The Ten Best Places to Treat Your Mum on Mother's Day (Or Any Day)

You love your mum. How do we know this? We are psychics. Also, you clicked on an article called 'The Best Places to Treat Your Mum', so we figured that you care.

Yet, as fellow mum-lovers, we also realise that the annual celebration of maternity known as Mother's Day can be a vexing time for the Sydneysider. Where does one take one's mother (or mothers or grandmothers or amazing aunts) on such an occasion? Your favourite underground bar is too dingy and your go-to pizza joint may not cut it (unless it's Bella Brutta). This is your chance to deliver something momentous. Something memorable. And the good news is that Sydney's got the goods.

THE GROUNDS OF ALEXANDRIA

After all those selfish nights of cot-based crying, the least you can do is rise a little early to avoid the lines at The Grounds of Alexandria. Ricotta pancakes ($20) will rival mum's finest offerings, and a Grounds coffee could probably beat anything you were thinking of brewing at home. For lunch at The Potting Shed, nothing says 'thank you for carrying me around in your womb for an extended period' quite like South Australian steamed mussels ($17-26). If the lines intimidate, you can always swing by Salt Meats Cheese for a little gourmet nibble. In Alexandria, you can't lose.

Nikki To.

THREE BLUE DUCKS

She's living in one of the finest beachside cities in the world, yet mum never sees the beach? It's time to get her to Three Blue Ducks. If you wish to avoid the crowds at big-brother-Bondi, Bronte's finest restaurant is the perfect setting for a cappuccino, one of Three Blue Ducks' organic teas or a glass of white wine. This little pocket of farm-to-table goodness is a modest mix of natural and manmade decor, incorporating the warmth of wood and cool concrete for an authentic rustic country-meets-downtown feel. With a peaceful, sunny streetside window and a tender steak sandwich ($24), the effortless slice of paradise will remind mum why she decided to raise you in Sydney all those years ago.

CATALINA

Back eastside, our next 'recomumdation' (see what we did there?) is the harbourside dining experience of Rose Bay's Catalina. A Rose Bay waterside institution of 20 years, this award-winning destination from Michael and Judy McMahon offers diners panoramic views of the harbour, impeccable world-class service and a menu sporting much-loved dishes almost as old as the place itself. If you're intimidated by the price and/or reputation of the place, take baby steps into fine dining by booking in the bar area and enjoying share plates like beer-battered and melt-in-your-mouth soft goujons ($15) and Ortiz anchovies with tomato salsa on grilled sourdough ($14).

SADHANA KITCHEN

'Your mama is so fat' jokes aside, any maternal relation of yours would benefit from a healthy serving of Sadhana Kitchen this Mother's Day. This is the yummy kind of healthy. The menu is extensive — they offer breakfast, lunch, desserts, smoothies, coffee (with soy, almond or coconut milk) and hot tonics. They're also all for grandiosity, offering raw vegan high teas and seven-course degustation menus.

THE VICTORIA ROOM

To have arrived at this point in such an article without mentioning a venue for high tea will be an affront to some readers. "Do you even know my mother?" they cry. Be not offended, oh sensitive one, for we have saved the best for fourth-last. Although it's more James Bond than Murder on the Orient Express these days, the venue is still a high tea classic, with an opulent atmosphere. There are of course the ubiquitous scones, either plain or date, served with organic strawberry conserve and chantilly cream. Accompany your morsels with tea, champagne, sparkling rose or one of their ridiculously delicious cocktails, and your mother will love you forever. Guaranteed.

Want more high tea options? We have a whole list full.

DEVON ON DANKS

If your mum is the kind of foodie excited by unlikely word combinations like 'miso-grilled king salmon with smoked eel croquette' and 'salted caramel ice-cream with black Aegean salt flakes', you'll be wanting to take her to light and bright Alexandria cafe Devon on Danks. The kitchen boasts head chef Zach Tan from Guillaume at Bennelong, a pharmacist-turned chef who prescribes a menu of Asian-inspired cafe classics. Working alongside him is pastry chef Markus Andrew from Adriano Zumbo who has been assigned to cronut and doughnut duty. Think of it as a new shared playtime, now we're all adults.

KURTOSH

We are now reaching the point where you and your mother abandon all pretence of sharing 'quality time over lunch' for the glorious pursuit of sweetened ecstasy. Enter Kurtosh, the charming Hungarian-inspired bakery in Surry Hills (and Darlinghurst, Crows Nest, Wollongong and Randwick). Here the enticing treats are sold by weight, which is bliss for indecisive mums (and kids) who can't resist a slither of everything. Expect plenty of sugary favourites, like rogallach ($4.90 for 100g) and cheesecake ($4 for 100g) to satiate mum's aforementioned European yearnings. The cinnamon and sugar kurtosh ($7.50) is fragrantly reminiscent of delicious doughnuts, yet with coatings like pistachio, Nutella and coconut there is a flavour for gratifying all continental cravings. They are adequately portioned and perfect for sharing between two, so neither of you even have to talk. Aah, quality time with mum.

GELATO MESSINA

'The Messina Move' is a courting tactic that has been employed by guileful Sydney men for over a decade now. No matter how woeful a date night may look, locating the nearest source of Nick Palumbo's frozen dessert and sharing a cone streetside is a guaranteed strategy to end the evening on a sugary high. And we figured that your mum is worthy of such a sneaky ploy. Whether family lunch was brilliant or ended with an all-out shoutfest over 'that junkie you're still dating', make the Messina Move. We don't even know what life-changing specials will be on the board this Mother's Day, but fork out for a cone and maternal relations will reach the maximum level of bliss. We don't fully understand how it works, but that's the beauty of it. It's just science.

By Nishan David with the Concrete Playground team. Top image: Devon on Danks.