Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2023

FANTASTICFOODIES

THE HATS | 11

THE AWARDS | 12

Welcome

BY THE TIME you finish reading this, another two omakase restaurants may have opened in Circular Quay. Certainly, a few king prawns will be grilled and spiked with ’nduja in kitchens everywhere; a chef will fry curry leaves for topping whole fish, and a kilogram of caviar will be hoovered off someone’s hand. Dining out has never been more delicious in New South Wales, from high-end sushi to modern Italian –from new-school Korean to classic Cantonese. A good time, then, to bring back The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide after a threeyear hiatus, hats and awards and all. In the face of staff shortages, rising produce costs, floods and a pandemic, the hospitality industry has pushed through with passion.

There are more than 150 restaurants with a hat (or two, or three) in the Guide’s 2023 edition, a record-breaking number reflective of the many terrific places to open in recent years, and existing venues getting better with age. The Guide has also introduced a critic’s choice heart symbol for restaurants that don’t have a hat, but are places our reviewers love regardless. It’s impossible to cram all our favourites into these pages, of course, so we’ve focused on what’s fresh, exciting and distinctively NSW, as well as much-loved stalwarts featured for the first time.

Many thanks go to our sponsors Vittoria Coffee and Oceania Cruises. Without them the Guide would not have been possible. With dozens more new restaurants on the way (not to mention Icebergs Dining Room and Bar finally reopening), we hope 2023 will be a year of fantastic eating and the following pages inspire that ever-growing “must visit” list.

CITY | 23

EAST | 46 SOUTH | 72 WEST | 79 NORTH | 93

REGIONAL + ACT | 101 BARS | 44 CAFES | 70 INTERSTATE | 126 INDEX | 133

About the Guide

The Good Food Guide 2023 is a compilation of independent reviews by a team of professional restaurant critics who visit anonymously. Venues are chosen at our discretion.

Editor

Contributing editors Roslyn Grundy, David Matthews

Art directors Chris Andrew, Priscilla Nielsen

Production editor Patricia Sheahan Sub editor Tim Vaughan

Life editor Monique Farmer Publishing director Trudi Jenkins

Reviewing panel Ardyn Bernoth, Callan Boys, Jill Dupleix, Terry Durack, Trudi Jenkins, David Matthews

Reviewers Joel Beerden, Callan Boys, Kevin Cheng, Amy Cooper, Anthony Dennis, Mariam Digges, Jill Dupleix, Terry Durack, Pru Engel, Sally Feldman, Daniel Findlay, Matty Hirsch, Bianca Hrovat, Trudi Jenkins, Megan Johnston, Neha Kale, Lenny Ann Low, Tristan Lutze, David Matthews, Lyndey Milan, Peter Munro, Angela Saurine, Joanna Savill, Katherine Scott, Lee Tran Lam, Helen Yee

Interstate reviewers Fiona Donnelly, Daniela Frangos, Nola James, Max Veenhuyzen Wine list judge Katie Spain

Young Chef judges Lauren Eldridge, Dan Hong, Dan Puskas

Photographs Courtesy of the restaurants and the Nine photo library

Callan Boys

Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2023

Published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (ACN 003 357 720) of 1 Denison Street, North Sydney, NSW 2060, Australia. Pre-press by Magazine Operations, Nine Publishing. Printed by IVE, 25-33 Fourth Avenue, Sunshine,Vic, and 1 Huntingwood Drive, Huntingwood, NSW.

Information correct at time of printing.

Average cost for two people without drinks: $ $100 or less $$ $100-$250 $$$ $250+

Contact us: editorial@goodfood.com.au

For more visit: goodfood.com.au

@goodfoodau @goodfoodau

Callan Boys Managing editor Ardyn Bernoth

Three hats

Sydney Firedoor, Oncore by Clare Smyth, Quay, Sixpenny.

Two hats

Sydney Aalia, Aria, Bennelong, Bentley Restaurant + Bar, Berowra Waters Inn, Bert’s Bar & Brasserie, Cafe Paci, Ester, Franca Brasserie, Fred’s, Gildas, LuMi Dining, Margaret, Mimi’s, Monopole, Mr. Wong, Nomad, Ormeggio at The Spit, Parlar, Pilu at Freshwater, Porteno, Rockpool Bar & Grill, Saint Peter, Sean’s, Shell House Dining Room & Terrace, Spice Temple, Sushi Oe, Tetsuya’s, Ursula’s, Yellow, Yoshii’s Omakase. Regional NSW & ACT Muse Restaurant, Pilot, Pipit.

One hat

Sydney 10 William St, a’Mare, Abhi’s, Alberto’s Lounge, Alpha Restaurant, Annata Restaurant and Wine Bar, Ante, The Apollo, Arthur, Baccomatto Osteria, Bar Louise, Bar Vincent, Bastardo, Bathers’ Pavilion Restaurant, Bistrot 916, Buon Ricordo, Catalina, Chaco Bar, The Charles Grand Brasserie, China Doll, Cho Cho San, Cirrus, Civico 47, Clove Lane, Continental Deli Bar & Bistro, Da Orazio, Dining by James Viles, Ele by Federico & Karl, Esteban, Felix, Fontana, Fratelli Paradiso, Gaku Robata Grill Omakase, The Gidley, Glass Brasserie, Gowings, Haco, Ho Jiak Town Hall, Hotel Centennial, Kiln, Kindred, Kisuke, Kuon Omakase, Kuro Bar & Dining, Lana, Lankan Filling Station, Lilymu, Loulou Bistro, Luke’s Kitchen, Marta, Maydanoz, Metisse, Ms.G’s, MuMu, Nobu, Nour, Odd Culture, One Penny Red, Otto Ristorante, Pellegrino 2000, Poly, Porcine, Porkfat, Queen Chow Enmore, RAFI, Ragazzi, Ren Ishii, Restaurant Hubert, Restaurant Leo, The Restaurant Pendolino, Rising Sun Workshop, Sokyo, Soul Dining, Sushi e, Uccello, Una Mas, Viand, Yan.

Regional NSW & ACT Amara, Ates, Babyface Kitchen, Bangalay Dining, Bar Rochford, Beach Byron Bay, Bistro Livi, Bistro Molines, Charred Kitchen & Bar, Ciao Mate!, EXP. Restaurant, Flotilla, Franco Pizza Bar, Frida’s Field, Italian and Sons, Lola Dining, Margan Restaurant, The Milton Hotel, Mu Omakase, Muse Kitchen, Onzieme, Osteria il Coccia, Paper Daisy, Paste Australia, Pavilion Dining, Queen Chow Narooma, Raes Dining Room, Raku, Rebel Rebel, Restaurant Santino, Roco Ramen, Small Town Food + Wine, South on Albany, The Stunned Mullet, Terra, Valentina, XO, Yellow Billy Restaurant, You Beauty, The Zin House.

How we score

VITTORIA COFFEE RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

A restaurant that captures the mood of the moment and exemplifies what it means to be world-class.

Firedoor

Surry Hills

AMID THE GLOW of Sydney restaurants reigniting Sydney’s dining scene this past year, one burns particularly brightly. Since 2015, Firedoor has grown that little bit more confident and joyous year on year.

For Lennox Hastie, former head chef of lauded Basque restaurant Asador Etxebarri, it’s still all about the wood-fired ovens and grills, uncompromised by the convenience of gas, electricity or temperature gauges. But instead of a la carte there is now an ever-changing tasting menu, the five courses each touched by smoke, char and sizzle. Murray cod is cooked in paperbark; heirloom breed Hampshire Down lamb is fringed with rich, smoky fat; and a spectacularly crunchy, caramelised

and crystallised Breton-style pastry comes straight from the oven, for two to share (or fight over). In a bold move, the dry-aged intensely flavoured steak – once considered Firedoor’s holy grail – is now offered as a premium supplement. If it’s the soft, juicy, almost sweetly flavoured Spanish breed Rubia Gallega, you would have to consider it. With the tables now angled to take in the theatrical energy of the kitchen, wines to inspire and a more relaxed Hastie cooking better than ever, Firedoor is a tour de force. What was a one-man show has become a team effort, chefs and floor staff united in their belief that they can offer diners the greatest expression of each ingredient in its purest form. They can.

NEW RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

The most exciting opening of the past 12 months, representing everything that’s fresh and thrilling about NSW dining.

Kiln Sydney

IN A YEAR of dazzling new openings, Kiln has aced it. It’s not just the sprawling rooftop space on the 18th floor of the Ace Hotel, or the creative spirit of chef-about-town Mitch Orr on the pass. Not just the way the interior tethers its Australianness with leather, ochre, stone and wood, or the almost primal smells coming from the glowing hearth tended by head chef Mans Engberg. It’s the menu, and how it resists conventions and dodges cliches. Vegetables and seafood call the shots, from coal-charred snowflake mushrooms to Western Australian marron, spikily astringent with desert lime. Kiln defies expectations at every turn, creating a dining destination that hums with an almost visible creative force. Very here, very now.

REGIONAL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

A unique regional experience with exceptional food, wine and service beyond metro city limits.

Pipit

Pottsville, Northern Rivers

HOUSE-MADE SALAMI is one thing, but to make your own blue cheese, fish bone flour, lobster garum, sake, duck ham, squid ink “caviar”, macadamia tofu and miso? Well that’s another few levels entirely. Husband-and-wife team Ben Devlin and Yen Trinh continue to put sleepy Pottsville on the map with a set menu focused on hyperlocal ingredients, served fermented, wood-fired or just incredibly fresh – you don’t need to do much to a just-picked native raspberry other than serve it on ice with more perfect fruit. As Trinh manages the business, Devlin cooks and chats to guests from a sleek open kitchen, explaining the Northern Rivers’ eight seasons (not four) and why you won’t see any lamb or beef on his pass. The food also happens to be bloody tasty too. Sustainability at its most delicious.

OCEANIA CRUISES CHEF OF THE YEAR

A chef at the forefront of dining, setting new standards and doing something original.

Annita Potter

Viand, Woolloomooloo

AT SOME POINT, you have to break away from being the protege of a famous chef and do your own thing, if only to see if you can. For Annita Potter, that point came in 2022. After years of being Thai authority David Thompson’s executive chef in Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney, she came to Sydney to create Viand, first as a post-lockdown pop-up then, in March, as a destination diner in Woolloomooloo. A fierce spirit of independence means there is no wealthy backer to soften the blow of overheads, and nobody to train and mentor her staff except herself. It also means her food is her own –not David Thompson’s, nor faithfully traditional Thai cuisine, but a uniquely finessed and evolving expression

of both. At Viand, the vibrantly coloured kitchen sits proudly, transparently, centre stage, backed by a courtyard dripping with greenery. The deep dive of a set menu takes you on a graceful journey from pungent to cooling, crunchy to brothy, salty to leafy; from lacy egg pancakes of chicken, palm sugar and shallots, say, to a punchy lon of salted duck egg, or a boldly spiced pork curry tempered by holy basil. This is uncompromising and exciting food, pounded by hand, made from scratch. To go for this level of integrity requires a great deal of self-belief, not to mention self-funding. Annita Potter is finally doing her own thing, and we have a fantastic Thai dining experience as a result.

NEW REGIONAL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

A restaurant working with local farms and suppliers to offer something new and exciting for the region and its visitors.

Bistro Livi

Murwillumbah, Northern Rivers

IN PARTNERSHIP with former MoVida head chef Ewen Crawford, sisters Nikky and Danni Wilson launched Spanish-influenced Bistro Livi in late January inside an old Tweed Shire cafe. In common with many great regional restaurants to open in the past year, it’s a place created with locals in mind, somewhere to swing by for anchovies and sherry on a Wednesday night, or rally your favourite people to open a bottle of something frivolous over a relaxed lunch (featuring hand-picked spanner crab in curry butter, perhaps, or charred guindillas with miso bearnaise). A soft-hued dining room is all understated elegance, while Nikky is ever the graceful host. Lucky Northern Rivers visitors; luckier Murwillumbah.

VITTORIA COFFEE LEGEND AWARD

For an outstanding long-term contribution to the industry.

Eric and Linda Wong

Golden Century

FOR MORE THAN three decades, Eric and Linda Wong were the driving force of Sussex Street’s most democratic Cantonese restaurant. Countless chefs have been inspired by Golden Century’s skilled and soul-warming cooking, which goes well beyond perfect congee and those late-night pipis. The Wongs migrated to Sydney from Hong Kong in 1989, working tirelessly to ensure their live seafood was pristine, and that respecting guests was a priority. (Showing that high-end wines could be matched with Chinese food was vital, too.) “We were one of the first restaurants to use scales at the table so people could see exactly how much live seafood they were buying,” says Linda. “Being honest with our customers has always been important.” Golden Century has sadly closed, but son Billy is now at the helm of Haymarket’s XOPP. The legacy and the pipis live on.

SOMMELIER OF THE YEAR

A wine professional who has a deep knowledge of the subject, while helping to influence and inspire.

Bridget Raffal

Where’s Nick, Marrickville

WHEN BRIDGET RAFFAL isn’t recommending by-theglass pours with a focus on organic farming and terroir at modern Marrickville institution Where’s Nick – a lo-fi bar aiming to take the elitism out of cult and “minimalintervention” wines – she’s helping drive industry diversity and inclusion as vice-president of Sommeliers Australia. In 2021, Raffal also became the co-founder and inaugural president of Women and Revolution (or WaR). The grassroots initiative has a mission statement to grow the next generation of women in wine, while elevating the voices of women who want to address gender equality in hospitality’s wine sector. WaR and Raffal do this by hosting trade events, running education programs and developing mentorships. A sommelier’s sommelier, always championing peers, who can tell a Margaux from a Maconnais from across the room.

OCEANIA CRUISES WINE LIST OF THE YEAR

A diverse by-the-glass selection alongside an accessible list that displays a range of vintages, complementing the restaurant’s food and style.

Shell House Dining Room & Terrace

Sydney

A WINE LIST with clear intention. The “10 wines that define Shell House” page sets the tone from the get-go and the focus on conscious farming, organics and biodynamics resonates throughout. The emphasis on wines with maritime influence (Tasmania, Bordeaux and Sicily) is a deft touch, as is the producer feature that offers a side of education. The vast list – compiled by sommelier Shun Eto and group food-and-beverage manager Alex Kirkwood – is thoughtful and easy to navigate. There’s plenty of excitement in the mix, from Canadian ice wine to drops from regions such as the often-overlooked Riverland. Spirits, tick. Sake, tick. Magnums and a considerable offering of grower champagne? Big ticks. The non-alcoholic options are solid, too. This is the kind of drinks menu that demands time, respect and many return visits. Bravo.

YOUNG CHEF OF THE YEAR

In memory of chef Josephine Pignolet, and judged by a panel of industry professionals, this award is for a committed and skilled young kitchen talent under 30.

Tom Foster

Ele by Federico & Karl, Sydney

SELECTED BY an industry-led panel, Tom Foster impressed judges for his leadership skills favouring patience and respect rather than Gordon Ramsay-style belittlement. “We need to keep moving and evolving and adapting because we need people to come back the next day,” he says. “We need people to see hospitality as a long-term career.” Head chef under Federico Zanellato and Karl Firla at degustation-only Ele at The Star, Foster began his own career cooking at his high school teacher’s French restaurant before moving on to senior roles at The Ledbury in London and Bentley back in Sydney. By night the young chef grills marsala-glazed wagyu with aplomb; by day he’s translating Japanese cookbooks to help hone his techniques. A bright talent with a big future.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE

Executes the highest standard of service, from attitude and skill to knowledge and personality.

Michael Stoddart

Oncore

by Clare Smyth, Sydney

YOU COULD ALMOST be forgiven for thinking there’s a cosmic force at play at Crown’s three-hatted flagship, a secret power whooshing empty plates, replacing cutlery and filling pinot glasses by osmosis. It’s all Oncore’s fleetfooted floor team though, led by restaurant manager Michael Stoddart with good humour and grace. With all eyes on Sydney’s most high-profile fine-diner to open in the past year (perhaps the past decade), Stoddart has risen to the occasion to deliver service that’s a ballet of intuition and en pointe practised moves, from synchronised wine pours (champagne to the left and right!) to the goodbye gift bag of brioche and butter at the door, held open for you on exit, of course.

BAR OF THE YEAR

An all-rounder that nails service, drinks and vibe, and brings something new to Sydney’s bar scene.

Ante Newtown

In truth, Ante was always going to be good. After all, how could a bar opened by Australia’s most formidable sake importer and a gifted chef who has toiled away in some of Sydney’s most influential kitchens not be? But in opening their painstakingly detailed interpretation of a “jazu kissa” (Japanese listening bar), Matt Young and Jemma Whiteman have created something quietly revolutionary. This is a zen-like hideaway with an unmatched selection of strictly junmai (additive-free, “pure rice”) sake and the fluency to back it up. Expect to find mirin in your highball and snacks every bit as eclectic and impressive as the 2500-strong vinyl collection and sound system. The city’s drinking culture is all the richer for it.

FOOD FOR GOOD

For celebrating innovation, social enterprise and sustainability while contributing to the wider community.

Refettorio OzHarvest Surry Hills

In early 2022, a narrow Victorian terrace in Surry Hills was transformed into a stylish eatery – or rather, a “refettorio”, an Italian term for a dining hall that feeds clergy or students. The primary goal of the not-for-profit that has set up shop in the space is to provide nourishing three-course meals to people experiencing food insecurity. The project was founded by dynamic Italian chef Massimo Bottura and his wife Lara Gilmore in Europe, and the indomitable Ronni Kahn of OzHarvest has teamed up with the couple to bring Refettorio to Sydney. Volunteer staff create beautiful dishes using produce from OzHarvest’s food rescue program, and every second Thursday the paying public can eat in the chic space, too. A very special kind of social enterprise built on dignity and respect.

Aalia

MIDDLE EASTERN 16/20

Middle Eastern dining taken to new heights

One of the CBD’s most ambitious new restaurants, Aalia is lined with plush circular booths, “magic mushroom” wooden pillars and a sparkling bar dispensing supersonic cocktails. Ibby Moubadder and Jorge Farah, the team behind Nour and Lilymu, have turned our perceptions of Middle Eastern dining upside down. So has chef Paul Farag, as he plays with ideas from Lebanon, Egypt and beyond, building in detail, acidity and beautifully puffy breads. Waraq simsim tweaks the idea of stuffed vine leaves by topping a heart-shaped perilla leaf with aged rice and rich sea urchin. Skewers of quail are cooked over coals with a sour barberry and verjuice glaze. But you’re really here for the soft, smoky, slow-roasted lamb neck shawarma resting on folds of tear-apart flatbread, with tarator and pickles. And the om ali, Egyptian custard tart, of course.

Shops 7 and 8, 25 Martin Place, Sydney, aaliarestaurant.com

L Tue-Fri D Mon-Sat $$

Alpha Restaurant

GREEK 15/20

A pantheon of Greek

flavours

housed in the former Hellenic Club

It’s the Aegean, by way of Castlereagh Street, which is to say, Peter Conistis’ finely honed Greek cuisine, a slickly minimal fit-out and a throng of well-dressed guests tending toward the suited and bejewelled. Then of course, the reason for the crowd: enormous, juicy prawns kataifi, with crunchy pastry wrapping, shatteringly crisp baklava, and salty golden slabs of halloumi saganaki, balanced by lemon juice and sweet poached figs. Conistis’ signature scallop “moussaka” still appears on many tables, but the spanakopita also has its own crowd of devoted

worshippers for the showcase of heritage and technique that produces a crunchy, slightly bitter, cheesy pastry deserving a temple of its own. Delivered to the masses by deft, white-clad waitstaff, Alpha offers both the Greek we know as well as playful takes on the classics, all handled with a master’s flourish.

238 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, 238castlereagh.com.au

L Wed-Fri D Tues-Sat $$

a’Mare

ITALIAN 15.5/20

Top-tier Italian that revels in the classics

There’s a certain audience that won’t go for a’Mare. Too big, too expensive ($42 for pesto pasta!), too closely tied to Crown. But then, there are plenty of reasons that this place, seating around 200 on a sunny weekend, deserves to draw crowds. The first being that it’s perhaps the purest

Above: Aria’s steamed coral trout, spanner crab, zucchini and saffron.

Left: curvilinear dining area at Aalia.

expression of high-end classic Italian in the country. Alessandro Pavoni, who oversees more modernist cooking at Ormeggio, is clearly revelling in the concept. He stalks the carpeted floor as uniformed waiters pound together that pesto tableside then stir it through handmade trofie, or spoon out pitch perfect tiramisu for dessert. The vitello tonnato, the tuna sauce sharp and light, beats out all competitors, swordfish is grilled astutely over coals, and the wine service is informed and charming to go with a killer list. Big? Expensive?

Sure. Special? And then some.

Level 1 (Ground), 1 Barangaroo Avenue, crownsydney.com.au/amare

L Mon-Sun D Mon-Sun $$

Aria

CONTEMPORARY 16/20

Sydney’s most Sydney restaurant renews its case for fine dining with a local accent

Chef Tom Gorringe continues to bring fresh energy to Matt Moran’s harbourside institution. Flags fly for Australia, with producers namechecked on the menu and spotlights directed at local winemakers on an extensive list that straddles classic, rare, new-wave and benchmark.

