The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry | A Sydney Food Blog

Cafe Norita, Sydney

May 19th, 2008  |  Published in Cafes  |  5 Comments

If Betty & Veronica lived in Chinatown, I think they’d hang out at Norita Cafe. Located in the Sydney’s Spanish “quarter” (could a quarter be any smaller?), it seems to be a magnet for young folks wanting to sip on freshly-blitzed pineapple juices, crash out on an oversized couch and break out the board games.

There’s a random array of things to play – from Tumbling Monkeys to Clue to everyone’s favourite party-scene-stealer, Axis & Allies: Europe (which I misread initially as “Arts & Allies: Europe” – a heartstopping game about arts administration set in Basel and Utrecht, I imagined, until I put on my glasses). The games will set you back a few hours and a few dollars (depending on how many houses on the Monopoly board you want to rack up or drawing room game villains you want to nab).

There are also light snacks and the over-the-top desserts you’d expect in a joint that’s so close to Chinatown – think green tea and black sesame ice cream scoops paired with sweetened red bean ($9). To encourage you to lounge around, there’s free cake on Thursdays and other calendar-coordinated discounts.

Norita has one polarising thing about it – I won’t let slip what it is. You’ll easily work it out when you’re there. It’s a little sneaky and is the one aspect that stops me from really liking the place. That and the fact I’m still waiting for Jughead and Moose to turn up.

Norita Cafe, Level 2, 77 Liverpool St, Sydney

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5 Comments

  1. hon says:

    Hey, I love Norita too! But what’s the polarising thing? I can’t figure it out!

  2. Anonymous says:

    I’d say it’s either the fact that sometimes (it isn’t all the time, I think only certain times or days, and I can’t remember what the word they used for it was) but you actually need to buy a drink or something. It’s like a minimum thing. That or the fact people can smoke in there which can be annoying when you’re trying to enjoy your tea and dessert. They also have a lot of uhh “imported” movies. That’s not such a bad thing, though.

  3. Tina says:

    The tables are a bit too high???

  4. Anonymous says:

    The instructions for the games are in Korean.

  5. Anonymous says:

    minimum order.
    one food item per person
    as it is a cafe
    they have glass on the tables now
    new menus
    it’s non smoking
    many changes to the place
    it’s worth revisiting.
    new games
    new workers
    two fantastic english speakers
    majority of the games are in english
    games like bang are in korean as they are out of print.
    you can always request for them to buy new games
    i suggest you talk to the asian short hair blonde female. she actually puts in the effort to buy games. her name is susan or something along the lines.

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Hi, I'm Lee Tran Lam. When not blogging with my mouth full, I'm usually writing, presenting Local Fidelity on FBi radio, making zines, producing podcasts or continually breaking promises about how I really am gonna get through my book pile one day.

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This is a blog about eating and drinking in Sydney, Australia (with the odd cross-border or off-topic detour). BYO appetite.

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