TravelDay buddy

Halima Yusuf

@firstpour · she/her · Melbourne, Australia

Judge a city by its seven in the morning.

  • Coffee
  • Bakeries
  • Early mornings
  • Medium pace
  • Mid range

Halima Yusuf is a drawn, fictional companion written by TravelDay. The places below are real entries in our catalogue, and each one names the guide it came from.

How Halima Yusuf travels

I am out of the door by half past six. That is not discipline, it is greed. The first hour of a city belongs to the bakers and the people opening the roasters, and it is the only hour when nobody is performing.

So my plans look strange written down. A roaster, a market, a long walk, and then a museum at the hour everyone else is having lunch. I eat my largest meal at eleven and I am usually finished with the day by six.

I order the same thing everywhere so I can compare. One espresso, one filter if they pour it, and whatever pastry the person behind the counter is proud of. Then I sit still for fifteen minutes and watch who comes in.

  • Coffee
  • Food
  • Walking

Cities Halima Yusuf keeps going back to

  • Melbourne

    Australia

    Home, and the city that taught the rest of the world how to order a coffee.

  • Rome

    Italy

    Standing at a counter for thirty seconds is its own kind of perfect.

  • San Francisco

    United States

    North Beach and Chinatown, half an hour apart, both up before anyone else.

  • Seoul

    South Korea

    Roasters hidden in old houses, and a market open before the roasters are.

  • Lisbon

    Portugal

    A city where the pastry came first and the coffee grew up around it.

  • Copenhagen

    Denmark

    Cardamom, rye and a light roast, which is the whole northern European morning.

What Halima Yusuf recommends

Lisbon

  • Copenhagen Coffee Lab · Cafe

    A Danish roaster that suits Lisbon better than it has any right to. Good bread too.

    • Seen in Time Out. A Danish run coffee bar listed on Rua Nova da Piedade in Chiado

  • Pastelaria Versailles · Bakery

    Chandeliers, carved cases and a 1922 room. Order at the counter and stand.

    • Seen in Time Out. A 1922 pastelaria with chandeliers, carved display cases and stained glass

Melbourne

  • Seven Seeds · Cafe

    The Carlton warehouse. Sit at the long table and order a filter as well as the espresso.

    • Seen in Time Out. A Carlton roastery and cafe, sibling to St Ali, Brother Baba Budan and De Clieu

  • St Ali Canteen · Cafe

    South Melbourne, and the roastery that half of this city learned from. Go on a weekday.

    • Seen in Time Out. Time Out's South Melbourne listing for the St Ali roastery and cafe

  • Axil Coffee Roasters · Cafe

    If you want to taste what a competition barista is aiming at, this is the counter.

    • Seen in Time Out. Its barista Jack Simpson was crowned Australian Barista Champion for the third year running in 2025

  • Auction Rooms · Cafe

    North Melbourne, in an old auction house. Worth the tram ride, which is saying something.

    • Seen in Time Out. A North Melbourne cafe and roastery on Errol Street

  • Pellegrini's · Cafe

    Stand at the bar, order a granita in summer, and do not ask for oat milk.

    • Seen in Time Out. A Bourke Street espresso bar of more than sixty years, serving comfort food at comfort prices

  • Queen Victoria Market · Market

    Go before eight on a weekday. The deli hall is the reason, not the souvenir sheds.

    • Seen in Time Out. An open air market established in 1878 and still trading in the city centre

  • Prahran Market · Market

    Smaller and better for produce. I shop here and drink coffee on the way out.

    • Seen in Time Out. A South Yarra market for deli produce and fresh fruit and vegetables

Rome

  • Fatamorgana Monti · Cafe

    Gelato without additives, and flavours that sound wrong and taste right. The Monti shop is the one.

    • Seen in Time Out. Organic gelato without additives, with flavours such as pear and gorgonzola, at the piazza degli Zingari shop in Monti

  • Mercato di Monti · Market

    Weekends only, behind the Hotel Palatino. Go for the browsing rather than the buying.

    • Seen in Time Out. A weekend market behind the Hotel Palatino where young makers sell jewellery, clothing and crafts

San Francisco

  • Caffe Trieste · Cafe

    They still roast in the city. Come on a Saturday when someone is singing.

    • Seen in Time Out. One of the city's original Italian coffeehouses, at the centre of North Beach in the 1950s and still roasting its own beans

  • Good Mong Kok Bakery · Bakery

    No seats, cash queue, and the best two dollars in Chinatown. Eat in Portsmouth Square.

    • Seen in Time Out. A tiny Chinatown bakery with no indoor seating, selling dumplings to take away

  • Molinari Delicatessen · Restaurant

    Open since 1896. Order a sandwich at the counter and take a number seriously.

    • Seen in Time Out. Opened in 1896 and described as the oldest delicatessen west of the Rockies

Seoul

  • Namusairo Coffee · Cafe

    A roaster in a renovated hanok in Jongno-gu, working with beans you will not see elsewhere.

    • Seen in Time Out. A Jongno-gu coffee shop in a renovated hanok, working with rare single origin beans

Plans you can copy

Four mornings across Melbourne

4 nights · October to April · Medium pace · Mid range

A different roaster each morning, a market at eleven, and the galleries when everyone else is at lunch.

  1. Day 1

    Carlton, then the market

    • Seven Seeds · Morning · Coffee

      Filter and espresso together so you can taste the difference in the same bean.

      • Seen in Time Out. A Carlton roastery and cafe, sibling to St Ali, Brother Baba Budan and De Clieu

    • Queen Victoria Market · Midday · Market

      Deli hall first, then the produce sheds. Closed Mondays and Wednesdays.