Set menu or prix fixe, Gorringe has stripped things back, finding luxury in exceptional ingredients treated simply. Sweet golden beetroot, say, folded over sharp Pecora Dairy curd. Or raw line-caught coral trout, sweet, firm and brightened with yuzu. Dishes such as grass-fed beef fillet, are geared to please tourists as much as locals marking occasions, but like the bitter chicory and bone-marrow bearnaise alongside, there’s enough happening around the edges to keep things interesting. Then there’s the view of the Opera House, a sight as enduring as this restaurant’s appeal as it moves proudly into its third decade, continuing to evolve all the while.

1 Macquarie Street, Sydney, ariasydney.com.au

L Thu-Sat D Tue-Sat $$$

Bennelong

CONTEMPORARY 16.5/20

Plush thrills with the best Bridge view in town

If you haven’t dropped by the Opera House for dinner inside its smallest sail for a while, don’t wait until you have overseas guests to impress with harbour views and a grand night out – treat yourself, book today! Chefs Peter Gilmore and Rob Cockerill helm a satisfying three-course thrill-ride of technical bravura and exceptional produce, including burnished Tathra Place duck fine-tuned with sapphire grapes and Kampot pepper sauce, and a juicy kurobuta pork rack calibrated by preserved currants and smoked jus. A NSW-championing wine list has plenty of semillon options for snow-white mud crab piled on soft polenta with palm heart and brown butter, and attentive staff can recommend the perfect fortified drop for an inspired cherry jam lamington covered in chocolate so shiny you can almost see the dining room’s soaring concrete ribs overhead. World class, all class, all the time.

Bennelong Point, Sydney, bennelong.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sat $$$

Bentley Restaurant + Bar

CONTEMPORARY 17.5/20

Glamorous wine temple for a business lunch or play

With its chic, dark-edged dining room, Bentley invites wearing a nice jacket and drinking something rare from one of the best cellars in Sydney. The partnership between food and wine has long been the restaurant’s strength, with chefs Brent Savage and Aiden Stevens delivering elegant dishes with the right amounts of acid, sweetness and fat to bolster Nick Hildebrandt’s eclectic pours. A Turkish orange wine, say, to lift grilled marron drenched in butter enriched by ’nduja and shellfish stock. Dinner begins with a flurry of snacks such as pearl meat in a refreshing broth of elderflower and cured apple. Later, you might encounter dry-aged duck breast roasted on the crown and rubbed with coriander seed and orange zest, or wagyu rib-cap coated in a velvety, fermented black bean sauce to pair with aged Pauillac. Guest-first dining rooted in tradition while still moving forward.

27 O’Connell Street, Sydney, thebentley.com.au

L Wed-Fri D Tue-Sat $$$

Bistecca STEAKHOUSE

Subterranean steakhouse specialising in Tuscany’s most celebrated cut

The pitch here is simple: we cook steak. And not just any steak, big beefy bistecche, cut to order, grilled medium-rare over wood-fire, simply adorned and placed down on your table just as you’ve finished swiping focaccia through the beef-fat candle melting before you. Order sides, and they’re just as Tuscan, ranging from creamy white beans served piping hot through garlicky cavolo nero. Wine, meanwhile, aptly leans on sangiovese, but doesn’t shy from benchmark nebbiolo and new-wave Italian producers. The black-and-white tiled room fits the brief, although snacks (sardines agrodolce, say, or pizza dough with ricotta) can’t help but feel like a curtain raiser for the T-bone. When it lands, the steak rightly steals the show, but if it were cooked rarer or aged longer it might really bring the house down. Still, just try getting a booking.

3 Dalley Street, Sydney, bistecca.com.au

L D Mon-Sat $$

Above left: inside the Opera House sails at Bennelong. Above right: pearl meat, charred grapes and macadamia at Bentley Restaurant + Bar.

Boon Cafe

THAI

Thai canteen tucker with supermarket on the side

Everyone has their favourite order when they come to Boon Cafe for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It might be the boat rice, a mound of brown Thai rice with flotillas of fried fish, caramelised pork belly, cucumber, green papaya, lime and snake beans. Or the easty-westy hybrid of chicken larb on sourdough toast, or thin egg noodles with deep-fried century egg, or sticks of pork satay. The menu is a picture book of everything from Isaan hotties to the Big Boon Breakfast (a life-changer) and both kitchen and diners benefit from being within cooee of a busy Thai supermarket. Think dinky canteen tables and low stools, good coffee and chiffon cake in the mornings, and Singha beer and jungle curry in the evenings – and you’re mad if you leave without buying tomorrow night’s dinner to take home too.

Shop 1, 425 Pitt Street, Haymarket, 02 9281 2114 B L D daily $

Caysorn

THAI

Southern Thai that turns up the heat

Located in a sleepy commercial complex, Caysorn’s decor is understated, but the staff are always smiling and keen to recommend

Above: Big Boon Breakfast from Boon Cafe. Below: butterflied rainbow trout with prawn XO sauce at

favourite dishes – many with sweatinducing spice levels and bold, pungent, sour flavours. Kanom jeen (fermented rice noodles) is available in six different variations including nam ya, a hot and spicy curry flecked with fresh crab, and the noodles do a bang-up job absorbing all the coconut goodness. A self-serve salad bar of shaved carrots, cabbage, Thai basil and pickled cabbage takes the edge off the heat, and a betel leaf and crab curry has wonderful, deep aromatics capped off with a fresh dose of spice. The spicy curry with grilled fish, cashews and salted fish intestines is a force to be reckoned with, even for the most die-hard chilli lovers, but its bitterness and umami will still keep you coming back for more.

Shop 106-108A, 8 Quay Street, Haymarket, caysorn.com.au

L D daily $

The Charles Grand Brasserie

FRENCH 15/20

Grand brasserie glamour and classic French finesse

Everything about this “Grand Brasserie” is grand, from the whiteaproned waiters carrying broad silver trays, to the stitched leather booths of the art deco dining room. The menu pays its respects to classic French benchmarks, but head chef

Billy Hannigan gives everything a fresh take. A simple tomato antiboise sees the crimson orb of tomato stuffed with creamy tuna tartare; and the signature dish of dry-aged Tathra Place duck, is a one-two of sliced tender breast and confit legs, the bones pressed in a vintage duck press to create the sweet, winey sauce. Russian honey cake from the magnificent dessert trolley is so decadent, it’s hard to know if you’re in Paris, Moscow, Shanghai or Sydney. The adjoining bar is more relaxed (and so are the prices), for a killer rotisserie chicken and glass of Chablis.

66 King Street, Sydney, thecharles.sydney

L D daily $$

Chinese Noodle Restaurant

CHINESE

Family-run institution lands in new digs with a touch of polish

Chinatown is changing. The tanks at Golden Century have been drained, Marigold has served its last plate of yum cha. Near Broadway, though, Chinese Noodle Restaurant – a place known affectionately for the grapes strung from the ceiling as much as its soy-braised eggplant – has thrived. The latest outpost, just up the road, has a slicker fit-out, but it’s the evolved food offer that really catches the eye. For breakfast, the day’s selection of congee is front and centre; come lunch, the menu embraces owner Xiao Tang Qin’s Xinjiang roots. Lamb pilaf is the pick, the fat from bone-in meat rendering into rice and carrot in a mellow, sweet signature. Add an onion salad for acid, then cumin-dusted lamb skewers, pulled noodles and golden-fried dumplings for good measure. And don’t skip the pipinghot sticky eggplant either – just bring something cold and boozy to quell the heat.

G17, 8 Quay Street, Haymarket, 0420 470 722

B L D daily $

Cirrus

SEAFOOD 15.5/20

Pared-back plates and water views frame the finest catch of the day

If the timber dinghy floating above your head doesn’t put you in a maritime mood, the seafood that parades through this Barangaroo dining room soon will. But with Brent Savage at the helm, this isn’t your standard fish cafe. The chef’s smart-yet-understated style leads the way, the kitchen backing it up with restraint and a deft touch. Cubes of raw bigeye tuna huddle beneath creamy miso with yuzu kosho, ready to scoop up with a tapioca and kombu crisp, while curls of squid are poached in a lemony butter sauce that’s both lively and comforting. A whole John dory sums up the game, unadorned save for a precise and punchy coating of prawny XO. Nick Hildebrandt remains a peerless talent, overseeing a hefty, considered wine list emphasising fish-friendly whites. Like all things Bentley Group, it’s one part classic, one part rebel.

23 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, cirrusdining.com.au

L Thu-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Above: Ele by Federico & Karl has an after-dark feel. Below: rasberry ripe and coconut ripple at Dining by James Viles.

Dae Jang Kum KOREAN

Your go-to for relaxed catch-ups over Korean barbecue

Is there a greater joy than freshly grilled meat bundled into soft lettuce with seasoned spring onion and a swipe of gochujang? The hubbub of students, families and expats at this late-night Korean barbecue restaurant know what’s good. Wagyu is a specialty, available in cuts like rib finger, oyster blade, brisket and scotch. Marinated beef ribs, cut laterally, are also a winner. A parade of complimentary banchan –including kimchi, potato salad and cheesy corn for the grill – is varied and generous. Round out your feast with crisp seafood pancake, spicy seafood and silky tofu soup, and yukke – a tartare-like dish of raw beef freshened with batons of nashi pear. And it’s not Korean barbecue without an ice-cold can of Cass lager or a few rounds of soju, now delivered to your table by robot waiters. 35 Goulburn Street, Sydney, daejangkum.com.au

L D daily $

Dining by James Viles

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20 Luxury hotel dining that ticks a lot boxes

When you book a table in the opulent Park Hyatt Dining Room: you can reserve a prime, windowside table for $20 a person. It’s tempting, but given there are very

Opera House, it’s your call. Culinary director James Viles and head chef Brian O’Flaherty hero coastal and regional foods, and their menu reads like a considered, polished expression of Australian cuisine: curried Jervis Bay mussel palmier; raw coral trout with tomato, Tasmanian wasabi and pickled nasturtium; Murray cod chop, cooked over coals. Also of note: Iberico paleta (cured shoulder ham) with truffled chips and hot sauce; verdant green pasta with goat cheese and broad beans; and a wobbly square of Kurobuta pork belly braised in sticky sweet and sour sauce. An ambitious dining room with an Australian point of view.

Park Hyatt Sydney, 7 Hickson Road, The Rocks, diningroom.com.au

L Thu-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Ele by Federico & Karl

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20

High-wire dining in a nightclubby room

Restaurant Leo’s Federico Zanellato and Karl Firla have taken over the site where Momofuku Seiobo wowed diners for the past decade, and the chefs continue to provide white-hot cooking for glitzy punters at The Star. The space could well be a plush Hong Kong nightclub, all video art, shiny black granite and electronic music, and diners can expect to begin a moveable feast tasting-menu at the bar with snacks such as smoked cod brandade pressed millefeuille-style between vinegary potato crisps. Next stop, a draped dining room for butterpoached marron on pain perdu with Grand Marnier emulsion, and dryaged Murray cod perched on a pulsing cime di rapa sauce. Meat courses (perhaps charcoal-grilled wagyu glazed with beef fat, marsala and black pepper) are served at the open-kitchen counter before stunning desserts. Watch this “progessive dining” experience evolve into something special as it finds its groove.

Ground Level, The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont, star.com.au

D Wed-Sat $$$

Esteban

MEXICAN 15/20

A laneway location belying elevated food and service

Unless you haven’t eaten for hours (maybe days), don’t get a seat at the upstairs counter – dishes smoking hot from the parrilla, swiftly assembled under your nose, will get the better of any decision-making abilities. No sooner will you have agreed on the fermented chorizo tostadita and the salmon ceviche taco than a chef is topping hand-made tortillas with chubby grilled prawns, tomatillo mayonnaise and salsa, or piling slow-cooked rotisserie pork and pineapple onto tacos al pastor. Was that some fire-roasted octopus? Is that the smoked wagyu? Try not to go overboard – the butcher’s choice steak (in our case bavette) needs your attention too, with pickled mulato chilli and porcini butter accompanied all too happily by crunchy kipflers and roasted jalapeno crema. Add a serious devotion to tequila and mezcal, a seductive heritage space and well-judged service, and Esteban is a Mexican don’t-miss.

1 Temperance Lane, Sydney, estebanrestaurant.com.au

L Wed-Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Ester

CONTEMPORARY 16.5/20

Wood-fired and wine-fuelled snack attack

The future is snacks, according to the gospel of Ester. Whether it’s roasted Pacific oysters swimming in chicken-fat butter or chickpea pancakes with green tomato, it’s delivered with wood-fired energy and seasonal precision. Ester hasn’t stood still for a minute since owner-chef Mat Lindsay opened the backstreet restaurant in 2013, and while the moody, arched dining room remains the same, the menu is in a constant state of flux. You might find softhearted doubloons of ricotta gnudi lolling in creamy whey topped with crisp saltbush, or a little skewer of

firm abalone and crisp chicken skin that turns a main course into more snackery, or a sizzling Angus rib-eye. Or you may not. There are constants, however – Ester’s fermented potato bread with trout roe and kefir, a rocking natural wine list and the chance to finish on something fabulous, like a truffled crepe brulee. 46-52 Meagher Street, Chippendale, ester-restaurant.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Tue-Sat $$

Felix FRENCH 15/20

A rowdy escapist romp into bustling bistro-land

Believe it or not, there was a time when every second Sydney restaurant was not a French bistro. The time was 2011, actually, when Justin Hemmes opened the gloriously theatrical bistro-themed Felix. With a nod to New York’s Balthazar and Pastis, it had all the requisite zinc bars, white tiles, belle epoque lighting and seafood on ice required, and has been sardine-packed with a loud, celebratory crowd ever since. Current chef Mike Flood continues to deliver everybody’s favourite bistro fare. A petit fruits de mer platter shimmers with Sydney rock oysters, blue

mussels, Balmain bug and scallop crudo, and a slab of duck terrine is studded with pistachios and boudin noir. Seared wagyu sirloin could have more sizzle, but the absurdly popular profiteroles with salted caramel, vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce couldn’t at all.

2 Ash Street, Sydney, merivale.com/felix

L Mon-Fri D Mon-Sat $$

Above: classic bistro decor at Felix. Below: Grana’s casual dining space.

The Gidley

STEAKHOUSE 15/20

All steak, all sizzle, no smart phones

A secret entrance opens to stairs going down to a clubby cocktail bar, with negronis made for two to share. The Gidley wraps up all the sexy sizzle of a steakhouse in a softly lit basement dining room lined with booths and cushions. Diners here love to split a pictureperfect Gidley burger between them as an entree, but small and briny oysters from Merimbula are a more elegant choice, or Hervey Bay scallops under a tangy dressing of mandarin, champagne vinegar and buttermilk. Staff are well-informed and intuitive, heavy on the wine service, and the beef options go well beyond the cliche to a prime rib roast, say, or boneless rib-eye brushed with bourbon, the meat juicy with good fat. Add splendid fries, a mesclun salad or mac-andcheese and try to find the time for pecan pie before your table is turned over.

Basement, 161 King Street, Sydney, thegidley.com.au

L D Mon-Sat $$

Glass Brasserie

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

High-end dining and luxe wines in sumptuous surrounds

Dining amid Glass’s opulence at The Hilton, while eyeing off boutique shops opposite, it’s easy to imagine living like this all the time – a flight of fancy facilitated by a spectacular wine list with many fine drops that can be tasted by the glass. The food, too, is very good indeed, such as steak tartare mixed at the table in a blend of showmanship and technique. Chef Luke Mangan works the room, chatting to patrons and ferrying plump and just-seared scallops heightened by dashi butter. Similarly, there’s an old-school dash of panache in the delivery of mustards, each served under a mini cloche to accompany a caramelised and blushing sirloin. Underpinning the glamour, though, is a care for the diner, evidenced by thoughtful consultation around menu choices by the staff. If you’re due a luxurious daydream, this could be the place. Level 2, 488 George Street, Sydney, glassbrasserie.com.au

B daily L Thu-Fri D Wed-Sat $$

Gowings

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Bright lights, big city supper club

In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, “overture, curtain, lights”. There’s a theatrical energy in this

open kitchen, rock-star portraits and table-side trolleys. Here, a dry-aged rib-eye on the bone is carved; there, a creamy, cheesy caesar salad is dramatically tossed and dressed. The crowds flood in after a show at the State Theatre next door, and culinary director Sean Connolly and head chef Tony Gibson know exactly what they want. They want house-made rigatoni with a rich ossobuco ragu, and fluffy, warm zabaglione studded with figs. Fish is a real strength, and impeccably cooked Murray cod sings with the richness of sea urchin butter. And joy of joys, it’s one of the few places open late for civilised dining.

“On with the show, this is it!” Take it away, Bugs.

Shop 1, 49 Market Street, Sydney, gowingsbarandgrill.com.au

L Tue-Sat D Mon-Sat $$

Grana

ITALIAN

Bread and pasta in a heritage warehouse

Let’s start with the ciabatta. It’s airy and sourdough-chewy, made from grains milled on site, with parmesan butter on the side. See it arrive from the oven behind the chef kneading bread and pasta at the steel-framed feature counter in this broad, high, open-beamed, former wool store. In the heritage heart of what’s known as the Quay Quarter, Grana – Italian for grain – does plenty more, too, the doughs propped up by seafood, meat and market-fresh vegetable sides. Dishes can lean on the side of richness, such as salmon crudo in a milky-tart buttermilk and sorrel dressing, smoked eggplant ravioli in brown butter or burnt sugarloaf cabbage topped with pine nuts. But it’s all very enjoyable, the tone suited to any time of day, the service good, and the dough work hypnotising. Happy days, especially with a stracciatella gelato affogato at the end.

Ground level, 5-7 Young Street, Sydney, grana.sydney

Mon-Sat $$

Above: The Gidley. Below: Gowings’ Abrolhos island scallops.

Happy Chef

MALAYSIAN/CHINESE

Lively stall with cult-following in the heart of Chinatown

Often lauded as serving one of the best laksas in Sydney, Happy Chef has a loyal fanbase making the pilgrimage to Sussex Centre food court almost daily. The secret is in the noodles, with diners able to choose from thin or thick egg varieties, or fresh or dried rice options. The menu board is a dizzying array of noodle soups, but it’s difficult to go past the combination laksa, sweeter and less spicy than others in Sydney, with the heady aroma of coconut milk shining through a mountain of toppings including tofu, prawn, char siu pork and chicken. The house-made sambal gives the bowl a fiery orange hue alive with umami. Braised offal is also a specialty, and a spicy tripe, tendon and wonton soup is a triumph of warming, balanced deliciousness. Bobbing with squid and fishcakes, the seafood wonton soup’s fans are legion too.

Shop F3, 401 Sussex Street, Haymarket L

Hello Auntie

VIETNAMESE

Vietnamese street food gets an update

With tables facing the always busy piazza on Darling Square, Hello Auntie doesn’t have to do much to entertain its guests. But it does anyway, with do-it-yourself goi cuon rice paper roll kits, served with rounds of rice paper nestling in an ingenious rack of warm water, ready to wrap and roll. There’s vermicelli, caramelised pork, beef, chicken, vegie spring rolls, peanuts, pickles and masses of greens – loads of fun for everyone. Owner-chef Cuong Nguyen sends out huge turmericyellow banh xeo crepes (so big, they need to be cut up with scissors to serve) flavoured with sweet onion, bean sprouts and bean curd, chicken,

pork or prawn. Lunchtime pho noodle soups are based on his mum’s recipe, and stuffed chicken wings – a dying art – are done beautifully here. The original Hello Auntie in Marrickville is just as entertaining. Shop 2, 16 Nicolle Walk, Haymarket, hello-auntie.com.au

L D daily $$

Ho Jiak Town Hall

MALAYSIAN 15/20

Sydney’s favourite new-school Malaysian hits a high note

Junda Khoo’s central iteration of his forward-thinking Malaysian brand brings more ambition and polish to proceedings. A bar dedicates itself to flashy cocktails – see the coupe based on teh tarik and boba topped with a smoke bubble – salmon-hued tablecloths abound and engaged, cheerful waitstaff divvy up dishes to anticipate you fighting over the last pipi. It’s likely you will, too, when the sweet, peppery sarawak sauce coating them is so intensely addictive. Laksa bombs – chicken and prawn

Above: lamb kofta shish at Jimmy’s Falafel. Below: Hello Auntie’s bo tai tartare with fresh onion, braised shallots and capers.

kut teh) impressing for their balance and punch. Desserts are fine, but better to load up with the kangkung belachan that sees a tangle of water spinach entwined with shrimp paste. A side turned essential order, at an increasingly essential destination. 125 York Street, Sydney, hojiak.com. au/townhall

L D daily $$

Jimmy’s Falafel

MIDDLE EASTERN

Lively snack stop plus a disco ball

Merivale’s foray into Middle Eastern is a casual, bustling hub, as popular for its hummus at lunch as it is for late-night DJs and party vibes. Chefs sling skewers of chicken and merguez onto a flaming grill surrounded by fresh Lebanese bread and rainbows of cucumber, tomato and pickles. Mezze plates and sesame-crusted falafel – crunchy on the outside, soft and herby on the inside – fly out of the kitchen into a dining space with orange banquettes and a shimmering disco ball. Food comes fast from the tick-with-a-pencil menu – hummus and smoky baba ghanoush, flavourpacked kibbeh nayeh and zaatar calamari with parsley dressing. Dine in or take a pita away with lamb kofta, sumac onions and Aleppo pepper. If you’re hungry after the office or Ivy, Jimmy has your back.

