Illusion By No. 5

No, your eyes do not deceive you—this cafe and bar in the Valley is only in 2D. Sure, it may have been cleverly achieved using plenty of white paint and many black paint pens, but this ‘illusion’ is worth stepping into—and not just for the ‘grammability. Coming to us from the team behind No 5 in Winn Lane, who Illusion shares a kitchen with, the venue was inspired by similar cafes in Japan, but is the first permanent eatery of its kind in Australia. 

Every detail in this space has been hand painted, from the 2D piano in one corner to the murals on the walls. It’s honestly a trip, and you’ll feel like you just walked right into a manga comic—one completely devoid of colour. Open from morning to night, Illusion is serving up everything from epic breakfast boards to classic cocktails, so you can ditch living in 3D and scale it back at any time of day. 

On the all day breakfast menu you’ll find hearty feeds like breakfast gnocchi, zucchini and corn fritters and a salmon hash stack, with plenty of plant-based options for vegan diners. If you don’t mind sharing, their epic breakfast boards come in three different variations (including a vegan version) and can be paired with an hour of mimosas on Sundays from 11am-2pm. Otherwise, any morning of the week you can also just opt for one or two brunch cocktails like a bloody mary or pink gin tropical iced tea. 

By night, brunch makes way for shared bites like crispy pork belly, crispy squid, mac ‘n’ cheese balls and pork belly loaded fries, perfect for pairing with classic concoctions or more creative sips like ginger and lime margaritas, passionfruit mojitos and a sweet banoffee pie creation. Even better, on Thursdays from 6pm-9pm you can down an hour of unlimited Southern fried chicken or cauliflower with fries and slaw for just $25. 

Best of all, if you're reading this in November or December, the entire venue has been given a Christmas makeover for the festive season, featuring plenty of fairy lights, tinsel and even a 2D Christmas tree. Pop in before 25 December to check it out and sip one of their boozy hot chocolates, or a Christmas-inspired feed like turkey, cranberry and brie stuffed bagels, ham eggs benedict and turkey stuffing burgers. 

Image credit: Ranyhyn Laine