      • Seen in Time Out. An open air market established in 1878 and still trading in the city centre

    • Pellegrini's · Evening · Meal

      Sit at the bar, eat the pasta of the day, and do not linger.

      • Seen in Time Out. A Bourke Street espresso bar of more than sixty years, serving comfort food at comfort prices

  2. Day 2

    North Melbourne and the gallery

    • Auction Rooms · Morning · Coffee

      Errol Street, early, with the paper. Breakfast here is worth sitting down for.

      • Seen in Time Out. A North Melbourne cafe and roastery on Errol Street

    • National Gallery of Victoria · Afternoon · Museum

      Free collection. Two hours, and the water wall on the way out.

    • Attica · Evening · Meal

      Ripponlea, one long menu, booked months ahead. The one splurge of the trip.

      • Seen in Time Out. Ben Shewry's Ripponlea restaurant, which entered the World's 50 Best Restaurants list at number twenty in 2018

  3. Day 3

    South Yarra and Prahran

    • Axil Coffee Roasters · Morning · Coffee

      Ask what is on the competition grinder and drink that.

      • Seen in Time Out. Its barista Jack Simpson was crowned Australian Barista Champion for the third year running in 2025

    • Prahran Market · Midday · Market

      Buy fruit for the afternoon. Closed Mondays and Wednesdays.

      • Seen in Time Out. A South Yarra market for deli produce and fresh fruit and vegetables

    • Royal Exhibition Building · Afternoon · Sight

      Take the timed dome tour if one is running.

  4. Day 4

    South Melbourne and the city

    • St Ali Canteen · Morning · Coffee

      Down a laneway, so use the map. Order the filter flight if they still pour it.

      • Seen in Time Out. Time Out's South Melbourne listing for the St Ali roastery and cafe

    • Federation Square · Midday · Walk

      Ten minutes of standing about, then go inside.

    • ACMI · Afternoon · Museum

      The permanent screen culture exhibition is free and very good.

  • Seen in Time Out. Time Out records Queen Victoria Market as an open air market established in 1878

Three Roman mornings, standing up

3 nights · April to June · Medium pace · Mid range

Counters rather than tables, gelato as a meal, and the ruins before the coaches arrive.

  1. Day 1

    Monti first

    • Mercato di Monti · Morning · Market

      Weekends only. Half an hour of browsing, then walk downhill.

      • Seen in Time Out. A weekend market behind the Hotel Palatino where young makers sell jewellery, clothing and crafts

    • Colosseum · Afternoon · Sight

      Timed ticket, booked days ahead. Go late rather than at midday.

    • Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina · Evening · Meal

      Buy cheese at the counter first, then eat. Book the table well ahead.

      • Seen in Michelin Guide. Part of a Roman food shop known for cured hams, cheeses and Roman pasta, on via dei Giubbonari

  2. Day 2

    The Vatican, then gelato as lunch

    • Vatican Museums · Morning · Museum

      First entry slot or nothing. Three hours and then leave.

    • Fatamorgana Monti · Afternoon · Coffee

      Two scoops and one of them should be a flavour you distrust.

      • Seen in Time Out. Organic gelato without additives, with flavours such as pear and gorgonzola, at the piazza degli Zingari shop in Monti

    • Seu Pizza Illuminati · Evening · Meal

      Neapolitan dough treated seriously. Go early, it fills up.

      • Seen in Time Out. Named on Time Out's Rome restaurant list for its contemporary Neapolitan pizza

  3. Day 3

    Baths and a long walk

  • Seen in Time Out. Time Out's Rome restaurant list names Seu Pizza Illuminati for its contemporary Neapolitan pizza

Three mornings between North Beach and Chinatown

3 nights · September to November · Medium pace · Mid range

Two neighbourhoods that open early, half an hour apart on foot, with one proper dinner at the end.

  1. Day 1

    North Beach

    • Caffe Trieste · Morning · Coffee

      Espresso at the counter, and buy a bag of beans from the shop next door.

      • Seen in Time Out. One of the city's original Italian coffeehouses, at the centre of North Beach in the 1950s and still roasting its own beans

    • Transamerica Pyramid · Afternoon · Sight

      Look up from the street. The little park beside it is the nicer stop.

    • Molinari Delicatessen · Evening · Meal

      Sandwiches to take away. Eat them on a bench rather than standing in the shop.

      • Seen in Time Out. Opened in 1896 and described as the oldest delicatessen west of the Rockies

  2. Day 2

    Chinatown at opening

    • Dragon Gate · Morning · Sight

      Walk in from Bush Street so you enter the way the gate intends.

    • Good Mong Kok Bakery · Midday · Meal

      Cash, no seats, quick queue. Take it to Portsmouth Square.

      • Seen in Time Out. A tiny Chinatown bakery with no indoor seating, selling dumplings to take away

    • Chinese Historical Society of America · Afternoon · Museum

      Small, careful and the best hour in the neighbourhood.

  3. Day 3

    One last table

    • The Beat Museum · Morning · Museum

      Cheerfully scrappy, and half an hour is enough.

    • Union Square · Afternoon · Walk

      Cross it, do not linger. The walk up to Jackson Square is the good part.

    • Quince · Evening · Meal

      The one booking I make months out. Much of the produce comes off their own farm.

      • Seen in Eater SF. Listed among the Bay Area's three Michelin star restaurants for 2026
      • Seen in Michelin Guide. Contemporary Californian cooking in Jackson Square, with much of the produce from the restaurant's partner farm
  • Seen in Eater SF. Eater SF's 2026 Michelin list places Quince among the Bay Area's three star restaurants

Halima Yusuf is a TravelDay buddy: drawn, fictional, and not an account in the network. Research edition 2026-09-17.