312 George Street, Sydney, merivale. com/venues/jimmys-falafel

L Mon-Fri, Sun D daily $

Kabul Social

AFGHAN

Colourful refugee-led eatery celebrating Afghanistan

You might notice the blazing gold-and-blue facade first. Or the pattern-rich interiors, some inspired by Afghan wedding fabric. Or perhaps it’s the mission statement, repeated throughout Kabul Social, that initially catches your eye: “Every meal purchased here will see two meals donated to communities in need. One in Afghanistan and one in Australia.” It’s one of many reasons to support this refugee-run canteen. Like its sister venue, Enmore’s Colombo Social, this place is big on social impact, flavour and effort. Ashak, usually saved for weddings and special occasions in Afghanistan, takes two women all day to make. The hand-rolled dumplings, topped with spiced tomato and lentils, are rewarding to eat, even on uneventful days. As are lamb mantu, loaded boxes with char masala fries and Kabuli salad, and fried eggplant

Kiroran Silk Road Uyghur Restaurant UIGHUR

A glimpse into a compelling culinary culture

There’s no frippery to be found at Kiroran. Just a clutter of tables covered in gingham oilcloth and a decorative scheme of tapestries, folk instruments and a single electric guitar. But you’re not here for that – or for the service that can verge on non-existent. The lure is the Turkic cuisine of north-west China’s autonomous Xinjiang region, in all its starchy, protein-rich, charcoalkissed and cumin-scented glory. It’s a place that’s engineered for groups, somewhere to BYO (is that a bottle of Johnnie Walker at the next table?) and pile your plate with elastic hand-pulled noodles and a vinegary stir-fry of lamb and vegetables, just-soft eggplant drenched in sweetsour sauce, and a crunchy shredded chicken salad thrumming with woody spice. And yes, of course, you need doughy baked buns stuffed with

the “paddock-

It’s Tuesday afternoon, and Mike McEnearney’s much-loved cafeteria is overflowing with office workers. And so it should – weekday lunches don’t get much better than a hefty slice of the famous sourdough, perfectly cooked albacore tuna with black bean sauce and a choice of unimpeachably fresh salads. But while some might class KBM as a strictly daytime spot, a candlelit dinner offers joys all its own. Roast Sommerlad chook is everything you want it to be and then some, in harmony with radicchio, walnuts and blistered grapes. An inky soy and sesame broth takes a “sandwich” of minced prawns between soft, giving slabs of eggplant to another level. Whatever the hour, service is just as warm as the wood oven, and the commitment to conscionable Australian produce and wine is loud and clear. Consider it a taste of home in the centre of the city.

1 Bent Street, Sydney, kitchenbymike.com.au

L Mon-Fri D Wed-Fri $$

Kitchen by Mike CONTEMPORARY Canteen nailing

to-plate” brief with panache

Above: Mike McEnearney from Kitchen by Mike. Below: har mee bombs at Ho Jiak Town Hall.

Below: chawanmushi with scallop, corn, potato and edamame from Kuon Omakase.

Below right: a heritage restoration adds to the atmosphere at Lana.

Kuon Omakase

JAPANESE 15.5/20

Revered sushi temple for delicious moments of zen

With set-menu omakase restaurants popping up like mushrooms after a downpour across Sydney, Kuon has become the movement’s biggest player with three small temples of beautifully prepared produce in Haymarket and more on the way. Charcoal-grilling Irori Kuon has just opened as we go to print, Kapo focuses on traditional sushi, and this calming, sparsely decorated room is the more free-wheeling pitch. Before nine mouthfuls of perfect nigiri, expect a procession of creations such as seared scampi that’s sweet and delicate with perilla leaf, and steamed chawanmushi custard concealing a warming lucky dip of dried scallop, lily root, edamame and corn. Ponzu butter adds lustre to a jumbo pacific oyster, served in a giant shell, while wagyu tenderloin with fatty monkfish liver – the foie gras of the sea – is enhanced by a lick of red-vinegarbased sauce. Is it delicious? Oh, yeah.

Shop SE04, Little Hay Street, Haymarket, kuon.com.au

L Thu-Sat D Tue-Sat $$$

Kuro Bar & Dining

JAPANESE 15/20

Serene degustation dining amid CBD bustle

From the moment you step into the exquisite dining room, with details inspired by kintsugi (the Japanese art form of mending broken ceramics with gold) and dozens of oak beams illuminated with soft, warm light, you know you’re in for something special. The modern tasting menu from chef Taka Teramoto delivers cuisinemelding dishes honouring whole ingredients and precise technique. Snack on salty-smoky nori crisps swiped through baba ghanoush, cucumber discs topped with kingfish ceviche and bresaola curled into a fluffy choux pastry with comte cheese. Kangaroo tataki with kombu oil and mixed mushrooms precedes warming XO mazesoba noodles kissed with an egg-dashi broth, then full-blood wagyu steak partnered with a rich square of beef tongue. Gentle, attentive service, an extensive wine list and Japanese cocktails all add to the pleasure.

368 Kent Street, Sydney, kurosydney.com

L Fri-Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Kwan Noodle Bar

HONG KONG

Your friendly, street-style food-

court noodle bar

It’s a special thing to eat decadesold Hong Kong street food in the centre of Sydney. Kwan specialises in cart noodles, its name derived from the street carts that served the dish. This is a choose-your-ownnoodle-soup-adventure in three easy steps – noodles, toppings, and the sourness of the broth. For those less excited about choosing, there are also suggested bowls such as the signature Kwan featuring chicken wing, squid and beef balls, and pork belly topped with egg. The Moo, meanwhile, is a meat lover’s delight: brisket, tendon and radish that oozes beefy, savoury flavour. The broth is deep, complex and healing, with quality noodles soaking all the good stuff in. Other popular Hong Kong street snacks appear on the menu, including, quite possibly, Sydney’s best curry fish balls, with the bouncy little orbs delicately balancing seafood and spice.

Shop F6A, 401 Sussex Street, Haymarket

L D Mon-Sat $

Lana

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20

Italian-inspired fun dining that lets you hit shuffle on a set menu

Let’s start at the end, when if you’re game, you can finish with a champagne spider picked from a “play list” of add-ons. Mandarin sorbet fizzes as it transforms into a dessertstyle mimosa, playful and surprising at once. That’s the spirit up on level one at Hinchcliff House, where chef Alex Wong spins an Italian-ish set menu in exciting directions. Take the kingfish crudo, a tired dish made interesting through buffalo yoghurt and gingery spring onion dressing. Or the confit pumpkin on chickpea miso with fried chickpeas for crunch. An add-on of zucchini flowers stuffed with prawn and scallop mousse flips an Italian classic into dumpling territory, while focaccia from Grana downstairs is just good eating. Smartly spaced tables and a tasteful heritage restoration show more good sense, and drinks are made enticing by the offer to pour whatever’s open. One to keep on repeat.

Level 1, 5-7 Young Street, Sydney, lana.sydney

L Thu-Fri D Tue-Sat $$

Mexico City-like cantina meets modern wine-bar chic

At “Los Quay Quarter Lanes”, down by the ferry wharves, is one of Sydney’s newest south-of-the-border diners. The moody, dimly-lit luxe cantina isn’t quite the city’s next great Mexican, but there’s enough local produce fused with feisty flavours to keep things interesting, while the timber-panelled (and very much sombrero-free) interior inspired by Frida Kahlo is alluring. Seafood is the right idea, especially succulent garlic-buttered Yamba prawns with guajillo chilli, and tender Clarence River octopus carried by compressed watermelon and fennel. Lamb albondigas, a smoky and steadying meatball soup with chipotle and caldillo-style sauce, should not be missed. Everything is modestly portioned and suited to sharing, and mezcal fans can complete their Mexico-via-Sydney sojourn with one of the bar’s deliciously inventive cocktails or have fun exploring the high-end agave spirit selection straight-up.

8 Loftus Street, Sydney, londres126.com.au

L Thu-Sat D Tues-Sat $$

Above: Long Chim’s betel leaf miang khams. Below: Londres 126 is Mexican without the sombreros.

Long Chim

THAI

Bangkok street food heats up an industrial CBD vibe

It’s the stuff of legend that David Thompson is as across the depth and nuance of Thai cooking as anyone. Six years since opening in Sydney, Long Chim – the industrial space splashed with art and neon – still shows off his sure touch. There’s action aplenty and lovely staff (longer on charm than efficiency) happily provide advice. Take it, and they’ll steer you toward snacks, such as delightfully crisp prawn cakes (albeit a tad undercooked in the middle) and chicken wings sprinkled with a glorious mix of cumin, garlic and onion. Throughout, the fiery dishes balance sweet, sour and salty, and fly with speed from the smoky central kitchen, while wines are consistently complementary. As things progress, deep-fried pieces of ling are distinct with shrimp paste, and beef falls apart seductively in a rich, aromatic green curry. A finale? Comforting banana roti, most definitely.

Cnr Pitt Street and Angel Place, Sydney, longchimsydney.com

L D Mon-Sat $$

Londres 126 MEXICAN

Luke’s Kitchen

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Grand hotel lobby dining, high on comfort

Sometimes you just don’t want to perch on a hard stool and eat something adventurously unrecognisable. Sometimes you want splendid art deco surrounds, comfortable seating, polished crystal glasses and food cooked with technique and an eye for luxury. Luke Mangan’s new “Kitchen” may sound casual, but the opulent hotel dining room at Kimpton Margot runs to caviar and vodka trolleys, a champagne cart and trays of truffles to shave over everything in sight. Long-time Mangan collaborator chef MJ Olguera can turn out classics for corporates – a gutsy pork terrine, Peking duck pancakes, or grass-fed rib-eye for two – as easily as the fun stuff. “Garlic bread” is actually a laminated cronut of onion jam, curry-spiced garlic butter and Tasmanian gruyere, not to be missed. Luke’s Kitchen brings nostalgic glamour (and Saturday free-flow brunches) back to CBD dining. 339 Pitt Street, Sydney, kimptonmargotsydney.com/eatand-drink/lukes-kitchen

LuMi Dining

CONTEMPORARY 17.5/20

Stunning set-menu twisting Italian with Japanese

After eight years of Italian-focused, Japanese-inspired degustations on the water, chef Federico Zanellato’s mothership is better – and bigger –than ever. Longtime LuMi fans settle into the plush restaurant for its new “omakase”, adding extra snacks and posh ingredients to a menu already heaving with attention-grabbing courses. Crunchy potato millefeuille crowned with wagyu tartare and caviar; a nori tart artfully balanced with kingfish, apple, oyster emulsion and a burst of pretty linaria flowers; lemonade-fruit granita refreshing

kombu-cured scallops; wavy croissant-style bread for swiping with butter. Tagliatelle is a high point, rich with coral trout, scampi and King George whiting, while lush quail breast gets the Wellington treatment, wrapped in pastry with boudin noir. With Zanellato’s wife Michela leading the well-drilled floor team, a kneeweakening wine list and bottle-green leather seats to really sink into, this is luxury dining at its most relaxed and immersive.

56 Pirrama Road, Pyrmont, lumidining.com

L Sat-Sun D Thu-Sun $$$

Top: sirloin with lime, chilli, garlic butter and burnt leeks at Luke’s Kitchen. Below: cured coral trout with honeydew melon, cucumber and jalapeno at LuMi Dining.

Mamak

MALAYSIAN

Eternally popular site transports diners to the hawker stalls of KL

Enduring queues are testament to the fact that Mamak’s expansion to Chatswood, Brisbane and Melbourne has done little to dilute the flagship store’s cult status. Roti reigns supreme and the Chinatown branch stands out with its mesmerising shop window of chefs artfully stretching and flipping the flaky flatbread for an audience of eager diners. Lustrous kari ikan roti deserves an honourable mention; rich and buttery, it’s just the thing for sopping up saucy curries. The lamb curry (kari kambing), in particular, is a triumph of fall-apart meat in creamy tomato stew, while noodle fans can get their fix with an egg-topped serving of mee goreng – a mix of fishcake, prawns and gloriously chewy Hokkien noodles. Meanwhile, Mamak’s choc-malt take on the classic Malaysian-style “stretched” tea – the Milo tarik – is pure, frothy indulgence.

15 Goulburn Street, Haymarket, mamak.com.au

L D daily $

Maydanoz

TURKISH 15/20

Glossy dining room where vegetables get top billing

Unless you have been lucky enough to visit the fishing towns and wild hills of the Aegean coast, the first thing that comes to mind when you think Turkish food probably isn’t “vibrant vegetable-driven dishes and maybe the odd sheep’s head soup”. Somer Sivrioglu’s plush new bar and restaurant behind Wynyard station wants to change that by showcasing the plant-focused cuisine typical of Turkey’s west. First, swipe stonebaked bread through cacik – tzatziki’s cool cousin topped with grilled cucumber, mint and shaved coconut. Blackened-edge cabbage leaves retain their bite so you can use them to scoop velvety harissa-spiked labne,

while roast eggplant (imam bayildi) is stuffed with bullhorn peppers and sharpened with tamarind. And yes there really is a sheep’s head soup in the CBD, full of shredded cheek meat, slippery dumplings and so much collagen it makes tonkotsu ramen taste like tea. Brilliant.

50 Carrington Street, Sydney, maydanoz.com.au

L Mon-Fri D Mon-Sat $$

Menzies

Bar & Bistro

CONTEMPORARY

A bar for workers, tables for bosses and a stunning lobster roll

The Menzies sits proud and pub-like on the ground floor of Shell House, Sydney’s favourite new playground, and it’s the kind of come-one-comeall place where blokes in workwear might sink schooners at one end of the bar (a massive blackened steel thing straight of Dune) while advertising bosses clink Bollinger at the other. There’s a wagyu burger for quick corporate lunches, and dryaged sirloin because it’s the CBD and every second guest demands a bloody big steak. But there’s also a double-baked gruyere souffle humming with creamy soubise taking the carte up a notch, plus lively gnocchetti sardi pasta with red emperor, artichoke and spring peas. Most of the time, however, we’re drawn to the signature lobster roll, especially when the night is young

and the cocktails are cold. It should also be mentioned that the Menzies martinis are very, very good.

37 Margaret Street, Sydney, shellhouse.com.au

L Tue-Fri D Tue-Sat $$

Monopole

CONTEMPORARY 16/20

The bistro branch of Bentley Group is a boon for the city

Monopole’s 2020 move from Potts Point to the CBD has paid dividends. For starters, the Miró painting of a space, with Calder-esque mobiles overhead, is livelier and brighter than the old digs. (“You can now read the menu,” jokes a waiter.) What could have been a clubhouse servicing corporate tastes is instead an adventure defined by ingenious details (and an epic happy hour). A dessert listed as “poached quince, vanilla custard, licorice, pistachio”, makes no mention of the presence – or impact – of puffed brown rice and salt flakes, let alone does justice to the synchronicity of flavours. What’s billed simply as “taramasalata” on a springy sourdough crumpet is a briny revelation thanks to the kombu folded through. High expectations attach themselves to every Brent Savage menu and Nick Hildebrandt drinks list, but when the duo exceed them the way they do here, the result is magic.

20 Curtin Place, Sydney, monopolesydney.com.au

L Wed-Fri D Tue-Sat $$

Mr. Wong

CANTONESE 16/20

Merivale’s Cantonese palace still draws crowds for its polish and pizzazz

The sprawling, immersive space that houses Mr Wong hums with activity. Queues snake into the laneway entrance, chefs pull golden,

Clockwise from top left: cacik topped with grilled cucumber and mint at Maydanoz; Mr. Wong’s laneway entrance; lobster roll at Menzies Bar & Bistro.

glistening ducks from the oven, and besuited waiters flit between tables –upstairs and down – dispensing plates heaving with signatures: that duck, served with pancakes; crisp-fried pork hock; Dan Hong’s mum’s famed salt and pepper calamari; epic live seafood. Walk the path of the tried and true – particularly with dim sum, featuring delicate scallop and prawn siu mai – and the rewards are rich. But there’s fun to be had outside the usuals. Jellyfish gives cartilaginous texture to poached chicken salad, king crab fried rice goes big with a “typhoon shelter” cap of fried garlic and chilli. Whichever way you veer, count on the mammoth wine list to deliver, fried ice-cream to finish and the good sense in bringing friends or family along for the ride.

3 Bridge Lane, Sydney, merivale.com/mrwong

L D daily $$

CITY

Mother Chu’s Taiwanese Gourmet TAIWANESE

Chinatown essential for hard-to-find street snacks

In Taiwan, eating is guided less by the clock than it is by your cravings. That all-day spirit is on full display at this three-decade-old Dixon Street eatery where students scoff oyster omelettes under wooden awnings, grandfathers linger over scallion pancakes and you’re likely to be interrupted by a rogue toddler brandishing a golden-brown youtiao dough stick. The food, delivered by brisk and friendly waiters, is a lesson in flavour and textures. Taiwanesestyle stewed noodle soup is pleasingly herbaceous, the beef fall-apart tender. A pork pepper bun, enlivened with spring onion and enveloped in flaky sesame-encrusted pastry, is the very definition of comfort snacking. You could spend a lifetime eating your way through the menu but the preserved egg and tofu, a wobbly marvel that’s simultaneously sweet, salty and savoury, is the best place to start.

Shop 1, 84-88 Dixon Street, Haymarket

B L D Tue-Sun $

MuMu

MODERN ASIAN 15/20

Bright and boozy with bursts of 1970s glam

Located in a soaring space decorated with geometric art, hip-hop prints and more tangerine than a vintage Crockpot convention, MuMu is Merivale’s hottest opening of the year. Dishes created by chefs Dan Hong and Oliver Hua are fundamentally South-East Asian with global ingredients borrowed here and there for the sake of deliciousness – check out the grilled calamari bedded on brick-red sambal belacan with Lebanese garlic sauce. Raw paradise prawns are served with confidence, finger lime and nuoc cham, and sashimi-style snapper is heightened

by curry leaves and a spicy coconut dressing. The wine list includes lots of beaut bottles across all price points, but we reckon the best food and booze match is cold lager and a pipi jungle curry pulsing with green peppercorns, holy basil and gingerlike krachai. (Don’t miss pairing the yuzu vodka slushie with crispy-skin chicken and lemongrass salsa either.) 330 George Street, Sydney, merivale. com/venues/mumu

L D daily $$

Nobu

JAPANESE 15/20

Shiny dining with a sharp focus on seafood and sake

The gleaming Crown shard sparks a shiver of special-ness: uniformed door-people, Gucci bags and Louis Vuitton suitcases gliding through the foyer. Hushed elevators; big views. Enter Nobu’s wood, stone and glass-themed rooms and behold its glistening seafood counter, lined with silently focused chefs. Signature bites (black miso cod, say) fill the Classic menu, while newer ideas (whitefish with dry miso) are billed as Nobu Now. Amid all the cocktails, sake, tacos and kushiyaki, there’s also spanking-fresh

sushi and sashimi. Overwhelmed? Go the omakase option or pace yourself through fresh and fatty toro, uni on rice, scallop tiradito (spiced ceviche), fried squid batons with chilli mayo, slippery-sweet miso eggplant, and a squishy matcha mochi for sweets. This Peruvianspiced Japanese megahit may be global, but the Sydney iteration is up there with the best.

Level 2, 1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, crownsydney .com.au/nobu

Below: exquisite fare at Nobu.

Bottom: MuMu’s buzzy dining room.

Omu

JAPANESE

Sunny diner with a cracking take on a popular egg dish

In 2021, Mikiko Terasaki’s Omu stall would attract three-hour-long queues in Chinatown. Her excellent omurice – made Tampopo-style, where the omelette ripples across fried rice in an entrancing wave – justifies such loyalty. Even the world’s most famous omurice chef, Motokichi Yukimura from Kyoto’s Kichi Kichi, is a fan. After flipping more than 20,000 omelettes at pop-ups and markets, Terasaki finally opened her own restaurant in May. You’ll find endless variations of the omurice she grew up with in Japan (with katsu chicken or hamburger steak if you like), but simply ordering it cheesy and drizzled with tomato sauce is a winning move. Other yoshoku (Western-inspired) dishes include a comforting spaghetti and her mum’s potato salad. Also note the yolkbright interiors while you’re there, featuring cartoons of Terasaki and her husband, Thomas Vo, drawn by a Nintendo designer friend.

Shop 1, 507 Wattle Street, Ultimo L Sat-Sun D Tue-Sun $

Oncore by Clare Smyth

CONTEMPORARY 18/20

blushing lamb belly and minty sheep’s curd sticky with jus. Michael Stoddart leads a floor team par excellence and the wine list is appropriately weighty Can’t land a booking through the persnickety website? There’s always caviar sandwiches at the bar instead.

