Rising Sun Workshop

Overview

Tinker on your motorbike and slurp your way through bowls of ramen on the same premises at Rising Sun Workshop's permanent Newtown digs. For the uninitiated, Rising Sun is a social enterprise that serves two purposes. On one hand, it provides its motor-revving members with a communal space for repairing and polishing up their bikes. On the other, it's a café, serving coffee, cookies and seriously killer ramen.

The independent organisation was started by three friends who love riding bikes, working on bikes and chatting about bikes while also drinking coffee. They decided that Sydney needed an open, friendly, affordable space where this could happen more often. So, in 2013 they turned to Pozible and ran crowdfunding campaign, and soon discovering that 160 other people felt the same way. The 90-day campaign raised a cool $40,000.

This gave them enough cash to launch a pop-up. In 2014, they hung out in a "barely legal" space in Camperdown, building an elite Hill Fighter, cooking up ramen and gathering friends.

Needless to say, the finding of a solid, full-time home has come as a major relief. You'll find Rising Sun's new workshop at 1C Whateley Street. It used to house a century-old hardware store, so there's oodles of space.

Also, the menu has scored a serious upgrade. You can now get nosh at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and you'll find some Southern influences mixing with Japanese tradition. One of the new star dishes is a Japanese-style breakfast, served on a tray. It's worth getting up early for.