fabulous nutty undertone.

...a great little hole-in-the-wall spot oozing with character & very tasty food. another great addition to the York St area.

Over conversations on love, life and work, we ordered raisin toast and muffin for breakfast. They sounded pretty simple but each bite was full of surprises. These baked goods were rustic and filled with amazing ingredients, as if they came out of an oven from a country house of the yesteryears.

I make a mental note to order these next time. Because, yes, there will definitely be a next time at York Lane.

I first came upon York Lane as part of an exercise in a trial building fire drill. The literal lane was clean, quiet and unassuming, providing a break between high rises near the Sydney's Harbour Bridge and slotted neatly between York and Clarence Streets. I noticed Made In Italy along this lane then, with a counter facing the roadway and egg tray cubes making do as tables for lunchers. Tucked away slightly a few metres up north along York Lane is this cafe with an apparently simple entrance but with a much more colourful interior inside. When you walk in, you cannot help but noticing the mirrors at the furthest end of the joint.  The square shaped tables are necessarily small and low, with stools offered for customers. The decor does set the tone, with a colourful mural on one wall and the bar on the other. There was a portable electric fan sitting inauspiciously during a sultry warm afternoon on the day of visit. I was told of the hanging bicycle before hand - and there it was placed

Open from 6:30 for early morning coffees, it transitions into a lunch spot, before finally morphing into a small bar for drinking the night away. The interior is made almost exclusively from recycled materials.

It's very chilled out and friendly, nothing too fancy, they have all you could ever need: beer/cider, wine, cocktails, cheese and yummy share plates. Pretty sweet deal huh?

This teensy recycled and upcycled laneway hidey-hole is such a well designed space, you wouldn’t think it, but it can fit 30 people. Even better, these guys are open Monday to Saturday from 6:30am serving coffee, breakfast, lunch and snacks all day for the nine to fivers, and share plates, boutique beers and wine by the glass at night. York Lane makes almost everything on site; case in point, when we arrive they’re whipping up tomorrow’s brownies. They even let us lick the beaters.

For a bit of tapas or wine this place might suit you're after work rendezvous. I love the repurposed decor and furniture. I think the pork belly is worth trying.

What a great bar! We went there tonight for a private party. The food was excellent, the service was very friendly and it was just an all around great night! So good my husband is going to pitch it to his office manager for there team Christmas party this year.

Great small bar!. Great small bar in york lane. Food is fresh and tasty. Well decorated, with a great vibe and friendly staff. Will definitely be back!

Loved it!. Working in an office about a 2 minute walk away from York Lane, my coworkers and I always pop down to the cute cafe in the mornings and afternoons. The staff are so friendly and helpful, and the ambience is fantastic. <br/>Just today, I went for lunch and ordered the Veggie Tower of Power which had an assortment of vegetables (pumpkin, capsicum zucchini) cooked to perfection, and 2 large delicious mushrooms as burger buns surrounded by balsamic reduction and basil pesto, with a side of buttered bread. The whole dish was amazing and dipping the bread into the balsamic and pesto sauce was delicious. Definitely coming back to check out the rest of the menu.

Great little unexpected place. Come here for a drink or drink and nibbles. It's crowded because it's a small place... You either need to get there early(as soon as it opens) or after 6:30 if you want to sit. We had the chicken and blue cheese sauce (yum!) the mushroom arancini (double yum!) and the lamb kofta (bit salty for my taste bit hubby loved it!) will definitely come back

Pleasant Surprise!. This gem of a cafe/restaurant is hidden from the world's view!<br/><br/>If you work in the CBD, this is an ideal place to grab lunch.<br/><br/>the service: great<br/>the ambience: amazing<br/>the food: awesome!<br/>the price: epic!!<br/><br/>So impressed that this little (secret) joint has wine, beer, coffee, sweets, and hot meals! so impressed!

A very trendy place down a little lane in Sydney CBD. As visitors to Sydney we didnt know where a funky breakfast place was. We found this place on urban spoon and it had fantastic coffee and great food! It's not very big but has a cool atmosphere with small stools. It seems most customers get takeaway coffee so it was very easy to get a table. Would definitely recommend!!

Too trendy for me. Too small and cramped, needs real cutlery and chairs. The size of the menu is proportional to the size of the place.

Nice to feel away from the city. Came here last week with a mate who said it looked cool.... and it does, when you step inside you dont feel like your in the city anymore which was certainly relaxing for my lunch break. We we're slightly confused by the menu and what to order and because we were in a rush I ordered a pre-made sandwich whilst my mate just got a coffee. The barista was also the floor person and he seemed rushed off his feet but still managed to be pleasant. Our coffees were spot on, really delicious but my sandwich wasnt the best. It looked and tasted extremely homemade (and not in a good way), the lettuce was soggy, the bread tasted old - not cafe standard. Final conclusions; id probably come back to sit and have a coffee but the food here isn't my thing.

Worth popping into .... My review should be taken in perspective, having only been in Sydney CBD, for the first time, for twenty four hours before deciding to dine at York Lane.<br/><br/>I chose this particular tapas bar due to its locality near my hotel (the Amora Jamison) and the fact that no diners had reviewed it yet!<br/><br/>Personally, I love the location, down the back of a dingy alley where no one would ever find it. Compared to the hussle and bussle of the streets, I much prefer something like this than a big bar on a major thoroughfare for a few nibbles and a quiet glass of red.<br/><br/>The fit out is modest and trendy, with a fixed gear bike mounted on the wall, they have also made good use of milk crates.<br/><br/>The food was good. We ordered four dishes, the haloumi and peas with tzatziki, duck pancakes, pumpkin pastry parcels and the pork belly.<br/><br/>The dishes are well priced. <br/><br/>The haloumi fritters a bit disappointing as well as the duck pancakes, which were actually made with bread 'wraps' rather than pancakes. The duck was delicious though, and had the menu said that they were duck wraps, rather than pancakes, I would been raving about them (I love pancakes!)<br/><br/>The pumpkin parcels were full of mashed pumpkin, well seasoned and oozing with cheese. <br/><br/>The pork - succulent, moist and crispy.<br/><br/>If I lived / worked in Sydney CBD I would definitely be back, especially if they regularly changed up the small menu with in seasonal dishes. I was disappointed that the Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese Sauce that the blogger 'Simon Food Favourites' raved about was not on the menu.<br/><br/>Highly recommended for something different in the city.