Level 26, 1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, crownsydney.com.au/ indulge/oncore-by-clare-smyth L Thu-Sat D Wed-Sat $$$

Above: Chef Clare Smyth. Below: Porkfat’s baked tiger prawns with vermicelli.

nests of kataifi pastry with whipped feta and bastourma, floppy Turkish manti dumplings with a gorgeous spanakopita filling, and an imposing twice-cooked duck with quince jus.

Typically, a Cretan tart filled with a sweet, sticky mix of nuts and figs could stop there, but doesn’t. Conistis adds lemon ouzo curd, licorice icecream and a cap of glazed lemon. Why do less when you can do more?

Bay 7, 7-27 Circular Quay West, The Rocks, ploos.com.au

L D Wed-Sun $$

Porkfat

THAI 15/20

Fresh and fiery family meal

Indulgent

dining taking familiar flavours to new heights

Yes, the potato is on the menu. Chef Clare Smyth’s signature, made famous at her London restaurant Core, is a showstopper at her Sydney outpost too – the spud slow-cooked with kombu and topped with flowers, sorrel and roe. Seaweed beurre blanc provides depth and highlights the flawless technique of a kitchen helmed by Alan Stuart when the boss is out of town. This is nostalgic, surprising and often playful luxury dining, high in the sky at Crown in a deeply cushioned room. If the harbour view isn’t commanding your attention, it’s a rose of kingfish curled with radish and boosted by sea vegetable nage, or

Ploos

GREEK

Greek island culture washes up harbourside

With The Rocks getting a multi-million dollar regeneration, it’s only fitting that pioneering chef Peter Conistis should move into the area, in the same spirit of regeneration. Having been enmeshed in Greek dining for nearly 30 years, he has opened Ploos inside (and outside) the waterside Campbell’s Stores building, this time with a refreshing focus on the food of the south Aegean. That means little bird’s

Owner-chef Narin “Jack” Kulasai grew up in Central Thailand and uses pork fat where other kitchens use commercial cooking oil. It creates a delicious foundation to layer clean, fresh flavours, and snow-white coral trout steamed with pork fat possesses rave-worthy roundness and complexity, served in a broth invigorated by ginger and pickled plums. This modest, family-run restaurant on the border of Chinatown and Ultimo has a short menu compared to other Thai restaurants in Sydney, but every dish is a firecracker of uncompromising flavour. Grilled pork jowl is marinated in two-year-old fish sauce so it’s blissfully rich and juicy, ready to be rolled in big leaves of mint and dipped in smoky nam jim, and you can’t miss the garlic and gingermarinated vermicelli sizzled in pork fat with oyster sauce and muscular prawns. Bringyour-own riesling and a big group.

Shop 2, 79 Quay Street, Haymarket, porkfat.com.au

Tue-Sun $$

CONTEMPORARY 18.5/20

Rarefied luxury, defined by balance and an eye for detail

It should be no surprise that Peter Gilmore’s producer network is wide and vast. But what continues to surprise about Quay is how even the smallest ingredient can be deployed to such profound effect. It’s the delicate dance of umami and acid from virgin soy and aged brown rice vinegar in a rockpool of intricately arranged seafood, pipis artfully standing to attention. The five kinds of “roe” – one made in-house from Japanese plum, another from Murray cod – capping a slip of marron decorated with flowers. Butterpoached squid with Tasmanian white asparagus and shiitake custard, meanwhile, is a masterclass in balance and texture – a theme that continues across six or eight courses, from roasted duck with unripe blueberries to the ice-cold “coral” dessert that snaps apart on contact. Drinks run deep, service charms, and that view – like Quay – never fails to leave a lasting impression.

Upper Level, Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks, Sydney, quay.com.au

Ragazzi

Cosy wine and pasta bar that offers a licence to indulge

Perhaps Sydney can’t compete with Melbourne in the laneway stakes, but at least the pasta at this chic Italian gives the city’s alleys some cred. Ragazzi is tiny –banquettes and a curved bar seat 40 at a squeeze –but it sure is mighty, with warm-hearted cooking and a hefty Italo-leaning wine list. Snacks are of a calibre you would expect from the team behind Fabricca and Dear Sainte Eloise, so start with bonito-stuffed salt-crusted croquettes, or burrata topping zingy zucchini relish and punchy fried capers. Then it’s time to carb load. Spaghetti cacio e pepe strikes just-right levels of richness and bite; cavatelli wows with nubs of snail and pork sausage in a garlicparsley sauce; chickpeas and clams nestle in ditaloni slick with chilli oil. A chocolate-coffee salted-caramel tart may push you over the edge, but the landing is a joyous one.

Shop 3, 2-12 Angel Place, Sydney, ragazziwineandpasta.com

L daily D Mon-Sat $$

Restaurant Hubert

FRENCH

15.5/20

An underground

French fantasyland of food, wine and music

“Welcome to Hubert. We’re gonna put a little jazz on your plate,” announces percussionist and performer Calvin Welch, launching into an energetic set on the redcurtained stage. With three bars, an arthouse cinema and a deeply romantic, candle-lit dining room, Hubert is a subterranean world unto itself, fuelled by richy-rich French classics from chef Alexis Bessau’s personal playlist, right down to an elegant chocolate gateau. A celebratory “crabe et espelette” (freshly picked spanner crab with crunchy pickles) is presented oldschool, in its shell on a bed of cracked ice. And there’s a brilliant riff on choux farci – deep green cabbage stuffed with pork and duck with a foie gras core. Wollombi duck breast is served a l’orange (of course it is) with fruity, sharp citrus and, paired with a towering avalanche of umamidusted fries, Hubert has another hit on its hands.

15 Bligh Street, Sydney, restauranthubert.com

L Thu-Sat D Mon-Sat $$

Left: Quay’s smoked eel cream, sea cucumber crackling, oscietra caviar and blossoms.

Below: celebrations at laneway Italian Ragazzi.

Restaurant Leo

ITALIAN 15/20

CBD Italian with plenty going on beneath the surface

There’s Italian, then there’s Italian by a couple of Sydney’s most ambitious chefs, Karl Firla and Federico Zanellato collaborating here on a levelled-up offering that brings precision and polish to la vera cucina. Here things are more subdued than some of the pumping restaurants nearby at Ivy, the crowd more likely to be theatregoers or sharp-suited city workers, the atmosphere more buttoned up. That tone extends to snacks, including perfectly turned stuffed artichoke hearts dressed with olive oil and mint (spot-on in every aspect bar the seasoning) and fluffy focaccia with whipped parmesan butter (a real treat). Larger plates might be tender calamari stuffed with saffron rice, or flawless pasta, such as buttery tagliatelle tangled with expertly cooked red prawns. Wine service, and the list, are all class, the service frankly Italian. One to drop in and out of, and return to over and again.

Shop 1, 2-12 Angel Place, Sydney, restaurantleo.com.au

L Thu-Fri D Wed-Sat $$

ITALIAN 15/20

A classy, clubby CBD stayer

It’s almost refreshing, in this day and age, to see handmade spinach and cheese ravioli with sage and brown butter headlining a menu. Then again, foolproof flavour combinations and time-honoured technique have always defined Pendolino. How else to explain the enduring allure of signatures such as velvet-soft beef carpaccio or a honey-sweet semifreddo covered in candied almonds? Traditional it may be, but none of it feels dull, not least roasted fillets of King George whiting with creamed leeks, crisp-edged Savoy cabbage and a frothy tomato zabaglione. Service is warm, the charm factor high, and the experience sprinkled with luxurious touches – from the olive oil tasting that accompanies the house-baked bread, through to chocolate truffles and the offer of a grappa from the trolley. This is big-city Italian with all the bells and whistles, and few do it much better. Shop 100, Level 2, The Strand Arcade, 412-414 George Street, Sydney, pendolino.com.au

L Tues-Fri D Tue-Sat $$

Ricos Tacos MEXICAN Backstreet diner for a quietly thrilling brunch or lunch

Toby Willson has been perfecting his market-fresh salsas over the past seven years, and after developing a cult following for his tacos at Waterloo’s George Hotel, the former barista has opened his own spot for sit-down dining and takeaway. Pink chairs look snazzy against moodlifting wall art (more paintings of smiling corn cobs everywhere, please) and spicy house-made chorizo is a feature ingredient you can smell on approach. Try the coarse sausage crumbled with cubes of potato for a punchy taco pulsing with cumin and cloves, or in a crunchy, cheesy quesadilla to go. At least one chipotle-spiced hash brown is essential, enlivened by a fermented salsa bright with tomatillos and lime juice, and you must experience the beefy charms of a barbacoa taco, too, featuring chuck steak simmered in a guajillo chilli sauce. Three cheers for Ricos and Sydney’s salsa revolution.

15 Meagher Street Chippendale, ricostacos.com.au

L Wed-Sun $

Above left: Mexican lunch at Ricos Tacos. Above: escargot at Restaurant Hubert.

The Restaurant Pendolino

Rockpool Bar & Grill

STEAKHOUSE 16.5/20

House of worship for steak and seafood lovers

Welcome to the old normal. The marble-clad art deco dining room has lost none of its grandeur; flames still leap in the open kitchen, and tables in the bar and grill are as sought after as ever. Neil Perry may have left the building for Margaret in Double Bay, but culinary director Corey Costelloe and head chef Santiago Aristizabal (both 13-year Rockpool veterans) bring a sizzle of their own. The almost impossibly long menu goes beyond steak and seafood, so while a Cape Grim dry-aged rib-eye has flavour to burn, consider adding a detour to finely shaved, house-cured Berkshire leg ham with grilled pineapple, or gently tender calamari with macadamia tarator, finger lime and Kampot pepper. Meanwhile, a new chocolate and rhubarb gateau picks up where the famed pavlova left off. Keep the home fires burning, Rockpool, we love you.

66 Hunter Street, Sydney, rockpoolbarandgrill.com.au

L Mon-Fri D Mon-Sat $$

Above: rib-eye at Rockpool Bar & Grill. Below: buzzing tables at Shell House Dining Room & Terrace.

Seta

ITALIAN Plush temple of modern Italian cuisine

Housed in a 19th century bank building, Seta is a lesson in culinary theatre. White-clad chefs command the open kitchen with the verve of modern dancers. A front-of-house manager whisks groups to banquettes lined with tan leather. The corporate crowd eyes off an extensive woodfired grill menu (lobster, lamb rack, rib-eye, all that jazz) while couples sit under soaring marble columns, toasting to good health and love with sparkling wine from Trentino. The kitchen knocks out some impressive creations, if you have the money, such as earthy semola di grano fregola encircled with fat mussels, and wafer-crisp melanzana (that’s Italian for eggplant) with rich wagyu and red onion. The highlight, strangely, is a house tiramisu: an elegant blend of coffee, sponge and mascarpone that’s crunchy on top, creamy in the centre. It’s proof that nothing can beat a flawlessly calibrated classic.

11 Barrack Street, Sydney, setasydney. com.au

L Tue-Fri D Tue-Sat $$

Shell House Dining Room & Terrace

MEDITERRANEAN 16.5/20

Glossy palazzo for comfort dining and grand cru

Lemon trees heavy with the weight of ripe fruit is only one of the ways Shell House tries, quite successfully, to recreate the vibe of Lake Como on a CBD rooftop. There’s dazzling marble, glazed terracotta tiles and umbrellas on wheels to follow the sun – and then there’s the menu. Chefs Aaron Ward and Joel Bickford take cues from Italy and the Mediterranean with dishes such as squid cavatelli, and cured lonza with goat’s curd and melon. Sydney’s wine list of the year is here too, breezy with maritime influence from Tasmania to Sicily. Perhaps Mount Etna carricante with cacio e pepe risotto – a golden confit egg yolk mixed tableside through al dente rice – and vintage Chateau Margaux if you want to push the boat out with rosy lamb cutlets and smoked tomatoes. Book a table at the adjoining Clocktower Bar for amaro after dark.

37 Margaret Street, Sydney, shellhouse.com.au

L D Wed-Sat $$

Silks

CANTONESE

Opulent harbourside setting for classics dishes

Lobster, snow crab and truffles. Plush carpet, fine bone china and dazzling harbour views. With the muted elegance of a Cantonese menu on your table, under glittering chandeliers, you could almost be in Hong Kong – if it weren’t for the wine list full of Penfolds Grange. Owned and operated by Crown Sydney, Silks is unashamedly high-level, expensive and luxurious. A trio of dumplings are made with a light hand, and the barbecue platter is a must, with its honey-glazed roast duck, char siu, and perfect square of five-spiced pork belly roofed with the crunch of crackling. It’s not all lobster and Peking duck, either – fleshy XO clams come topped with a tower of crispy noodles, wagyu hor fun has almost more beef than noodles, and you don’t have to be a high-roller to enjoy the lunchtime yum cha.

Level 2, Crown Sydney, 1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, crownsydney. com.au/indulge/silks

flavours: zesty, briny and everything in between. If you want the full signature package, however, go for the $300 omakase, serving only six guests a night with bookings released the first day of each month.

Ground Level, The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont, star.com.au

B D daily L Fri-Sun $$

Spice Temple CHINESE 16.5/20

A fiery celebration of regional Chinese cooking

Sokyo

JAPANESE 15/20

Neo-Japanese strong on sushi and technique

Sokyo offers a dark-curtained version of Sydney as a global city where executives, old friends and first-dates revel under moody lighting with champagne and top-shelf sashimi. Chef Chase Kojima balances tradition and inventiveness with dishes such as bluefin tataki starring six slivers of tuna, painstakingly seared, encircled by leek aioli, pickled mushrooms and edible flowers. Chicken yakitori is cooked on the robata grill until it achieves a subtle and smoky intensity, succulent on the inside, skin ever-so-slightly crisp. Ravioli stuffed with Hokkaido scallop appears with daubs of scampi butter, wakame and yuzu foam evoking a maze of complex

This year marks the 13th that chef Andy Evans has led the kitchen at this sultry restaurant. How many fillets of perfectly firm and sweet flathead drowned in heaven-facing chillies and Sichuan pepper does that equate to? How many shatteringly crisp pancakes stuffed with cumin-scented lamb? There’s a sense of mastery here, and be it the flavours of Xinjiang, Sichuan or Yunnan, Evans brings them into a cohesive whole with gloss and polish underscored with a subtle Australian accent. Bookends of pickled daikon and floral raspberry granita help soothe the palate, and in addition to a lingering heat, there’s also a lasting impression that this is a chef and team at the top of their game, supported by a smart wine offer geared for spice. Been a while between wontons? It might be time to revisit.

10 Bligh Street, Sydney,

Below left: tortelli and parmesan crisps at Seta.

Below right: Sokyo chef microplanes truffles.

Sushi e JAPANESE Sushi showmanship in a sultry upscale setting

Ask for a perch at the glamorous white marble bar, which serves as the sushi counter at this discrete wing of the rakish Hemmesphere bar. Then tune out the dance tracks somewhat bullying the zen vibe, and focus on the rhythmic theatre of the little chorus line of sushi makers, selecting, slicing, rolling, flaming and adorning pristine, quality produce. Transparent pink snapper, dressed with white soy, sesame seeds and a cloud of infinitesimally thinly sliced chives, is all silky, salty and sweet with balanced umami; nigiri kingfish, a delicate, pared-back counterpoint. Let your appetite or whip-smart waitstaff be your guide as you work your way through uramaki flavour bombs such as “dynamite” spicy raw tuna with tobiko, to a bowl of rich, buttery spanner crab soba noodles. Not into the playlist? The extensive sake menu will have you dancing in your chair regardless.

Level 4, Establishment, 252 George Street, Sydney, merivale.com/sushie

L Mon-Fri D Mon-Sat $$

Tetsuya’s

CONTEMPORARY 16/20

A fine-dining trailblazer still firing

Tell people you’re heading to Tetsuya’s nowadays, and responses may vary from “Wow!” to “Why?” and “I thought it had closed?” Well, almost, but not quite. The FrenchJapanese trailblazer will still be at Kent Street until August, when it will have to find a new home due to the building “becoming a redevelopment site”. In the meantime, that signature confit ocean trout still impresses and creamy, dashi-rich koshihikari rice with wispy, fine-cut strands of squid proves a daring combination shot through with finger lime. Chartreuseand-honeydew sorbet cleanses the palate impeccably, backed by a vivid consomme of strawberry and rhubarb. The atmosphere remains permanently set to reverential and while service has eased up over the years, it can still register as solemn. Even so, this is a seminal player in Australia’s culinary evolution and that’s as good a reason as any to visit its current temple one last time.

529 Kent Street, Sydney, tetsuyas.com

L Fri-Sun D Thu-Sat $$$

Uccello

ITALIAN 15.5/20

Southern Italian classics served up with a sensibility that’s distinctly Sydney

Uccello’s location, overlooking the Ivy Pool Club, attracts a clientele that’s a microcosm of the CBD. But the groups of lawyers sharing bottles of Piedmont nebbiolo and touring DJs snacking on spanner crab buns are only one part of this recently renovated Merivale stalwart; Uccello blends indulgence and conviviality. The food is exemplary, thanks to chef Noel Jelfs, who reimagines Italian cooking via homegrown produce and quintessentially Sydney flair. Take the beef carpaccio, a silky, vibrant dish laced with salsa verde, anchovy and Mudgee hazelnuts. Or

pig’s-head ragu, meat fall-apart tender, served atop handmade farfalle and finished with a welcome hit of chilli. This approach – refined ingredients paired with attention to detail –finds its best expression in the veal cotoletta alla Milanaise. Dusted with pecorino and seasoned with sage, it’s as comforting as it is elegant.

Level 4, Ivy, 320 George Street, Sydney, merivale.com/uccello

L Mon-Fri D Mon-Sat $$

Above: lemon tart at Uccello. Below: Whalebridge’s moules marinieres.

Whalebridge FRENCH

Living the dream, dining on the world’s most beautiful harbour

You may not see a whale, but you will get a great view of lobster thermidor from your table at this open-air, waterside restaurant on the Opera House side of Circular Quay. There are obvious drawbacks to a restaurant not having a roof, or even walls, but there is also something magical about it, albeit with umbrellas in summer and heaters in winter. Fraser Short’s Sydney Collective opened Whalebridge on the site of the old Sydney Cove Oyster Bar in 2022, installing chef Will Elliott and a luxe seafood menu with a French bistro accent and nostalgia on the side. You can indulge in share platters of fruits de mer, and Kinkawooka moules marinieres with a pile of skinny fries. Or perhaps tuck into rich and creamy bouillabaisse, a twice-baked cheese souffle, and raise a glass to fairweather friends.

8-10 Circular Quay East, Sydney, whalebridge.com.au

L D Mon-Sun $$

Woodcut

CONTEMPORARY

Rock-star location for top-notch produce transformed by wood and steam

“At the heart and soul of Woodcut is fire, steam, smoke and ice,” says the website of this sprawling waterfront finer-diner at Crown. Indeed, almost every table features dolled-up guests snapping pictures of wood-grilled steaks (the fire), kettle-cooked pipis fragrant with vadouvan spices (the steam), crusty boules of miche with cultured butter and red gum-smoked salt, and caviar on ice from the cold seafood counter. It’s a lengthy menu, and not everything hits its mark (too much apple vinegar dressing on a raw fish platter, say) but there’s still plenty to recommend from the ash grill, such as a veal tongue skewer sticky with caper sauce and nasturtiums. The wine list is thick with Old and New World reds for one of eight deliciously-charred steak options, while whisky fans can explore a smart selection of Australian drams for baked caramel with hot-buttered pine nuts.

Level 1 (Ground), 1 Barangaroo Avenue, Sydney, crownsydney.com. au/woodcut

CANTONESE

Bustling Golden Century sibling that’s happy to depart from tradition

Past and future are as one inside this wonderfully wacky building, which looks like it’s wrapped in spun sugar. Robot waiters roll past tables set with old-school lazy susans, delivering dishes to the circular, light-filled dining room. The menu, too, is split into “Cantonese Classics” and “modern twists”. The former features the restaurant’s namesake pipis – those world-famous, wokfried molluscs – tossed through thick garlic-heavy XO and served on crisp noodles that soak up the sauce. Plump Peking duck pancakes and fluffy yeung chow fried rice are also on the classic carte, which is fitting for the offspring of the gone-but-notforgotten Golden Century (hence the pipis and a hefty wine list). Modernistas might opt for a jar of caramelly chicken liver parfait served with crisp youtiao. Or coconut icecream sandwiches on golden mantou buns – they’re bite-sized parcels of fun whether you prefer old or new.

Darling Square Exchange, 1 Little Pier Street, Haymarket, xopp.com.au

L D Mon-Sun $$

Clockwise from above left: Woodcut’s open kitchen; meet your sushi master at Yoshii’s Omakase; XOPP’s steamed coral trout fillet.

Yoshii’s Omakase

JAPANESE 17.5/20

High-end omakase with heart

With a minimum spend of $350 per person, this 10-seater inside Crown isn’t cheap. However, if you’re into the moment of bliss a perfect mouthful of nigiri can provide, or just like to sit at a beautiful spotted-gum counter and put yourself in the hands of a sushi master for two to three hours, it’s a price entirely justified. Ryuichi Yoshii is dedicated to the pursuit of pristine seafood, and his sushi procession – maybe kingfish belly, ume-licked bonito, kombu-marinated baby whiting and squid scored to bloom like a flower – is as good as it gets. Composed creations send the experience into orbit: beetroot kudzu tofu crowned with caviar and delicate curl of prawn, say, the signature uni egg, and velvety wagyu with truffles and bone marrow sauce. Throw in top-shelf sake and White Bay views, and this is essential Sydney dining.

