Penny University Cafe

Penny University Cafe is a daytime café in the Old Kingston Shops on Kennedy Street, Kingston, with breakfast and lunch available throughout the day. Its menu covers a broad range of tastes, from straightforward eggs and sourdough to more involved plates such as miso eggs benedict, okonomiyaki savoury pancake, green eggs and ham, and a rosti stack. There are also burgers, steak sandwich, handmade fettuccini and poke bowls for lunch, alongside salads, chips and a selection of add-ons.

The café’s food offering includes plenty of vegetarian and vegan-marked choices, as well as dishes with gluten-free and dairy-free options indicated on the menu. The kids’ menu makes it a practical choice for families, with options including pancakes, egg and bacon rolls, crumbed chicken, toasties and children’s pasta. Breakfast and lunch dishes can be ordered at any time during service, and the café invites guests to ask about its daily specials.

Coffee is central to the Penny University experience. The café serves Small Batch Roasting Co. coffee, a supplier it says supports positive social impact and sustainable agriculture. Drinks range from standard coffee and batch brew to pour-over, cold brew, iced lattes, matcha, chai, hot chocolate, tea, fresh juices, smoothies, house-made lemonade and kombucha. The drinks list also includes alternative milks and decaffeinated coffee options.

The name refers to London’s 17th-century coffeehouses, where a penny bought entry, coffee, conversation and access to the latest news. Penny University presents itself as a contemporary version of that idea: a place to meet, eat and drink coffee together. That makes it suitable for a casual catch-up, a family breakfast, or a solo visit centred on coffee and a meal. The venue acknowledges that it operates on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Land. It is open Monday to Saturday from 6am to 3pm and Sunday from 6am to 2.30pm. Penny University holds a 4.3 Google rating from 1,055 reviews.