Now Open: The Soulmate Team Has Reinvented the Pool Canteen with Petersham's Splash Coffee

Pre-work swims and afternoon picnics in the park just became a whole lot more enticing in Petersham thanks to a new opening that's reinventing the classic pool canteen. Splash Coffee has just taken over the food and drink offering at the Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre, setting up shop right next to Petersham Park with standout coffee, loaded sambos, fresh salads and a freezer stocked full of ice creams.

Splash is the second Inner West opening from the team behind Newtown's always-pumping Soulmate — an accomplished crew also boasting the minds behind northwest Sydney favourites The Tuckshop and the now-closed Baron.

Open seven days a week, Splash begins to stir from the early hours, swinging open its doors from 6.30am each morning. That means pre-work swims paired with a hearty brekkie and Single O coffee are well and truly on the cards. As with Soulmate, all your classic lattes and flat whites are on offer alongside batch brew, cold brew and even a maple and cinnamon oat-milk cold brew.

The all-day breakfast section of the menu spans granola, smashed (or splashed) avo and B&Es (or V&Es — vego and egg rolls). There's a handful of salads, including the plentiful seasonal salad chocked full of roast potatoes, peas, beans, asparagus, pickled onions and red wine dressing.

If you're after a more-sizeable option, picks include fish and chips, a selection of sandwiches and a loaded Bradman burger. The fish sandwich is a certain summer hit, packing thin pieces of fish schnitzel, American cheese, house-pickled beetroot, white onion, shredded lettuce and a signature sauce between two ultra-fluffy pieces of white bread.

Summer swimmers can head to the takeaway window inside of the pool in order to elevate their dips with a heap of nostalgic treats on offer at the cafe — including a chip butty with optional curry sauce, milkshakes, smoothies, fresh-squeezed juice, and your classic ice cream selections from Paddle Pops to Bubble O'Bills.

Splash's proximity to the park also opens it up to servicing leafy picnics under the nearby trees. The team has even supplied picnic blankets, which you can borrow when you order a coffee or a feed.

Splash is located at the Fanny Durack Aquatic Centre, 2A Station Street, Petersham — open 6.30am–3pm Monday–Sunday. Head to the cafe's website to view the full menu.