Level 2, 1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, crownsydney.com.au/ yoshii-omakase

XOPP

TOP 20

The coldest martini in town, or smokiest mezcal? Find the best here.

| By MATTY HIRSCH

ANTE

Sake importer extraordinaire Matt Young and chef Jemma Whiteman’s love letter to the listening bars of Japan is a meditative escape from the outside world. Be spirited away by every element, from the 2500-strong vinyl collection and crispness of the rigorously tuned sound system to the exquisite ceramics and bespoke glassware. It’s an education in the ins and outs of junmai sake, and the fine art of food and drink pairing.

146 King Street, Newtown, ante.bar

THE BAR Europe’s grand hotel bars have been reimagined in high-flying style by visionary restaurateur Maurice Terzini at the storied InterContinental Double Bay. Slip past the red velvet curtains, and you’re thrust into a ritzy parallel universe of plush carpeting and white-jacketed bartenders, complete with a crooning jazz pianist and beef tartare prepared tableside.

33 Cross Street, Double Bay, doublebay.intercontinental.com/ dining/the-bar

Above: martini from Bar Planet.

BAR PLANET

The martini is back and better than ever at this offbeat Enmore Road newcomer, helmed by some of the city’s sharpest young talent. They’ll mix one however you like, but the house speciality – made using a customised spirit from nearby Poor Toms and poured from a narrowspouted Spanish carafe – is the way to go. It’s a little bit of theatre and a whole lot of fun.

16 Enmore Road, Newtown, barplanet.com.au

THE BAXTER INN

If you think that Baxter has lost any of its lustre after countless accolades and more than a decade in the game, then think again. Sneak off along the alleyway, tumble down the stairs, and you’ll find that Swillhouse’s worldclass whisky hideaway cranks like it’s still opening night. Start with an Old Fashioned, get stuck into the pretzels and lose yourself in the staggering stockpile of high-end booze.

152-156 Clarence Street, Sydney, swillhouse.com

knowledge and passion runs deep.

Council Place, Sydney, okokok.com.au

CLOCKTOWER BAR

Take the lift to the ninth floor of Shell House and settle into this handsome semi-hidden lounge beneath the void of a 400-tonne art deco-era clocktower. The sense of occasion is instantly heightened by polished timber, mirrored tabletops and metres of leather and marble, while the expertly assembled cocktails are as timeless as the room.

37 Margaret Street, Sydney, shellhouse.com.au/clocktower-bar

DOUBLE DEUCE LOUNGE

Down in the low-lit confines of Double D, it’s all about the ’70s –greasy quiffs, wide lapels, wood panelling and all, fittingly groovy soundtrack included. Drinks are just as tongue-in-cheek – a boozy Stinger laced with Fernet-Branca, say, or a White Russian with a whipped cream float. Be sure to stroke the furry wall on your way out.

THE

BOB HAWKE BEER & LEISURE CENTRE

Part craft brewery, part ChineseAustralian bistro and part time capsule, the BLC is very much in a league of its own. It turns out the chance to sink lagers in a memorabilia-drenched pool room modelled after the one Hawkie had in his own Northbridge home is just what the inner-west taproom landscape has been missing.

8-12 Sydney Street, Marrickville, hawkesbrewing.com/beerandleisure

CANTINA OK!

It is home to hands down the best margarita around, but Alex Dowd and Jeremy Blackmore’s internationally acclaimed “micro mezcal mecca” is really so much more. What’s offered at this standingroom-only former single-car garage is a crash course in the realm of agave-based spirits from all around Mexico, led by a small crew whose

6 Bridge Street, Sydney, doubledeucelounge.com

EARL’S JUKE JOINT

Here’s one of the finest places to procure a drink in all of Sydney, rattling with the boisterous energy of an alehouse in New Orleans. Sazeracs are served at a perfect chill, the team is unfailingly friendly and the discerning line in craft beers and low-intervention wines means that all tastes are properly catered for.

407 King Street, Newtown, earlsjukejoint.delivery

JANGLING JACK’S

Every neighbourhood deserves a reliable local like Jangling Jack’s. Somewhere you can blow in all seven days of the week, that knows how to shake up a spot-on Last Word, stir down a solid Manhattan, flip a mean burger and keep bums on seats. Live jazz on Sunday evenings is certainly worth crossing town for too.

175 Victoria Street, Potts Point

MAYBE SAMMY

Not even a year into its life, Sammy was named Best Bar in Australasia by The World’s 50 Best Bars and the awards have kept piling up ever since. It makes sense – the allure of charismatic hospitality, inventive drinks, theatrical bartending and the bygone glamour of the roaring ’50s is practically universal.

115 Harrington Street, The Rocks, maybesammy.com

OLD MATE’S PLACE

Still haven’t scaled the 102 steps and pulled up a pew at Old Mate’s? Get climbing. No matter whether you head straight for the rooftop or prefer the abandoned library vibe down below, good innings are guaranteed. The revivers here are stiff, always mixed with precision and a helping of high-quality banter. Factor in a 2am close time, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a session to remember.

Level 4, 199 Clarence Street, Sydney, oldmates.sydney

PASKI VINERIA

POPOLARE

Fulfilling all of your earthly desires – or at least those pertaining to vino, salumi and cheese – is too easy at this two-storey temple of Italian-accented pleasures. On the wine front, coowners and importers Giorgio De Maria and Mattia Dicati have pulled together a peerless line-up of wild and wonderful bottles from The Boot and beyond. And with chef Enrico Tomelleri on the pans, skipping snacks is out of the question.

239 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, paski.com.au

PICCOLO BAR

What’s not to like about a landmark Kings Cross coffee shop reborn as a minuscule cocktail parlour specialising in Italian mainstays and no-nonsense classics? Bookings aren’t taken and there’s only a mere handful of tables and stools, but consider that all the more reason to arrive early and get comfortable. That way, you’ll be able to spend the rest of the

evening working your way through Garibaldis, Americanos and an entire page of negroni variations.

6 Roslyn Street, Potts Point, piccolobarkingscross.com.au

PS40

Michael Chiem’s unrivalled knack for ingenious flavour combinations and high-wire technique makes each and every cocktail at his revered CBD hangout an adventure in itself. There’s no better proof than the sensory-tickling signature Africola – a tumbler of ice-cold coffee liqueur and spicy wattle cola capped with warm coconut foam.

Shop 2, 40 King Street, Sydney, ps40bar.com

REEvery object you touch in this former locomotive workshop is recycled, from the pineapple-leaf fibre cushions to the faux terrazzo bar top fashioned from plastic bottles. Surplus produce makes up the bulk of the snack menu, while the likes of spent grains and coffee grounds from nearby brewers and roasters find their way into the forwardthinking cocktails. It’s a dedication to sustainability second to none.

Shop 82, Locomotive Street, Eveleigh, wearere.com.au

THE ROVER

A slight name change and a snazzy refurb have done wonders for this stayer. The focus on whisk(e)y and sense of warmth remain, but the space now sparkles with clubby, old-school New York swagger. Seasonal, produce-driven cocktails (care of Bulletin Place alum Alex Gondzioulis) are a cut above, and

Above: the Clocktower Bar at Shell House. Below: tequila, coconut and banana cocktail at Cantina OK!

an elevated kitchen offering now finds hot-smoked sardines alongside that celebrated lamb sausage roll.

75 Campbell Street, Surry Hills, liquidandlarder.com.au/the-rover

SHADY PINES SALOON

Fads and lockout laws may come and go, but the joys of nursing a whisky and fresh apple juice over bottomless bowls of peanuts, it seems, are eternal. How else to explain the undying appeal of this rollicking honky-tonk, which changed the game from the time it switched on the lights in 2010?

Shop 4, 256 Crown Street, Darlinghurst, swillhouse.com

TACHINOMI YP

Those who’ve wandered the streets of a Japanese metropolis with a thirst will be familiar with tachinomi, a breed of tiny standing bars hawking highballs, fruit liqueurs, chu-hi tinnies and tap beer. This one’s the real thing, with nearly every inch of the wall buried beneath posters, handwritten signage and bric-a-brac. Lean into the chaos.

Shop 1, 20 Burlington Street, Crows Nest

WHERE’S NICK

Dismissing natural wine as elitist can be tempting. Yet the approach that owners Julian and Dominic Abouzeid and Bridget Raffal take is far from hoity-toity. The atmosphere is as lo-fi as what’s in your glass, and savvy staff can steer you towards whatever your heart desires. Hardto-source beers, ciders, artisan sake and small-batch spirits round out the selection.

236 Marrickville Road, Marrickville, wheresnick.com.au

Inner East

10 William St

ITALIAN 15/20

Late-night natural-wine clubhouse

This chic hole-in-the-wall is often full with drinks nerds sniffing rarities from their heroes of the natural-wine world: Jean-Francois Ganevat, Sami-Odi, Paolo Bea – all the hits are here and a charming service team lead by Jasmin Natterer can help navigate the daily-changing pours by the glass. You can now book a table in advance (huzzah!) and new chef Francesco Ruggiero has stuck to 10 Bill’s seasonally-driven, wine-friendly brief. Spindly spaghetti chitarra is rich with lamb ragu slowcooked until it becomes more round and smooth than a Koons balloon sculpture; zucchini flowers are lightly fried and covered in a blizzard of parmigiano. There’s focaccia, there’s salumi, but the sleeper hit is a light and delicate farinata pancake, draped with anchovies and piled high with mascarpone and herbs. Fold each quarter like a floppy pizza and order another glass of something orange and alive.

10 William Street, Paddington, 10williamst.com.au L Fri-Sat D Mon-Sat $$

Alberto’s Lounge

ITALIAN 15.5/20

Sydney’s favourite back-alley tratt

Now here’s all the ingredients for a good time. Warm wood, tiny tables and a quaint vibe, with alley-side views featuring a striking monochromatic mural by artist Allie Webb. Since moving up the ranks to head chef, the talented Elizabeth Mitchell has put together a menu that’s robust, genuine and easy to love. Like crisp, spiced cotechino sausage for instance, luscious and textural, classically paired with braised puy lentils. Or the excellent house-made pasta – dramatic linguine al nero comes tossed with a generous jumble of king prawns, tomato and rich saffron butter. Rustic dishes such as smoky, charred quail, served atop soft polenta and grilled grapes signal a deft hand on the grill section and will have you reaching for the wine list, eclectic and captivating for its size. Barolo or Barbaresco? New-wave Sicily or Friuli? Amaro and zeppole doughnuts to finish? Sì. What’s not to love?

17-19 Alberta Street, Surry Hills, swillhouse.com

L Thu-Sun D daily $$

Above: Alberto’s Lounge. Below: farinata pancake with anchovy at 10 William St.

The Apollo

GREEK 15/20

Creativity meets Greek tradition in industrial-chic surrounds

There’s something very appealing about a busy restaurant full of happy staff. Maybe it’s because they’re clad all in Mykonos-white that there’s such a relaxed (but still on-message) vibe. On the menu, perennial stars continue to please: real-deal taramasalata, fluffy pita, and incredible baked lamb shoulder with lemon and Greek yoghurt. Then there’s the snap peas under grated almonds and fresh horseradish, and highly satisfying swordfish marinated in koji, cooked over charcoal to a perfect blush and finished with coriander and cumin. Okra is sweet, earthy and tender, enhanced with cherry tomatoes, hazelnuts, pepper and chilli. Spanakorizo is simply al dente rice reinforced with spinach, tomato and crisp sage, and for sweets, avgolemono pie is like a deconstructed lemon-meringue only better, with a crunchy crumble. A versatile wine list completes the easy charm at this modern classic.

44 Macleay Street, Potts Point, theapollo.com.au

L Fri-Sun D daily $$

Arthur

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Stylish corner for a set menu

Tristan Rosier sure serves some good-looking food over five courses at this quietly stunning little restaurant that’s all marble, leather, warm-lighting and radiant timber. Check the chickpea miso tart, with tiny balls of bright-orange pumpkin sitting pretty in an impossibly crisp shell. Or the knotted croissantchannelling wholemeal sourdough, asking to be spread with cultured butter and shiny pearls of trout roe. Fleet-footed staff replace bespoke cutlery between courses and recommend wine pairings from an all-domestic list. A skin contact arneis for grilled Moreton Bay bug brushed with carrot juice and humming with (slightly too much) bergamot, perhaps, and David Franz shiraz for the submissive beef-onbeef surprise of muntrie-sharpened short rib covered by thin-sliced wagyu and fresh horseradish. A tiny apple cake with chestnut cream might end the night: practically tailor-made for caskstrength Tasmanian whisky. The next generation of Modern Australian. 544 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, arthurrestaurant.com

L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sun $$$

Bar Grazie

ITALIAN Wine-lined upscale trattoria

With its wood-panelled and semi-subterranean space lined with (mostly Italian) bottles, Bar Grazie channels all our favourite Italian restaurant experiences into one. This is Barry McDonald’s 19th venue and the serial restaurateur has enlisted Jarrard Martin to rattle the pans. Vitello tonnato is true to its Piedmontese roots, the finely sliced veal coated with tuna mayonnaise and capers, nicely balanced with acidity. Heirloom tomatoes populate the Caprese salad; floppy, ridged tubes of rigatoni come with tomatoey lamb ragu and an 800-gram bistecca alla Fiorentina ticks a lot of boxes. This is the kind of Italian comfort food that brings people closer, greasing the wheels of business and appealing to couples on date nights alike. Cocktails are carefully curated as a bonus, and yes, everyone finishes on tiramisu.

21 Elizabeth Bay Road, Elizabeth Bay, bargrazie.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Bar Vincent

EUROPEAN 15/20

A destination-worthy neighbourhood haunt sweating the small stuff

Bar Vincent only opened in 2019, but so much about it is old-school: menus are handwritten, bookings are only taken by phone. The low-lit space evokes the pared-back elegance of a Tuscan farmhouse, with its tiles and arches. Handmade pastas, always a highlight, bow largely to Italian tradition. What comes off as novel, however, is the generosity and hospitality – the knowing waitstaff, complimentary house-baked bread, a long list of daily specials and how the kitchen kindly splits a pasta (maltagliati with rabbit, say) if you’re sharing. Owner-chef Andy Logue’s devotion to straightforward flavours is refreshing. A humble salad of roasted carrots, salt-baked golden beetroot and radicchio, for example, or butterflied King George whiting stuffed with currants, olives and breadcrumbs: both almost revelatory in their directness. Perhaps Leonardo Da Vinci put it best – simplicity really is “the ultimate sophistication”. 174 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, barvincent.com.au

L Wed-Fri D Tue-Sat $$

Above left:

Arthur ownerchef Tristan Rosier. Below: handmade pasta is a highlight at Bar Vincent.

Bastardo

ITALIAN 15/20

Italian love child that brings together the best of old and new

Team Porteno seems intent on taking over Holt Street one shop at a time, with the inner-city destination featuring no less than four of the group’s venues catering for all designations of diners. Bastardo melds into that medley very well indeed. The old pasta machine and mint-green terrazzo tables give a good sense of what’s in store: this is vintage Italian, yet with a confidence and ease that’s very now. Eggplant parmigiana appeals with its simplicity, layered as it is with generous helpings of parmesan and basil before being baked in the big deck oven in the group’s Humble Bakery next door. Creamy buffalo mozzarella is nicely balanced by radicchio, persimmon and white balsamic, while prawns served with house-made paccheri (like plus-sized rigatoni), cherry tomatoes and a rich bisque is the kind of dish you’d want on offer in any neighbourhood.

50 Holt Street, Surry Hills, bastardosydney.com

L Fri D Tues-Sat $$

Bibo Wine Bar

MEDITERRANEAN

A pairing of Portuguese-inspired shared plates and supreme wine

Bibo’s long central fixture – part bar, part communal bench – is an inviting place to perch while politely coveting your neighbour’s choices. That smoked-mackerel pâté looks a treat, and we’ll have one of those flambe chorizos, too. The dark, cosy room also encourages a deep dive through a chic and dependable wine list – bright and light gamay with creamy salt-cod fritters, perhaps. Assured and seasonal share-plates lean toward Portugal but flirt a little with France, such as unctuous braised cabbage bearing a fall-apart beef cheek. A side of roast kipfler spuds with comte mousse should

Right: eggplant parmigiana at Bastardo.

not be missed. It’s the wine service and punchy snacks, including sardines with molho verde, that we return for though, not to mention a gold-standard Portuguese tart. At either bar or table, Bibo extends a warm-hearted embrace.

7 Bay Street, Double Bay, bibowinebar.com.au

L Sat D Mon-Sat $$

bills

CONTEMPORARY

All-day diner with a brunchy bent

Bill Granger’s latest sunny cafe suits Double Bay like avocado on rye. With a mid-century aesthetic and wholefoods approach, bills blends seamlessly with the gleaming eastern suburbs fold, in a neighbourhood

steadily gaining traction among Sydney foodies. The menu makes good on its brunch-based fame with Single Origin coffee, cloudlike hotcakes crowned with discs of honeycomb butter, Bloody Marys laced with citrus and Korean chilli and a juicy prawn burger zippy with lemongrass. Pull up a rattan chair, or melt into a caramel banquette, and wash down one of those famous edamame-sporting chopped salads with a glass of bright McLaren Vale rosé (it’s all about balance, right?). Seafood-lovers are catered for with fresh-as-fresh kingfish crudo and grilled lobster radiant with ginger and turmeric on the dinner menu.

16 Cross Street, Double Bay, bills. com.au/double-bay

B L D daily $$

Bistro Fitz

CONTEMPORARY

Schnitzel-free pub dining with hits from the ’70s, ’80s and today

While the ground level of The Old Fitz hotel is a controlled ruckus of locals and Resch’s, the upstairs bistro feels like a cross between a members’ club and your nan’s front room. There are chandeliers and jazz; there are cabernet-red walls covered in landscape prints that might have come from the Salvos. There is also chef Toby Stansfield’s cross-continental menu, leaning into dinner-party hits of the past few decades. Diane sauce swamps a clean-flavoured steak with terrific kombu-salted chips, while toasted brioche ferries mayonnaise and confit roast chicken with intimate knowledge of duck fat. Meanwhile, a medley of mussels, octopus, ancho chilli oil and black garlic is intensely rich – best spoon it on a baguette from Paddington’s Organic Bread Bar. Cap it off with creamy dulce de leche crepe cake, and journey back downstairs for a beer or natural wine. 129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo, oddculture.group L Fri-Sun

Bistro Moncur FRENCH

Neighbourhood favourite with classic French flavour

Three decades. Is that three centuries in hospitality years? Whatever the maths, Bistro Moncur shows few signs of age. The black-and-white figures in the wall-length mural remain animated; the arched timber ceiling

is the essence of contemporary chic. And if not for the occasional noise blast from next door, you’d barely realise this is essentially an upscale pub bistro with locals-focused service. The Moncur (or mon coeur) heart on your wine glass and long-time menu staples – sauvignon blanc-marinated salmon, French onion souffle gratin, duck cassoulet, Cafe de Paris sirloin – hark back to its origins. The souffle is steamy and creamy, the cassoulet bean-and-sausage chunky. A porkchop special boasts a classic cabbage roll and pear tarte tatin is buttery crisp. With new chef Tom Deadman taking the reins in September, let’s raise a glass of NV Bollinger to the next 30 years.

116A Queen Street, Woollahra, bistromoncur.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Bistro Rex FRENCH

Ticking all the right bistro boxes

“A sophisticated Sydney take on a Parisian bistro”, as Rex’s website proclaims, can stir up thoughts of pompous dining, but that’s certainly not the case at this favourite. The usual French suspects are here – beef tartare, steak frites and a mixed leaf salad dressed with house-made tarragon vinegar – and all given proper treatment and respect. Cheese souffle is naturally twice-baked for good measure and a mandatory order with its soothing, cheesy jiggle. The kitchen’s adventurous foray into charcoal-grilled coral trout doused in decadent lobster butter is an umamithumping triumph, and you’ll be well looked after by staff who are chirpy, knowledgeable and glide around the floor with ease. There’s a tidy list of French wines, there’s a creme caramel – what more do you need? How about regular nose-to-tail specials that might feature a whole suckling pig shoulder to share? Yep, that’ll do just nicely.

Shop 1, 50-58 Macleay Street, Potts Point, bistrorex.com.au

L Thu-Sun D daily $$

Bistrot 916

FRENCH 15.5/20

Parisian vibes in Potts Point

This small bistro is so Frenchy, they brush the crumbs from the papertopped tables after each course. A co-production of chefs Dan Pepperell and Michael Clift with sommelier Andy Tyson, Bistrot 916 is a place of flickering candles, dark walls, a bottle-lined bar, streetside tables and high-personality waitstaff. The food is high on personality too, with oysters piled over ice, excellent charcuterie and a variety of dishes that come with frites – steak, of course, which could be an on-the-bone sirloin, sliced into fingers, but also duck, fish, lobster and even mushrooms, teamed with skinny, golden fries that taste deliciously of Savoury Shapes. It’s cheeky, too: “vol-au-vent” of escargot and boudin noir comes in little ceramic pots, not pastry shells, and white-chocolate mousse spills out of a coffee cup to finish. A bistro here to have a good time, all the time.

