Relaxing places to work (and brunch) in Sydney #1: Llankelly Place
Looking for the perfect, inspiring spot to write or work (good coffee mandatory, of course). A spot to nestle amid the city chaos?
Visit Llankelly Place in Potts Point, Sydney.
This is one of the best places for digital nomads in Sydney. In my humble, urban-roaming opinion.
I’ve been coming to this laneway for years to sip coffee, take a moment and of course, tap away at the keys.
Let me set the scene for you.
It’s 6:30 am. I’m sitting at my favourite café, Truffles, in Llankelly Place, Potts Point.
It’s that still, quiet moment in time before the world launches into action.
The breeze carries a sound with it up the lane. A familiar rhythmic beat emerges from the distance.
I’ve made it. It’s always an aspiration – to be up in time to catch that invigorating yet peaceful hour in Potts. A moment with the morning light, before the world churns and punches with expectation and obligation.
I’d been feeling muddled, caught up in the rush of life and all its requirements and endless decisions. I needed to clear my head. Llankelly always delivers with a spot to take a breath and let the cool breeze clear the cobwebs.
A man with long straggly grey hair, a midnight-blue beret, grey coat and walking stick swaggers by. He looks like someone you’d see in Paris, or New York, but…this is Potts Point, with its own special vibe of cool and pulse.
He has a boombox and I recognise the song, Silent Running by Mike and the Mechanics.
‘Can you hear me??, can you hear me running? Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?’
There’s an ache in this song, a beautiful longing.
I turn to my right as my coffee wafts its warmth to my face… – and there it is. That invigorating breeze that rushes up the laneway like an overzealous dog leaping at you as you get home.
The air whips up Macleay street, winding its way from the freshness of the harbour, up the street and around the corner, unleashing through this sexy, magical lane.
Llankelly Place is a hidden gem, modest yet lively, nestled between Kings Cross and Potts Point.
It’s a vibrant pedestrian laneway that connects Orwell Street and Darlinghurst Road,
a tucked away escape amid the bustle and flurry.
Best cafes to work (and brunch) from in Llankelly Place.
There are a handful of cute spots in the lane that offer a variety of tasty cuisines but also great coffee and somewhere to tap the keys for a while.
Llankelly is in constant motion, with businesses coming and going. But that’s what give it its lively energy. As of September 2025, these are my recommendations:
- Truffles – Great food (try the Chilli scrambled eggs) and one of the best vantage points for daydreaming and people watching. 4/5
- Glider – Great service and lots of room to take a solo moment or gather with some friends for a Sunday brunch. 3/5
- Igniis Bake and Roast – Beautiful coffee, lush pastries and relaxed vibe 4/5
- Taco place
- Other?
Most people I invite to Llankelly for brunch stand at the entrance gasping, “I didn’t even know this was here”, their eyes wide as they look up, the light hitting their face.
It beautifully blends Sydney vibrance with that zen vibe.
I feel like something magical could happen here. An idea, an opportunity, a random connection, a new romance, a sexy encounter, heck, even a whole change of life direction.
Why do I find it magical?
Well, I’m glad you asked.
It’s the atmos, honey.
Aside from the energising fresh air and the buoyant, exquisite light that bounces off the art-deco buildings (hmm), there’s also the cute ‘spike wheels’ that hang seemingly from thin air along the lane.
These brightly-coloured ‘starburst wheels’ were designed by architect Peter McGregor, and were installed to add vibrancy to the place, lifting moods with a spectrum of colours from red at the entrance, through orange, yellow and green to the little oasis of Springfield Gardens on Orwell Street.
The wheels shine their magic especially at night, throwing a blend of colours across the lane giving the place its transportive feel.
But more than the street decor, it’s the people.
It’s the kaleidoscope of life that comes through the lane – that strolls, saunters, strides or struts. You see all of it in its magical wondrousness.
As a digital city trekker, one of my fave things to do is to observe the people of a place. I feel like humans give you real insight into what’s really going on.
Right now, I see two backpackers, loping along with giant bags strapped fiercely to their backs- that look like they’ve got their whole lives crammed inside them, or they could topple forward at any moment…wide-eyed adventurers, taking on the world.
The early morning coffee drinkers, taking a moment as they wipe the sleep from their eyes, blinking awake into the day
The buttoned-up suitman /suited man/business man, dashing up the lane and squinting into the light as they head for the train station.
The art lover in flowing tie-dyed dress, with large hoop earrings and blushing bright red handbag, a jumble of jangly keys tinkering as she opens her gallery.
The tradies gathering around the barista, eagerly awaiting their morning brew, steamy clouds billowing from their mouths as they chat in the early crisp air.
The gym-junkies flexing bulging biceps, protein shakers in hand, dashing down the lane for a morning gym session.
Feeling a little lost and little travel weary, or need a check-in with yourself – Llankelly holds you up, gives you space.
Silent Running fades into the distance as the blue bereted man walks away.
There’s an ache in this song, a longing for something beyond. Something else. The Germans have a word for it, as they often do for unexplainable things. ‘Sehnsucht’. A yearning for something one cannot explain or doesn’t understand/know.
Sometimes you just need an escape.
A lane provides a portal into the in-between worlds. A place you can make your story up. You can entertain ideas of possibility, of something else, beyond. For a moment, you can step away from the madness of this spinning, clawing, gasping world.
