Annandale

More than 3,000 labels fill the shelves of this Booth Street shop, weighted heavily toward hand-made, minimal-intervention wine — skin-contact whites, orange wines, pet-nat, alongside the sakes, beers and spirits that round out the range. The scale is unusual for an inner-west shop of its size, and the buying reflects a preference for small growers over big brands, organised by style rather than country so browsing turns up unfamiliar bottles next to familiar ones. Saturday afternoons bring in-store tastings, usually built around a producer or a theme, and six-bottle purchases earn a standing 15 percent discount that keeps regulars buying by the case rather than the bottle. It is the kind of shop built for people who already know roughly what they like and want to be pushed slightly further into something they don't. Open daily from 10am, with late trading on Fridays and Saturdays.

A family-run garden centre in the heart of Annandale village, in Sydney's Inner West, trading since 1980. The compact site packs in native plants, potted colour and WALLGARDEN vertical-garden systems, with staff who deal in knowledgeable, impartial advice rather than the hard sell. Close to the local shops and bus routes, it's the kind of neighbourhood nursery a suburb keeps coming back to. Open seven days, 9am to 5pm.