22 Challis Avenue, Potts Point, bistrot916.com

L Fri-Sun D daily $$

Left: dulce de leche crepe cake at Bistro Fitz. Below: duck frites at Bistrot 916.

The Boathouse Rose Bay

CONTEMPORARY

Luxe and breezy all-day dining by the bay

Sydneysiders are spoilt for prime fishand-chip spots, but the latest outpost of The Boathouse – where sunbeams bounce off glittering superyachts and seagulls squawk as paddleboarders drift by – could be one of the best. The light-bathed dining room is almost a little too heavy on maritime decor – all radiant blues, white timber, crab pots and conch shells – but attentive service and cocktails certainly have a soothing effect. Beyond battered Murray cod and a lamb shoulder to share, there’s plump charred prawns slick with chilli oil and sobrasada, and crunchy toast laden with creamy spanner crab and chives. Pearly toothfish in a mussel, shiitake and fish-bone broth, and bug linguine with fat pipis and generous daubs of caviar, are outshone only by a bombe Alaska with passionfruit parfait (and that view!). Feeling more casual? A waterside table at the cafekiosk downstairs is hot property. 594 New South Head Road, Rose Bay, theboathouserosebay.com.au L D daily $$

Bones Ramen JAPANESE

Casual noodle shop with a dash of wine-bar cool

Exposed-brick walls and sleek timber counters mean this holein-the-wall from the team behind nearby Farmhouse looks more like a date-night wine bar than a place encouraging audible slurping. Indeed, there are a few wines (all Australian, all natural) to cut through umamipowered ramen options such as a tori paitan where jammy egg and roast tomatoes are bolstered by the power of chook bones cooked for 16 hours. Snacks hit the table at a lightning pace: rice-bran-fermented pickled vegetables, curly nuggets of karaage chicken, and prawn “toast” featuring a whole jumbo king smothered in shellfish mousse and breadcrumbs and fried. The noodle line-up changes with the seasons, but recent highlights have included a shoyu pork ramen layered with flavour thanks to house-aged tare, and a white soy pipi number rich with kombu and shiitake. Slurping at its sexiest.

Shop 4, 51-57 BayswaterRoad, Potts Point, bonesramen.com.au

L D daily $

Below: bowl of goodness at Bones Ramen.

Bottom: The Boathouse Rose Bay.

Buon Ricordo

ITALIAN 15/20

Old faves alongside new dishes inspired by chef’s nonna

Armando Percuoco may have left the building, but you can still buy a bottle of his olive oil and experience many of the former owner’s recipes. Indeed, there may be a riot among the locals – who use the old-world dining room as a clubhouse – if that signature fettuccine al tartufovo ever went. Bypass the truffled egg and cream though, and consider chef David Wright’s more recent dishes such as a soul-reviving soup of chicken, nettles and bread dumplings inspired by his Sicilian nonna. Negronis are appropriately bitter and orders are swiftly taken by one of the most assured service teams in town. Pinkhued lamb rump is beautifully accompanied by seasonal vegetables braised in lamb jus, while juicy Roman-style porchetta bursts with rosemary and fennel.

Buon Ricordo

may be built on tradition, but there’s nothing fusty

108 Boundary Street, Paddington, buonricordo.com.au

L Fri-Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Catalina

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

A harbourside staple for shiny,

happy people

The harbour waters sparkle as brightly as the smiles in Catalina, where an ebullient crowd drinks in the views, dines on quality seafood and tackles the mighty wine list. With its squillion-dollar position on the waterfront, this family-owned Sydney favourite has been host to countless good times over its 28 years. And

why not? The menu reflects Catalina’s joie de vivre, with dishes artfully plated to compete with the views. From an intensely briny king prawn and John dory bouillabaisse to a bittersweet symphony of caramelised fig, bitter-caramel mousse, brik pastry and pistachio ice-cream, the tight kitchen team has this finedining thing down pat. The frenetic churn of a Sunday service can take the shine off proceedings so come for a midweek lunch of crumpets topped with hand-picked mud crab and fermented chilli dressing instead, and expect to stay for sundowners.

Lyne Park, Rose Bay, catalinarosebay.com.au

L D daily $$$

Chaco Bar

JAPANESE 15/20

A coal-fired blast of Ginza-style yakitori magic

Chaco sure throws some curveballs. Yes, there are skewers of deboned, spiced chicken wings or sweet pork belly sizzling over the coals, but you can also go for scarlet-pink split king prawns dripping with lobster butter, crunchy potato crisps on the side. Owner-chef Keita Abe, also the force behind Chaco Ramen and Haco Tempura, keeps things moody and theatrical in this horseshoeshaped dining room, whether you’re at a smoky front counter facing the robata chefs, or a long communal table. Bonus points for a dish of elegantly pale, cold somen noodles

and fat, sweet Hokkaido scallops, sinuously curved within an ornate china bowl. After eating your body weight of chicken-on-a-stick, it’s a more refreshing finale than even a cooling dessert of ume and coconut sorbet. But nobody says you can’t have both.

186-188 Victoria Street, Potts Point, chacobar.com.au

D Tue-Sun $$

Charcoal Fish

SEAFOOD

A clever, captivating concept from the country’s foremost fish butcher

Chef Josh Niland’s mission to make us consider seafood’s unending potential continues at this polished reimagining of the local chicken shop. The star here isn’t chook, of course, but consciously farmed Murray cod – simply grilled in fillet form, crumbed and fried in a burger, or hot off the spit on a crusty roll with crackling skin, stuffing and gravy made from the offcuts and bones. Yellowfin tuna, meanwhile, makes a convincing stand-in for beef in a fast-food-style cheeseburger and Shark Bay snapper finds a comfortable home wrapped in a pita with chips, tabbouleh and garlic yoghurt. It’s inventive stuff of the highest order, complemented by outstanding salads and vegetable sides – think

Above: bounty of the kitchen garden at Chiswick. Below: classic Cantonese fish at China Doll.

miso-marinated fennel tossed with crisp nori and crunchy chickpeas, or heady cauliflower masala sharpened by pickled green tomatoes and curry leaves. There’s no takeaway joint in town quite like it.

670 New South Head Road, Rose Bay, charcoalfish.com

L D Wed-Mon $

Chin Chin

MODERN ASIAN High-impact, high-turnover South-East Asian palace

If Chin Chin underwent a medical examination, the comments would be: chronic high adrenaline, interspersed with hits of dopamine. It’s a rush of music, art, neon, cocktails, chilli, fun, and more chilli. The kitchen sends out colourful Vietnamese chicken salads with puffed black-tapioca crackers, roast pork belly sliced onto a slurry of green chilli with pickled fennel, and fat spring rolls stuffed with prawn mousse. The warehouse dining room has the same raucous energy of its Melbourne counterpart, and it’s worth noting the pioneering wines on tap –available by the glass and half and full litre – because they’re bloody good. A lemon-curd lamington is a bit dense – better to succumb to the classic Chin Chin magnum (on a stick and everything) to stay in party mode.

69 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, chinchinrestaurant.com.au

L D daily $$

China Doll

MODERN ASIAN 15/20

Dockside Cantonese gets smart

China Doll is your classic, all purpose, good-looking crowd-pleaser. Coloured in the blue-and- white of classic Qinghua pottery, it’s the lively waterside lunch-or-dinner dependable that ticks all the menu boxes: excellent dumplings steamed, poached or fried; slim duck pancakes with hoisin cucumber; crunchy chilli-salt squid; master-stock pork belly with nam pla prik; and go-to Chinese greens on the side. And then, why not, a rich Penang rendang of wagyu, tea-smoked duck with a tamarind and plum tang, and eggplant and tofu sparked with Sichuan chilli. Shiny-green fresh herb arrangements and pretty pottery plates boost the appeal. Sling in a few fab cocktails, a good beer or a decent vintage, and this is one smooth operator you can rely on for a good time, every time.

Shop 4, 6 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo, chinadoll.com.au

Chiswick CONTEMPORARY

A “plant-to-plate” eatery with cheffy credentials and magnetic appeal

A decade in, Chiswick almost seems to exist in its own ecosystem. On a Saturday afternoon, there probably isn’t a busier restaurant in Sydney. On the manicured lawns, highschool graduates and newlyweds pose for pictures, while inside, waitstaff frantically pinball between prams, bridal parties and baby showers. Unfussy comforts remain the focus, accented by produce from the kitchen garden – eggplant roasted past the point of submission with romesco and preserved lemon, say, or golden roast Bannockburn chook with kipfler potatoes and Brussels sprouts. More creative ideas, meanwhile, can go either way. “Barra-masalata” proves a clever Aussie twist on the Aegean dip, while a dessert of persimmon, popcorn and wattleseed wreathed around parsnip ice-cream doesn’t

Below left: Josh Niland of Charcoal Fish fame. Below right: gyoza at Cho Cho San.

quite add up. Nevertheless, the adage still rings true: if Matt Moran builds it, they will come.

65 Ocean Street, Woollahra, chiswickwoollahra.com.au

L D Tue-Sun $$

Cho Cho San

JAPANESE 15/20

Mod-Aussie izakaya bunker

Think of smoky, casual izakaya dining and this brutalist concrete bunker may not spring to mind. But Cho Cho San rewrote the rules on contemporary Japanese dining when it opened in 2014 and has been evolving its small-dish, sakefriendly menu ever since. Snacking is mandatory, on soft steamed buns stuffed with pork katsu, and juicy, crisp-bottomed chicken gyoza. Raw dishes are elevated by the quality of the fish – note the eternally delicious Petuna ocean trout with pepper and wasabi – while cooked dishes are rich, textural and fun. Kingcrab omelette comes with Japanese curry sauce, for instance, and split

grilled prawns with kombu butter. Always busy and always buzzy, the long bar is high on elbow-to-elbow energy, esoteric rice lagers and yuzu martinis. Sounds like an izakaya to us. Just doesn’t look like one.

73 Macleay Street, Potts Point, chochosan.com.au

L Fri-Sun D daily $$

Civico 47

ITALIAN 15/20

Upscale diner with a warm welcome

What was the buzzy, art-laden Lucio’s for 38 years is now a civilised, hushed dining room with photographs of the Italian seaside hung on its walls. Talented executive chef Matteo Zamboni brings his own accent to the menu, starting with a small, puffy, Pugliese-style, focaccina bun, baked with squishy little tomatoes pushed into the top. Pasta is a must, especially mafalde with prawns – al dente strands of frilly-edged pasta coated with a lush, bisque-like sauce. A deep brick of seared-then-roasted swordfish cuts like a dream, the flavour clean and clear, while a little bowl of sage and white-chocolate gelato in brown butter is a nostalgia hit for anyone who’s been to Brescia. Civico 47 has a warm glow about it and the food is thoughtful and visually appealing – so there’s still plenty of art around, it’s just not on the walls.

47 Windsor Street, Paddington, civico47.com

Sainte Eloise CONTEMPORARY

Laneway bolthole where food and wine share the spotlight

Devotion to wine is declared at every turn at this slick all-purpose bar, from the 300-plus list of classic labels and exciting ingenues to the insightful, cheery menu notes featuring a heartfelt ode to riesling. Chef Simon Drolz-Cox builds seasonal shareplates around the flavours sommelier Felix Auzou pours by the glass and the duetting menus make for endless exploration. If you already enjoy an Austrian gruner veltliner, you’ll love it even more when the wine’s green-apple crispness meets the sweet and spicy Spanish-style trio of Goolwa pipis, merguez sausage and butter beans. Meanwhile, hot honey enhances pecorino and rosemary croquettes, and pappardelle is liberally coated in a beef-brisket ragu that hums with white pepper and cumin. Dessert is a gateway to new sherries with bitter yuzu-caramel flan. A positive feedback loop of flavour. Shop 5, 29 Orwell Street, Potts Point, dearsainteeloise.com

L Sat-Sun D daily $$

Enoteca Ponti ITALIAN

Busy local tratt with the heart of a wine bar

There’s something relaxing about a trattoria lined with bottles of wine; even one with the high energy and creative menu of Enoteca Ponti. A homage to Roman wine bars of the 1950s by a spin-off team from Bistro Rex, it’s all banquettes, arches and bar, with manager Jess Saffioti a natural host. Head chef Aldo Farroni runs a fine line between old and new, with raw tuna “noodles” and snacks of lasagne spring rolls and mortadella mousse on brioche. More conventional dishes such as shaved ox tongue or rigatoni all’amatriciana are welcome, and a grilled black Angus rump cap served with cime de rapa and charred lemon is an

Clockwise from above: taleggiotopped figs at Dear Sainte Eloise; Firedoor’s Lennox Hastie; the glamour of Franca Brasserie; classic beef carpaccio at Civico 47.

invitation to explore Italy’s regional wines. The fact that the waiter plucks the bottle you want from the shelf behind you only adds to the charm.

71A Macleay Street, Potts Point, enotecaponti.com

L Fri-Sun D daily $$

Farmhouse Kings Cross CONTEMPORARY Country-style warmth within the urban jungle

You might say Farmhouse creates a country idyll with its farm-to-table menu, timber fit-out and signature 20seat communal table. What stands out most though, is its hospitality, patient attentiveness that includes just enough chat, intuitive service and a blanket to ensure warmth at outside tables. Simultaneous sittings, where everyone arrives at once, create a feeling of homestead dining, albeit with Laguiole cutlery. The menu is seasonal, which might mean Aylesbury duck breast one month and Cowra pork tomahawk cooked over charcoal the next. Housemade country loaf is a staple, a marvel of fluffy crumb against an impeccable crust. There’s flair in execution, too, like just-set alfonsino fortified with a mussel emulsion and pea puree under lardo, or the precision of an evenly layered opera cake for dessert. Precise, rustic and warm at once.

Shop 4, 40 Bayswater Road, Rushcutters Bay, farmhousekingscross.com.au

L Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Dear

Firedoor CONTEMPORARY 18/20

This place is hot, hot, hot

You have to work hard to get a table at Firedoor – reservations are released online three months in advance and go fast. Yet once you walk in the door (if you were successful), there’s no arrogance, just appreciation that you are there. Your reward is to witness chef Lennox Hastie and a great kitchen team focus on cooking with fire, smoke and ash. Settle in for a five-course menu that might start with seared coral trout and chunky kumquat cheong (jam) and finish on a crunchy, caramelised, crystallised kouign-amann pastry. The Murray cod here, shimmering with luscious fat, will ruin you for anywhere else. It’s a journey, flowing naturally from seafood to, perhaps, Hampshire Down lamb, but you can always add a course of Rubia Gallega heritage-breed beef – dry-aged until herbal and almost fruity. That’s all ahead of you, however. First, you have to get a table.

23-33 Mary Street, Surry Hills, firedoor.com.au

D Wed-Sat $$$

Franca Brasserie FRENCH 16/20

A return to the golden age of French dining

Rising from its gleaming copper pan, the Mont Blanc chestnut souffle is a cloud of scented air. Few kitchens would devote themselves to the perfect souffle these days, but Franca is on a mission to bring the glamour back to dining. The golden-hued room is high on detail – curved leather booths, marble, brass railings, strategic lighting and modern art –and Jose Saulog’s menu is pitched to the same elevated brasserie level. Black mussels are touched with curry in a creamy vadouvan sauce with fennel and cashews, and Moreton Bay bug laps up Cafe de Paris butter. Big wines abound, with Tajima wagyu and garlic mash, kale and

hazelnut jus at the ready. And that little souffle will rise to any occasion. Shop 2, 81 Macleay Street, Potts Point, francabrasserie.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Fratelli Paradiso

ITALIAN 15/20

Haute trattoria where the cognoscenti

gather

The Paradiso brothers’ trattoria is home away from home for many interstate and overseas visitors – and, famously, Nigella (that Nigella) – as well as eastern-suburbs powerbrokers and cashed-up locals. If you don’t belong to any of these tribes, never fear. Their Italian hospitality hustle will kick in anyway and your aperitivi, stuffed olives and prosciutto will soon be on the table. Regulars already know what they want from the scrawled blackboard – golden cubes of focaccia and oozy mozzarella with fat Olasagasti anchovies, or the simple-but-good fried calamari Sant’ Andrea with agrodolce dipping sauce. Ms Lawson adores the crumbed pork Milanese, by the way, and strozzapreti pasta with greens and anchovies – but how could she ignore the spaghetti in a rich, tomatoey, scampi bisque sauce, or the damn-near-perfect square of tiramisu? Moodily dark rooms are also homes away from home for ever-evolving bottles of regional Italian wines.

12-16 Challis Avenue, Potts Point, fratelliparadiso.com

L D Tue-Sat $$

Fred’s

CONTEMPORARY 16/20

Farmhouse dining for urbanites

When a restaurant describes itself as farm-to-table, it pays to search immediately for proof. At Fred’s, the menu lists seven NSW farms as regular suppliers – precious relationships nurtured by founding chef Danielle Alvarez, who departed in May. In a seamless transition, long-term Fred’s chefs Hussein Sarhan and Eytan Harel have stepped

up to run the open kitchen with its coal-fired hearth. Because they buy in the whole beast, something special like Milly Hill lamb can be ordered in three different ways, each accompanied by broad beans, spinach and mint salsa verde; a great idea. A gelatinous pork terrine is rich but light, and goat’s curd cappelletti is gently sauced with nettles and whey. Don’t miss the Provencal fougasse, Fred’s signature bread. More big thinking: a caramelised pear tarte tatin that’s baked to order, and sent out with a melting heart of bayleaf ice-cream.

380 Oxford Street, Paddington, merivale.com/venues/freds

L Thu-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Gaku Robata Grill Omakase

JAPANESE 15.5/20

There’s a new perfectly executed omakase in town

Although we mourn that its famous lunchtime ramen disappeared when Gaku went omakase-only in September, you’re still in safe hands with owner-chef Haru Inukai and Shimon Hanakura at the helm of this 11-seater. Expect a tasting menu blending exceptional Australian and Japanese ingredients with French technique and seriously luxe touches of foie gras, truffle and caviar sprinkled throughout. Succulent, glistening lobster comes in a golden saffron broth (cooked in a kilogram of butter, we’re told); truffle-topped spanner-crab chawanmushi is ridiculously silky and a perfect sashimi board showcases kombujime flounder, paradise prawn and scallops. And hey, look, the ramen’s still here after all, just in a smaller bowl, the duck and yuzu broth rich and zingy. Add naturally fermented sake, pours of top-shelf Japanese whisky and cap it all off with truffle ice-cream. The new Gaku is an elegant, blissful performance.

Shop 2, 132 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst, gakurobatagrill.com.au

D Wed-Sun $$$

Gildas

SPANISH 16/20

Sherry-fuelled taverna

heightened by modern Sydney glam

From ceramic casino chips as business cards to lush local ham, serious money has been spent on the details at the new wine bar from Firedoor’s Lennox Hastie and the Fink restaurant group. There’s brass at every turn, blackbutt flooring, emerald quartzite benchtops and eucalyptus-green banquettes. Hastie is all about heightened pintxos –those snacks and small plates native to Spain’s Basque Country – and on a Friday night the place is buzzing with attractive inner-easters ordering the namesake skewer of green olive, Olasagasti anchovy, piparras pepper and preserved lemon. Bottom line: this is as good as Spanish-style cooking gets. Highlights include spanner-crab-stuffed churros, charred leeks draped with luscious lardo, and charred Roman beans with primaltasting razor clams. Meanwhile, pipis popped open with manzanilla sit pretty in a jamon broth with alubia de granja (fat and creamy Spanish butter beans). Springy, hard-crusted bread is on hand – remember to mop.

46-48 Albion Street, Surry Hills, gildas.com.au

D Tue-Sat $$

Top: the open kitchen at Fred’s. Above: pipis in jamon broth at Gildas.

An elegant backdrop for high-end tempura omakase

Minimally styled in concrete and oak with a striking driftwood sculpture, this 12-seater is a bit shibumichannelling tranquil oasis, a bit

Die Hard’s Nakatomi tower, and the perfect setting for a special night out. Deep-frying is treated as an artform and subtly incorporated across most of the 20 producefocused, set-menu courses. Delicate, crisp whiting is simply served with curry salt and kipfler for a zenlike riff on fish and chips. Nori tempura is layered with soy-braised ox tongue, halloumi, foie gras and kumquat. Flavours are often extracted from the gnarly underutilised bits to complement the main event too, such as rich abaloneliver sauce paired with delicate chawanmushi or Tasmanian lobster dusted in squid-ink powder and dressed in a sauce made from the crustacean’s head. Dishes, be they highly orchestrated or confidently restrained, never disappoint. 102/21 Alberta Street, Surry Hills, hacosydney.com.au

L Sat D Tue-Sat $$$

Hotel Centennial

EUROPEAN 15.5/20

Airy, light and comfortably moneyed hotel with elevated farmhouse cooking

We get it. Merivale is good at restaurants. If you like your welcomes bright, your drinks expertly poured and your kitchens run by top chefs, Justin Hemmes has your number. And just look at Hotel Centennial on a Saturday. Light bounces around the immaculate space, the wood oven glows, waiters pour wine from a list favouring Burgundy. Is that owl portrait on the wall a Leila Jeffreys? Are those curtains linen? Whatever the dish, there’s care and attention aplenty. Take the country-style pâté, set beautifully and studded with pistachios. Or Murray cod half-

wrapped in vine leaves to protect the flesh while the skin crisps in the oven. Then there’s chef Ben Greeno’s duck, the crown glazed in honey, the legs cooked confit. Centennial deserves praise not just for hitting so many marks, but adding beauty and levity between. For that, it’s worth buying a ticket.

