Sometimes you have to get away from the main strip if you want a peaceful Byron café experience. Satori on Belongil’s location sets it apart from the rest, and what makes it worth the wander from town along Belongil Beach is both the tranquillity and the entertainment. However, Fridays and Sundays at Satori have increased in popularity since their Entertainment Manager started taking bookings. On this Sunday, a crowd of people have turned up to see Abbie Cardwell, followed by Mihirangi. Among the audience I note none other than Nicky Bomba, who has a gig that same afternoon at the Beach Hotel. Normally, musicians in cafes are shunted away in corners and asked to provide background music. But it is evident Cardwell is the attraction this afternoon, as customers withstand the rain to witness her charming performance.

Satori on Belongil, on a sunny day, is a delight. The menu aims to please everyone. I usually take this to mean the chef makes what people want instead of what s/he loves, but the benefit is I order the Chicken + Avocado salad with Fig dressing (pictured: marinated grilled chicken, fresh avocado and subtle fig dressing, coming in at $16.50) and my friend has the Tom Yum Goong (plenty of vegetables and tender prawns, about $14). Another recommendation is the Ravioli with Chorizo and Olives, an intensely flavoured meal to fill your belly. As one of only two eating establishments along Belongil, Satori must try to please everyone. They have a fine selection of tapas and cocktails, as well as all the other things you’d expect from a licenced café / restaurant. The outdoor seating is shady in places, and the undercover seating feels like it’s outside. Belongil Beach is only metres away and the cool ocean breeze floats through the venue. The waitstaff provide friendly, casual service in their elegant Myee Carlyle uniforms.

Pay attention to Satori on Belongil – the well connected staff and owners suggest it’s a likely venue for secret gigs by recognised touring acts.

Satori on Belongil
Childe St, Belongil Beach
Open 7 days, dog friendly. 

I don’t know if it is the lighting, the uniforms, or company policy, but the Balcony has the most attractive staff in Byron Bay. You could spend all day there, relaxing in the sunshine to chilled music and watching the world go by from above. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, tapas, desserts, international beers and cocktails are presented with pleasantly flirtatious service – but be prepared to wait. It’s a popular venue and I wouldn’t advise going there if your stomach is already trying to digest itself. Luckily the atmosphere is so enjoyable, the waiting time could be considered as part and parcel of the Balcony experience. On this particular visit my friends and I had a bird's eye view of the main street - evacuated for what the ambos told me was a ‘suspicious package’. Nothing like waiting for fireworks while you eat your dessert (pictured beautifully above): a hot chocolate with a vanilla crème brulèe. I can’t crack the top layer of a crème brulèe without thinking I’m Amèlie Poulain, and I’m sure she would be happy with this sweet treat in front of me tonight. It is accompanied by a thin mandarin syrup, crunchy biscotti, strawberries and blueberries. The hot chocolate is thick and satisfying. Smooth, sweet and delicious, the perfect mid evening pick-me-up, all for a few pennies shy of $15.

Visit The Balcony online

Oska is possibly the most low-key café in Byron Bay. It’s a cool little establishment on a quiet back street corner, underneath a backpackers, between a language school and a YHA. It has both outdoor and indoor seating, with long wooden communal tables and smaller plastic two seaters. There is a selection of daily papers lying around for those who eat alone or want to ignore who they're eating with, an unobtrusive music collection (usually dub or trip hop), art on the walls and staff who epitomise the balance between relaxed service and prompt coffee delivery. At one point they had a guy working there who either memorised which coffee customers wanted or could tell just by looking at them, I never figured it out. It changed hands a little while ago, and while they don’t seem to have updated to a spring / summer lunch menu as of writing this, the all-day breakfasts are still appealing. The buttermilk + polenta pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup (pictured) were the right mix of soft and crispy and came in at $9.50.

Oska Cafe 
Byron Bay English Language School
Shop 2
1 Carlyle St
Byron Bay 2481 NSW
Phone: (02) 6685 6646