88 Oxford Street, Woollahra, merivale.com.au/hotelcentennial L Tue-Sun D Tue-Sat $$

Jane CONTEMPORARY

Charming local rocks next-gen flair

There’s a case to be made that Tristan Rosier and his team are leading the way for millennial cooking in Sydney. Arthur, their first Surry Hills venue, reinterpreted the degustation for today. Meanwhile, new kid Jane (named after Rosier’s grandmother) complements nostalgia with an a la carte menu that represents the here, now and will-be. The drinks list hits every trend with local spins on classic cocktails, refreshing piquettes and a page of non-alcoholic options. Squeeze into a corduroy booth, and the plates that land look back and forward: here’s a crisp wild boar ’nduja cigar glazed in pineapple, there’s a kangaroo tartare topped with a nest of matchstick fries. Given time to develop her ideas and execution,

young gun Victoria Scriven may well lead one of the city’s most influential kitchens. Book a spot to say you were there from the start.

478 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, janesurryhills.com

L Sun, D Wed-Sun $$

Kiln

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20

Sydney’s new food and creative arts canteen

Perched on the rooftop of the cleverly realised Ace Hotel, Kiln attracts a lively arty, crafty crowd who are just plain happy to be there. Every dish on chef Mitch Orr’s tight menu is touched by smoke, ash or fire, aligned with a contemporary focus on seafood and vegetables. A snowflake mushroom (frilled white funghi) is brushed with mushroom glaze and wrapped in wasabi leaf. A kaleidoscopic swirl of buttery, finely sliced alfonsino is entwined with slivers of raw peach within a shimmering tomato-tea jelly. White asparagus and peas have a nutty vin jaune emulsion and a crunchy toss of sugar snaps and snow-pea pods. Tables can be in turnover mode, but squeezing in a dessert of steamed dark chocolate cake lifted with the tang of poor-man’s orange sorbet, will make leaving the party easier.

47-53 Wentworth Avenue, Surry Hills, acehotel.com/sydney

D Tue-Sat $$

Clockwise from top left: pork pâté with pistachio and apricots at Hotel Centennial; diners at Haco; alfonsino crudo, peach and tomato jelly at Kiln.

Kisuke

JAPANESE 15.5/20

Hushed temple for showcasing seafood and rice

Omakase finds a thoughtful local expression in Kisuke. To step beyond its doorway, marked by fluttering white noren curtains, is to witness a dance of precision and detail, choreographed by chef Yusuke Morita and Izumi, his wife. The pleasures of dining at Kisuke involve surrendering to food as a form of ceremony. It’s to watch Morita plate a plump Pacific oyster with caviar with an elegant flick of the wrist. To savour shabu shabu with New Zealand bass and ponzu swimming in an earthy and complex dashi. Best of all, it’s to watch Morita send out course after course of seasonal sushi – tuna belly, scampi, John dory – arranged on ceramic plates like tiny sculptures. And to finish the night with redbean soup, both sweet and savoury, tradition and invention served up side by side.

50 Llankelly Place, Potts Point, kisukepottspoint.com

D Tue-Sat $$$

Lady Chu

VIETNAMESE

Vietnamese street food taken, literally, to the street

In many Asian cities, the best food can be eaten on the street where it’s made to order right next to you.

Same here. Although at Lady Chu, the tables that line the footpath are clothed and papered, big umbrellas shield from sun and rain, and there are nice napkins to boot. There’s even a drinks list. Owner Nahji Chu started with a hole-in-the-wall Darlinghurst tuckshop in 2009, and her fare has only improved since –signature rice-paper rolls (goi cuon) are simple and fresh; crab net rolls are lacy and crisp. And the menu makes it easy to mix Vietnamese favourites such as beef pho, banh mi and slippery, pork-laced banh cuon. Since opening, Chu has added a 30-seat casual dining room next door, but if you like your street food to be street food, the best tables are still on the footpath.

3 Roslyn Street, Potts Point, ladychu.com.au

L D Wed-Sun $

Lankan Filling Station

SRI LANKAN 15/20

Spice up your life with fragrant curries and snacks

The question is not whether you should order the hoppers. It’s how many. These lacy bowls – made from rice flour and coconut milk and edged with a delicately crunchy skirt – are the ideal carriage for the swathe of curries on offer. Douse, dip or swipe them in the fiery prawn curry tangy with tamarind, the mild and creamy cashew-nut version on a white base, or the richly spiced black curry with lamb (and don’t forget to load up on sambols). The dhal punches well above its weight, deftly layered with a complexity of spices, and it’s even vegan. Nice one. Staff are happy to jump in with advice for dietary requirements or solo diners, just as much as they’re on hand to steer you towards gold on the affordable, forward-thinking wine list. Decision paralysis? Get the banquet menu. Or book the set-menu crab curry feast on the last Sunday of every month. 58 Riley Street, Darlinghurst, lankanfillingstation.com.au

L Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Margaret CONTEMPORARY 16.5/20 Sydney’s spiritual home of great Australian produce

After four decades leading modern Australian cooking, after myriad awards and books and restaurants, you might think Neil Perry would step back from the day-to-day of his latest (and allegedly last) finer-diner. But Perry is still in the kitchen most nights, overseeing a mighty roster of the country’s best produce, woodfired, roasted and dressed to become the most delicious version of itself. There are steaks, of course, beautifully charred and ruddy (and a formidable wine list for the occasion). Split one between two and go big on the seafood – coral trout punched up with XO butter; grilled King George whiting shiny with hojiblanca olive oil; bigeye tuna tartare turbocharged by gochujang. The borderless menu is thrillingly long, the service polished, and the soft-lit dining room eminently comfortable. Finish with prune tart and head next door to, eh, Next Door – Margaret’s new bar now open for nightcaps. 30-36 Bay Street, Double Bay, margaretdoublebay.com

L Thu-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Above: egg hoppers at Lankan Filling Station.

Left: Lady Chu’s beef pho.

Marta

ITALIAN 15/20

Roman holiday with pizza and pasta on tap

If Marta is a great neighbourhood Italian restaurant, then the neighbourhood must include the entire eastern suburbs, because it’s almost always full. Family groups with pizza-scoffing toddlers come at dusk, followed by mates and dates intent on tackling the list of negronis and sharing bowls of warmly peppery spaghetti cacio e pepe. There’s a distinct Roman pride in the menu; in the way mortadella is stuffed inside irresistibly soft, warm wedges of schiacciata, and the way crisply crumbed rice suppli have a little tomato at their hearts. Pizzas are Roman, too – large and puffy, topped with imagination and restraint (follow your nose to the aromatic potato, truffle and rosemary). With daily specials such as baccala that are outrageously good, freshly churned gelato, and owner Flavio Carnevale’s proactive service – not to mention the superb breakfast and baked goods – Marta is everyone’s great neighbourhood Italian.

30 McLachlan Avenue, Rushcutters Bay, marta.com.au B Tue-Sun L Sat-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Metisse

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Meticulously crafted all-frills dining

Served between gently swaying linen curtains, smooth concrete swerves and a hovering cloud of chandelier bubbles, the seven-course degustation at Metisse is Frenchinspired food art. Designed and cooked by father-daughter chef duo Opel and Lucinda Khan, its highticket, ooh-ah wonder is focused on seafood and meat plated on Studio Enti ceramics. Begin with velvety prawn cornets, then oysters with tapioca pearls and cardamon-steeped chicken consomme that warms the soul. It almost feels wrong devouring the Mosaique, a stained glass-style grid of bluefin tuna, ocean trout and kingfish in nutty brown butter, but there’s solace in crisp duck breast, truffle-crowned black Angus, and poached salmon and sea urchin with baked brioche (the latter fresh from proving beneath a glass cloche sur la table). The wine list is predictably French-leading and big spenders can opt for a premium $300 pairing. Ooh-ah, indeed.

5-9 Roslyn Street, Potts Point, metisse.com.au

D Tue-Sun $$$

Below left: the bustling room at Neil Perry’s Margaret. Below right: Opel Khan and his daughter Lucinda head the team at Metisse.

Ms. G’s

MODERN ASIAN 15/20

Rollicking Asian fusion strutting wit and flavour

“The food focus here,” our kneeling waiter says, “is fun.” She’s not wrong, given the street art and neon-tinged, rope-draped, pirate-ship vibes of this four-storey paean to Americanalicked Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese cooking. Loud and still jumping after 12 years, the vodka and yuzu-juice slushies flow on beside impressive wines grouped as Juicy, Pink Friday or Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay. Meanwhile, a big flavour menu balances sophistication, quirky and a side of clever. The famed cheeseburger spring rolls remain eye-widening with their hit of special sauce inside crispy banh trang and deep-fried devotees will revel in the salty, peppery fried chicken, a spree of garlicky-sweet chewy orbs. Chicken and pork gyoza are tangy with black vinegar, while cult dessert “stoner’s delight” lives on, now with doughnut ice-cream, raspberry curd, bacon, peanut dulce de leche and Mars Bar brownie. How’s that for fun?

155 Victoria Street, Potts Point, merivale.com/venues/msgs

L Fri Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Nomad

MIDDLE EASTERN 16/20

Bold, bright and beautiful

As the Nomad family grows – to Beau, the new nearby spin-off, and to Melbourne – the original converted warehouse diner is firing on all fronts, not just at its signature charcoal grill. Terrific house charcuterie (including excellent ocean-trout basturma) sidles up to puffy flatbread with wattleseed zaatar and lime; kingfish does its thing with avocado, finger lime and a coriander cracker; a split marron bathes in butter with charcuteriebased XO. The olive-oil ice-cream sandwich in a crumb of halva and pistachio remains as magical as ever, too. Cluey staff manage the 200 seats – spread across banquettes, front and back tables, and grillside bar stools – with grace and good sense and there’s plenty that’s serious about the mostly Australian drinks list, but nothing predictable, be it by glass, carafe or bottle. The overarching sense? That Nomad has truly come of age.

16 Foster Street, Surry Hills, nomad.sydney

Nour

MIDDLE EASTERN 15/20

Age-old Lebanese dishes given a new lease on

life

Dusk-pink seating, marble fixtures and pillar candles – this is a made-forInstagram dining room if you ever saw one. But it would be a mistake to dismiss Nour as a case of style over substance. Chef Paul Farag’s cooking is a love letter to Lebanese cuisine that’s serious yet playful, elevating traditional flavours and taking familiar textures somewhere new. Beetroot’s earthiness is sharpened with pomegranate dressing and teamed with sheep’s curd and pita, and tendrils of octopus accentuate a smoky mound of muhamurra – a Levantine capsicum-and-walnut dip fashioned into something more indulgent by adding fried potato. For dessert, it’s all about the coconut basbousa, a woodfired version of Egyptian semolina cake crowned with fenugreek custard, its sweetness tempered with burnt caramel. Bargain-hunters should also note the bottomless negroni and rosé package with a top-value banquet.

Shop 3, 490 Crown Street, Surry Hills, noursydney.com

L Thu-Sun D daily $$

Clockwise from far left: Nour’s luscious profiteroles; Otto Ristorante; kingfish ceviche at Nomad.

Otto Ristorante

ITALIAN 15.5/20

Splashy waterfront dining with fresh culinary flair

It’s hard to think of a restaurant with more understated glamour than this waterside stalwart, where media moguls talk shop over bottles of Bollinger and off-duty models enjoy oysters al fresco. Beyond the flashy exterior, there’s thoughtful modern Italian cooking from chef Richard Ptacnik, with dishes combining produce, presentation and technique in harmony. Prawn tartare on a puck of focaccia is a delicate pleasure, with pearls of salmon roe and piquant bursts of finger lime. House-made spaghetti topped with spanner crab, chilli and garlic crumb is briny, earthy and perfectly al dente, while smoked stracciatella gives spicy pork ragu and curly mafaldine a new complexity. Tarte Piemontaise at the finish line defines what Otto is all about: a dark-chocolate crust concealing mousse and hazelnut cream; sleek surfaces giving way to layers of surprise.

Area 8, 6 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo, ottoristorante.com.au

Parlar

CATALAN 16/20

High-end tapas crafted with heart and precision

Parlar’s pan tomate is nothing like the rough-and-ready version found in bars across Barcelona. There, bread is simply rubbed with a pulpy tomato mixture. Here, yellow and red tomato slices are precision-layered across toast like tiny terracotta tiles. This is tapas to suit an intimate, plush dining room from restaurateur Andrew Becher, who also operates Franca brasserie next door. Chef Jose Saulog’s menu is made so you can breeze in for a quick morcilla sandwich or settle in for a proper innings. Diamond clams and salmon roe glisten in a light but flavour-packed tomato sauce and extra cornbread is a no-brainer to soak up the juices. It also comes in handy for mopping a beefy pedro-ximenez jus pooling marbled wagyu flank. A smart, considered package from opening salt-cod croquette to closing crema Catalana.

Shop 1, 81 Macleay Street, Potts Point, parlar.com.au

Left: gilda toast, anchovy churro and pan tomate at Parlar.

Below: colourful celebration at Pasta Emilia.

Paski Sopra

ITALIAN

Seriously good food without being too serious

Punters who don’t speak native Italian grape may find themselves a bit lost at the always-buzzing trattoria of wine importers Giorgio De Maria and Mattia Dicati. Procanico or Pignoletto? Grignolino or lambrusco grasparossa? Um, whatever works with the rave-worthy pork-sausage ragu pappardelle, we guess. If you don’t score a staff member happy to guide you through the list, here’s the thing: it’s all bloody great stuff (if you like left-field drops) so roll the dice and have fun. Chef Enrico Tomelleri’s food is a hoot too, especially saltysweet cubes of fried tapioca with chestnut honey and asiago-cheese snow. Fatty whipped sausage-meat is slathered on crostini and balanced by green tomatoes, while bisque-napped ravioli with prawns and scamorza demands a glass of something crisp and white. Head downstairs to the bar for an amaro to finish – Chinati Vergano Luli or Argala Amaro Alpino? 239 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, paski.com.au

D Mon-Tue, Thu-Sat $$

Pasta Emilia

ITALIAN

Organic wine and nonna-level

pasta with a regional bent

In a blizzard of food fads, pasta is the great equaliser. And when it’s really good pasta, the likes of Pasta Emilia’s taut squares of chicken raviolini in brodo, or pillowy duck and truffle tortelli enveloped in sage butter and crisp guanciale, then it’s the stuff that brings folks together again and again. The same produce-driven ethos that had Bronte locals competing for founder Anna Maria Eoclidi’s limited menu back in the mid-2000s now draws pasta lovers to her Surry Hills digs. Part neighbourhood osteria, part cooking school and retailer, the menu is heavy on Emilia-Romagna classics such as strozzapreti with beef ragu. Wine is exclusively organic and the list leans Italian, but consider keeping it in the family with Eoclidi’s own merlot, made with grapes from her 20-year-old Hunter Valley vineyard acquired during lockdown.

259 Riley Street, Surry Hills, emilia.com.au

L Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Pellegrino 2000

ITALIAN 15/20

Buzzy neighbourhood trattoria with its fingers on the pulse

Officially, Pellegrino is an Italian restaurant, but the kitchen uses plenty of ingredients that would shock a Tuscan. If you find yourself eating trippa fritta and wondering what the tang is kicking through crumbed tripe and parmesan, that would be a citrusy Sichuan-ish pepper from Japan. This is smart, punk-rock cooking from chefs Dan Pepperell and Michael Clift, with wine gun Andy Tyson on the floor (the trio also runs Potts Point’s Bistrot 916). Post-modern Italian prints and shelves of tomatoes channel a more traditional trattoria, and a streetside bar is made for negronis before white beans flecked with lemon zest and shaved bottarga, or scallops and squid served fritto misto-style and punched up with dashi salt. Butterflied-quail saltimbocca is rich with a wallop of marsala sauce, and boozy limoncello jellies are a refreshing way to finish. Who needs Florence when you’ve got Surry Hills?

80 Campbell Street, Surry Hills, pellegrino2000.com L

Poly

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Concrete bunker with a

fiery reputation

You don’t come to Mat Lindsay’s Ester follow-up knowing what you are going to eat or drink. The menu changes without notice, and that tiny, glowing, wood-fired kitchen in the corner plays havoc with your expectations as much as it plays with its produce. For drinks, the brutal, below-ground space looks like a contemporary wine bar – and it is – but it also engineers cocktails creamy with gin, cucumber and eggwhite. Then a skewer of something dark, smoky and gnarly arrives – not beef, but beetroot, transformed into chewy vegetable jerky by slowcooking over coals. And holy cow, what a sandwich! Imagine justwarmed raw beef carpaccio folded between triangles of toast with hot sauce and horseradish cream – like the best ever room-service sambo turned restauranty. Chase it with a huge round of buttery, coal-roasted, tenderhearted cabbage, share a small bowl of, say, passionfruit sorbet, and raise a glass of sake to the unpredictable evolution that is dining at Poly. 74-76 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, polysurryhills.com.au

L Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Below left: it’s all Italian at Pellegrino 2000. Below right: creme caramel at Porcine.

Porcine

FRENCH 15/20

Fancy throwback cooking underwritten by rock solid

technique

There’s a lot to like about this bistro above a bottle shop. Cold, clean oysters heightened by smoked-eel vinegar. A working fireplace in winter. Open windows in summer. Butter slapped on bread plates in a manner – and amount – that would make a grandmother blush. The best thing, however, is how much fun skilled chef Nicholas Hill seems to be having, creating dishes based around his love of cookbooks from a time when aspic ruled the world. Wildboar-and-chestnut pâté is autumn incarnate, while a bouillabaisseadjacent soup overflows with scallops and lobster and direct shellfish flavours. Berkshire pork chop is properly juicy with nosetingling mustard, and – in breaking bistro news – there’s now a canard presse for guests pre-ordering roast duck to be finished (read: crushed) at the table and served in a casserole of madeira and mushrooms. Vive la fun-time French.

268 Oxford Street, Paddington, porcine.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Thu-Sat $$

Porteno

ARGENTINIAN 16/20

Sexy, hearty food for grill lovers

A modern classic still going strong and getting better with age. On entry, you might find one of the co-owner chefs leaning casually on the counter like a cool conductor, overseeing a mighty parrilla grill cooking bloody great steaks. Amply marbled chuck rib is served with resting juices and a splash of fruity hojiblanca olive oil, or for something more large format, there’s Basque-inspired Txuleta 1882 sirloin – a mighty hunk of dry-aged, retired dairy cow that’s spent its twilight years on pasture. It’s not all about meat though, and molten fresh cheese comes smoking, straight from the wood-fired oven with crushed olives and Calabrian chilli. Meanwhile, leeks are grilled, skinned and served with burnt honey and hazelnut. A well-seasoned team of tightly quaffed waitstaff work the space and pour great wines with maximum efficiency, dressed in a smart white-shirt-blackwaistcoat combination to match the chequerboard floor.

50 Holt Street, Surry Hills, porteno.com.au

D Tue-Sat $$

Red Lantern

VIETNAMESE

Vietnamese institution, now with barbershop attached

Walk into Red Lantern from Riley Street and you enter an Indochine world of marble tables, tiled floors and vintage books on shelves, while at the same time offering air-con, stemmed wine glasses and welltrained staff. Step in from the lane at the rear and you enter The Cut, a gentleman’s barbershop and bar run by the multitasking Red Lantern co-owner and executive chef Mark Jensen. The big order there may be for a beard trim and a beer, but the big order in the restaurant is for Aunty 5’s bouncy house-made rice cakes, topped with tiger prawns,

caramelised pork neck and pork floss. Rustic rice-paper rolls come filled with lemongrass chicken, sweet, slightly dry Hanoi-style pork comes on skewers, and a thick fillet of kingfish perches on a bed of glass noodles. Don’t miss the velvety, glossy, wok-fried eggplant – it’s a hit.

60 Riley Street, Darlinghurst, redlantern.com.au

D Wed-Sat $$

Heartfelt food-for-good venture with a double life

As a not-for-profit eating house, Refettorio offers free lunches by day for those suffering food insecurity. But it also opens to the paying public once a fortnight with exactly the same three-course menu – and because it is run by OzHarvest, up to 95 per cent of the food used is rescued from waste. An initiative of Italian chef Massimo Bottura and OzHarvest’s Ronni Kahn, it’s a welcoming experience run entirely by volunteer staff. The food is vegetarian and there is no alcohol, although evening guests are offered drinks made from rescued citrus fruits, or

Below: Refettorio OzHarvest chefs Lauren Evers and Jez Wick. Bottom: the precision and skill of a dish from Sagra.

booze-free beer. Head chef Jez Wick cooks with imagination and care, utilising the warm spices (in pakoralike carrot-and-onion fritters, say), bright salsas and smoky yoghurts of the Mediterranean. Even a little babysoft roulade with a heart of tangelo curd is like tea with nanna. What a feel-good place.

481 Crown Street, Surry Hills, ozharvest.org

D Thu (every second week) $$

Sagra ITALIAN Straight-up seasonal cooking with skill

The simplicity that’s endeared Sagra to Italian purists for eight years is in fact nothing of the sort – it’s precision. From the succinct, seasonally shifting menu on plain brown paper to the pared-down ingredients in each dish, genuine no-frills elegance demands pin-sharp skills. Sagra’s standout dishes often seem its most modest. Certainly, it takes confidence not to fuss with Murray cod, pan-roasted to its juicy best and featuring soft, flaky flesh contrasting with crackling-crisp skin. Gentle, earthy flavours are lifted by a lick of clean, light anise from a fennel puree. It’s a whisper-notshout dish, but memorable, much like the pleasing crunch of hazelnuts meeting creamy stracciatella sweetened with peppers and balsamic vinegar. At Sagra, pasta is always a must too – refined carbs in the very best sense and all house-made to exacting standards. Spaghetti, spanner crab, tomato and ’nduja, you had us at hello.

62 Stanley Street, Darlinghurst, sydneysagra.com.au

L Fri D Tue-Sat $$

Refettorio OzHarvest CONTEMPORARY

Cutting-edge celebration of fish

Book now. Reservations fill quickly for Josh Niland’s tasting menu of Australia’s best seafood, and with news that he and wife Julie are moving their flagship to Paddington’s Grand National Hotel in early 2023, months are ticking to enjoy the intimate original site at its height. After six years of gillto-fin cooking and spruiking the delicious complexity of dry-aged fish, Niland’s current seven-course dinner might lead with Murray-cod-liver parfait before King George whiting marinated in champagne vinegar. Line-caught kingfish is dressed with ponzu and subtly smoky thanks to a light brush with coals, and sublime grilled John dory is enhanced by a yabby emulsion with feel-good flavours lemongrass and galangal. Staff are on-message, the wines are lively and a subtly shimmering room is all marble, sandstone and the odd Ken Done. Also note the more casual lunch menu with oysters galore.

362 Oxford Street, Paddington, saintpeter.com.au

L Thu-Sun D Tue-Sun $$$

If you weren’t lucky enough to be born into a Korean family, never fear – just book a seat at tiny Sang. With parents Seung Kee and Jin Sun Son working non-stop in the miniscule kitchen, son Kenny char-grilling black Angus short ribs, and the rest of the team mixing soju tonics or delivering dishes of sweet-savoury honeycomb tripe and good-chewy chicken gizzards, it’s very much a family affair. The simple, cared-for cooking is bright and clean, the wines are minimal intervention, and dining is elbow-to-elbow on share tables or squeezed into kitchen counters. Try the Cloudy Bay clams with tofu and scallop, or the lunch specials (walk-ins only) including marinated, preserved blue-swimmer crab. This particular mix of elevated home cooking and contemporary dining brings both a sense of nostalgia and a vision of the future – whether you’re family or not.

98 Fitzroy Street Surry Hills, sangbymabasa.com.au

L D Thu-Sun $$

Soul Dining

KOREAN 15 /20

Contemporary Korean with a date-night makeover

Above: Saint Peter’s King George whiting with sudachi and finger-lime sauce. Below: kingfish in kimchi water at Soul Dining.

Haven’t heard of Soul Dining yet? You will. Daero Lee and Illa Kim opened this moody dining room with its distressed walls, halo of light and blue-velvet banquette in 2018, and have steadily built a fan base for their elevated Korean food and award-winning wine list. It’s exciting stuff, the familiar shaped by creative licence into something new. So raw kingfish comes with white kimchi and avocado puree, and bibimbap is cooked to order, with vibrant ocean trout instead of the usual marinated beef, along with raw scallop, egg yolk, seaweed and soy butter. Prawn tteokbokki is more like “tteokgnocchi”, the bouncy little rice cakes lolling about with sweet Yamba prawns in lush capsicum sambal. This is modern Korean cooking as seen in New York or Seoul, right down to the chapssal red-bean doughnuts swaddled in translucent persimmon. 204 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, souldining.com.au

D Tue-Sat $$

Korean family cooking with natural wine on the side

Spice I Am

THAI

These days, Thai cooking in Sydney is rich and varied – the sugar hangovers of old are drowned out by venues peddling bright, fiery plates ringing with hot chilli, holy basil and galangal. Spice I Am has its place among the pioneers, and remains just as essential today. The longstanding no-bookings policy still means diners will be armed with wine bottles as they queue for soft-shell crab cut with a lemongrass and green mango salad, or fat king prawns bobbing in a light chu chee curry. Yum hua plee is a riot of colour and flavour, featuring shredded banana flower crowned with chicken and deep-fried prawns, crunched up with a rubble of roasted coconut and shallots, and drenched in spicy nam prik pao dressing. Service is fast and friendly, and the famously long menu has added more Isan specials to make repeat visits a must.

90 Wentworth Avenue, Surry Hills, spiceiam.com

TenTo JAPANESE

Pour one out at this stylish, tea-fuelled Japanese cafe

Japan’s ochazuke predates the latest TikTok food hacks by centuries. Since the Edo period, people have revitalised leftover rice by pouring green tea over cold grains. TenTo levels up this comfort food by filling teapots with a creamy seven-vegetable broth for vegan ochazuke. Pour it over the bowl’s sculptural rice ball and the air blooms with the scent of buttered popcorn. A rice paper basket billows like a designer dress, topped with tempura vegetables and flowers. Smoked bonito stock flavours the salmon ochazuke, while a chicken version is bathed with a collagen broth and seasoned with chilli oil. TenTo’s Kyoto alleyway feel is backed by other Japanese flourishes: ramen bowls and black-sesame latte mugs are hand-crafted by co-owner Ryota Kumasaka and the matcha dessert resembles a raked Japanese garden, with fruit shapes and nasturtium leaves poetically spritzed with a triple sec and sweet syrup “dew”.

8 Hill Street, Surry Hills, tento.com.au

B L Mon-Sat $

Above left: Tento has a Kyoto alleyway feel. Above: Ursula’s chef Phil Wood.

There are few chefs with such a grasp of classicism and culinary history as Phil Wood. The former Rockpool head chef, here in his second year in a back-street Paddington terrace, has fine-tuned a menu that reads almost like a throwback to Modern Australian – maybe even further –but rejigged for the 2020s. It’s there in the green-curry vinaigrette taking a dish of ruby-centred lamb backstrap in a Thai direction. Or crisp-skinned John dory stuffed with prawn mousse, pan-fried to translucent and laid on a refined, fragrant sauce. Then French onion soup is taken apart and put back together with sticky-sweet fall-apart short-rib the centrepiece.

Tablecloths are white; the glasses, Maison Balzac; the ochre-coloured carpet, plush. The wine list steers towards the classics and service is personal and personable. Ambitious? Unique? Both. Overwrought? Never, with charm and comfort at the centre.

92 Hargrave Street, Paddington, ursulas.com.au

L D Tue-Sat $$

A trailblazer-turned-institution serving fiery regional plates

Ursula’s

Paddington charmer that fuses classic and contemporary

Wyno x Bodega

LATIN AMERICAN

Tiny kitchen, big table, massive wine list

Viand

THAI 15.5/20

Thai food masterclass

Salted duck-egg relish with scampi and sweet, caramelised, aged pork?

Those who know their Thai food will immediately recognise that Viand is something special. Former Long Chim chef Annita Potter has emerged from the shadow of David Thompson and forged her own path with this pavilionstyle dining room down the Woolloomooloo end of Crown Street and beneath a working art gallery. Her tasting menus lead the diner on a merry dance of colours, textures and tongue-tingling flavours, from coconut-poached quail with a salad of roasted banana blossoms to braised monkfish with pickled plums and Asian celery, or a jungle curry of king prawns with long coriander. Every paste, relish and broth is done from scratch, something that shows in the depths of flavour throughout, right up to a marshmallow meringue with preserved persimmons. Sweet, salty, spicy, smoky, sour – and special. 41 Crown Street, Woolloomooloo, viand.club

D Wed-Sat $$

From top: Chef Annita Potter at Viand; tongue with tuna sauce at Wyno x Bodega; dish from vegan restaurant Yellow.

As the name suggests, this romantic, candlelit space from team Porteno is part wine bar and part tapas counter. The wine part is in-your-face obvious, with an entire wall of bottles wrangled by high-energy sommelier Georgie Davidson-Brown. A leather-topped communal table runs down to a tiny kitchen where Ecuadorian chef Jaime Chinchero turns out tapas dishes with a distinct Latin-American twist. So a chip-chop of sweet prawns and avocado topped with crisp potato straws rests on a golden mash of Argentinean potato, and barbecued octopus perches on a soft tortilla of sweet potato. Warm salad of roasted cauliflower, crisped chickpeas and gently spiced eggplant kasundi is so wine-friendly, it will drink from your glass if you let it. The booze list gets serious fast, but staff are just as happy to pour for a low budget as a no budget.

Shop 4, 50 Holt Street, Surry Hills, bodegatapas.com

Tue-Sat $$

Yellow

CONTEMPORARY 16/20

Sydney’s premier home of plantbased dining

The days of vegans being confined to second-rate dining options are a distant memory beyond the golden bricks of this contemporary bistro. A six-course vegan tasting menu is a celebration of all things plantbased, with elegant dishes from chef Brent Savage showcasing seasonal

heirloom vegetables with intricate, playful and textural elements. Slices of pickled and steamed eggplant napped in eggplant broth invigorated with fennel oil is a strong start after a trio of snacks including tiny daikon wedges topped with zesty finger-lime pearls. Overlapping petals of steamed celeriac encase creamy cashew butter and dots of persimmon. Next up, earthy nubs of Jerusalem artichoke with shiitake and a smattering of crunchy crushed hazelnuts. Add a natural or biodynamic drop from Nick Hildebrant’s killer tome of a wine list (or choose the non-alcoholic pairing), sit back and relish the wholesome pleasure.

57 Macleay Street Potts Point, yellowsydney.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Yulli’s CONTEMPORARY Casual-cool vegan mainstay

Yulli’s is the cool girl of Sydney’s vegan scene. She’s charming, casual and a little dishevelled, unafraid of cracking open a weeknight beer.

The intimate Surry Hills restaurant remains popular into its 14th year, with a unique offering of well-priced share plates inspired by Asian and Mediterranean cuisines. This is smart and honest plant-based cooking, turning away from imitation meats in favour of bright papaya salad, fried broccolini spiked with satisfyingly sticky gochujang sauce, and Vietnamese pancakes brimming with hearty king-trumpet mushrooms. Smoked eggplant is charred and tender with lively romesco. Warming ginger-and-leek dumplings are balanced with a smattering of sweet plum sauce, while the dessert menu comforts with classics such as stickydate pudding. As for that midweek drink, there’s a fun selection of modern Australian wine and no shortage of Yulli’s own trophywinning brews.

417 Crown Street, Surry Hills, yullis.com.au

L Tue-Sun D daily $

Eastern Beaches

Baccomatto Osteria

ITALIAN 15/20

Italian classics offered up in a buzzing atmosphere

It might look a little dark and moody inside Baccomatto Osteria but don’t let the interior fool you, this is a place for families, fun and boisterous big groups. The informal tone is set by the warmly welcoming team and guests are more than happy to fulfil their duties in shouting across the table for another slice of pizza al taglio, the bottle of sangiovese or just a little more excellent rigatoni carbonara, flecked with salty shards of guanciale. Gnocchi with cime di rapa and almonds is earthy and delivered with a story about the pleasingly bitter greens being the “eyelashes” of a turnip. More entertaining snippets accompany the porchetta and the wine, and it’s clear that the hardworking crew enjoy seeing their clientele eat and drink well. Not all can be blessed with a nonna in the family, but this is the next best thing.

Shop 2, 164 Barker Street, Randwick, baccomattoosteria.com.au

L D Tue-Sun $$

Clove Lane

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Warm, welcoming local with serious culinary cred

This attractive former cornershop punches well above its suburban weight. For locals, the spot is a stalwart for dinner, with larger groups chinking well-balanced cocktails at a long table by the front bar, and couples snuggled up the back, where owner-chef Emile

Avramides and his team calmly go about their business in the open kitchen. Sharing is the name of the game, and the regularly changing menu ranges from sophisticated, two-bite beauties such as chickenliver-parfait eclairs with a squiggle of tangy rhubarb puree, to a main of hanger steak draped with charred cavolo nero and finished with a perfectly peppery sauce. Or settle in for a light(ish) courtyard lunch of king salmon with soubise and black garlic after a circuit around nearby Centennial Park, and counter your virtuousness with something old, new or curious from the well-priced wine list.

19 Clovelly Road, Randwick, clovelane.com.au

L Thu-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Coogee Pavilion Ground Floor

CONTEMPORARY

All-ages crowd-pleaser with a generous side of beach

The cavernous ground floor of Coogee’s grande dame is a microcosm of living-it-large beach culture. Witness all walks of life loudly enjoying themselves in this light-filled space as long lunches become dinner: couples smooching over fresh-shucked oysters and snapper ceviche from the raw bar; boofy blokes and sand-crusted kids scoffing blistered pizzas from the central wood-fired oven; and families celebrating nan’s birthday by sharing burgers and comforting pan-fried barramundi with cauliflower puree.

Whatever the kids fancy, “the Pav” delivers in spades, and there’s plenty for the grown-ups too, such as lamb rump cooked to rosy perfection and topped with a lush dollop of smooshed eggplant, olive, anchovy and mint. Beer-battered fish and chips are a gold standard of form, while reasonably priced wines provide relief for frazzled parents and sunburnt backpackers alike. Come one, come all (and they do).

169 Dolphin Street, Coogee, merivale. com/venues/coogeepavilion

B L D daily $$

Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta

ITALIAN 15/20

Chic, loud pizzeria for celebrating friends, family and roast pork

Bondi’s favourite pizza is back. After a few years helming other trattorias, chef Orazio D’Elia has reopened his namesake porchetta and puffycrusted margherita hub in its original spot. The buzzy space has been

Top: Baccomatto Osteria porchetta.

Above: Bondi’s Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta.

stripped back to its bright, white roots, with walls rendered to look like they belong in a Mediterranean fishing village. Night-clubby music gets loud, but at least you can still hear your table mates when you need to decide which regional specialities to order. Octopus salad covered in fat leaves of parsley like they do in Naples, perhaps, or tender lamb arrosticini skewers like the ones found in Abruzzo. Pizza, of course, is a must, and highlights include the Napoletana handsomely draped in anchovies with basil and wood-fire-shrivelled olives, and the Friarielli ($28), boasting crumbled pork sausage and blitzed rapini. Benvenuto a casa, Da Orazio, it’s been too long.

75-79 Hall Street, Bondi, daorazio.com.au

L Sat-Sun D daily $$

Fish Shop SEAFOOD

Big fish energy in a little corner of Bondi

Despite its name, this convivial dining room just off Bondi’s main drag isn’t just a fish-focused affair – although there’s plenty on offer, from tuna tartare to barbecued sand whiting with salsa verde and lemon. The cool-as-ice local is a celebration of everything pescatarian and there’s plenty to love about a snacky chunk of AP Bakery sourdough slathered with aioli and mussels, or the bowl of tender calamari lazing in a pool of aromatic garlic oil, but it’s the day’s pasta selection – maybe cuttlefish rigatoni in a creamy red pepper sauce – that makes the biggest splash. Those looking for a more casual al fresco feast will find it at sibling Fish Market next door, frying up fish and chips, panko-crumbed barramundi sangers and a school of other underwater takeaway offerings to eat on the beach or in a park, hibiscus kombucha in hand.

87 Glenayr Avenue, Bondi, fishshop.com.au

L Fri-Sun D daily $$

Lola’s Level 1

MEDITERRANEAN

Wine and seafood celebration with a beautiful Bondi view

Lasagne and the beach go together like red wine and fish, so pasta al forno layered with slow-braised beef shanks might not be your go-to at this night-clubby nuovo-tratt on Bondi’s main drag. Lola’s signature lasagnette is a must though, full of mighty flavours and silky bechamel. It’s also small enough to let you go big on butterflied and butter-glossed king prawns topped with bottarga –appropriate snacking on a balcony with sea salt in the air. Attractive, chirpy staff know their champagne from chenin, and are on hand to recommend the best skin-contact wine for jamon-topped sourdough rubbed with hojiblanca olive oil and fruity crushed tomatoes. Sancerre with addictive calamari fritti is key, and, oh, why not – a light-and-easy chilled pinot with whole baked John dory dressed with green olives. It’ll travel across to duck breast happily glazed with orange and pedro ximenez, too.

Level 1, 180-186 Campbell Parade, Bondi, lolaslevel1.com.au

D Wed-Sun L Thu-Sun $$

Mimi’s

CONTEMPORARY 17/20

Conspicuous coastal consumption

Mimi’s calls itself “coastal fine dining”, and if that suggests something less formal and more fun, then it’s on the money. Speaking of money, it’s also unapologetically expensive, delivering a dining experience that is exciting, dynamic and luxurious. Plates of mud crab and lobster drift by, and a trolley of caviar and frozen vodka may park suggestively by your table. There’s wagyu rib-eye, of course, and Krug and Penfolds Grange by the glass. It’s a lively dining room, fuelled by an open-plan kitchen and the make-itnice mantra of chefs Jordan Toft and Jeffrey De Rome that might lead to charcoal-roasted quail with glossy nettle cream or giant Margra lamb cutlets to share. In truffle season, you’ll be invited to shave black magic over everything in sight. All that, and glorious views through large picture windows to Coogee beach. Coastal fine dining indeed.

Middle Level, Coogee Pavilion, 130A Beach Street Coogee, merivale. com/venues/mimis

L D Wed-Sun $$$

Above: jamon and tomatotopped sourdough at Lola’s Level 1 in Bondi.

Moxhe

SEAFOOD

A deep dive into sustainable seafood via a set-course menu

A little card on the moodily lit table lists key producers such as oyster farmer Steve Feletti, saffron growers Terry and Nicky Noonan, and NSW miller Craig Neale. It’s a quiet statement of intent by Belgian-born owner-chef David Coumont, who runs this wine-lined neighbourhood restaurant with a focus on sustainable seafood and visits to the fish market every morning for inspiration. Settle in with a kir royale and either a fourcourse (Tide Pool) or eight-course (Deeper Dive) menu. A soft potato blini topped with smoked tailor is a warm squish of flavour, and mussel tarts are halved ceremoniously at the table. Hapuka is sensitively cooked and seasonably paired, and – in an inspired move – creamy yoghurt parfait is laced with sea grapes. Helen Diab’s wine list is worth a deep dive in itself. Ker-splash! 65b Macpherson Street, Bronte, moxhe.com.au Wed-Sun $$

Sean’s CONTEMPORARY 16/20 Farmhouse kitchen by the sea

After 30 years, Sean’s is still, resolutely, Sean’s. If anything, it’s even more Sean’s, with its own ethos, voice and personality. The eccentric charm of little sea shells of sea salt, olive oil and butter on the stripeclothed tables; bowls of crisp and tiny radishes, and of farm produce plated with an artist’s eye, all serve to transport you to a very special place. The menu is now three courses with I-want-them-all choices. Beetroot hides in the hollows of ruby-red radicchio leaves, and soft salami encircles a round of pork-and-rabbit terrine. The brined-and-roasted “good chook”, with its crunchy roast potato and parsnip in a tangle of wilted greens and gravy, has taken on the mantle of a genuine legend, although crisp-skinned Murray cod with wilted greens makes a fine alternative. Baked custard with rhubarb is, like everything else about Sean’s, completely charming.

270 Campbell Parade, Bondi, seansbondi.com

From top: Coogee’s Una Mas; prawn terrine, brioche and prawn butter at Moxhe; perennial Bondi favourite Sean’s.

Una Mas MEDITERRANEAN 15/20

Like being on a sun-kissed holiday in your own town

Una Mas is Spanish for “one more”, and when the windows are thrown open to the sun and the sparkling sea, one more is definitely on the agenda. One more Estrella beer, perhaps, or plate of fresh mozzarella, served Capri-style on lemon leaves. One more conversation, definitely, over a skewered anchovy gilda, or a paprika-tanned tangle of chitarra pasta in a rich puddle of sobrasada sauce. The broad, airy room, fringed by bar and kitchen, is a little world unto itself, running to executive chef Jordan Toft’s dreams of beachside shacks in Majorca, Sitges or Taormina. Lunch goes all afternoon and fades into dinner as linen-clad people waft in and out. More relaxed than kick-up-your-heels Mimi’s next door, and far from the madding crowds of Coogee Pavilion below, it’s the sort of place you just want to hang out in, one more time.

130A Beach Street, Coogee, merivale.com/venues/una-mas

TOP 20

Meet the best and newest stars of Sydney’s cafe culture.

| By JILL DUPLEIX

A.P BAKERY

On the rooftop of Paramount House, A.P takes the idea of a bakery cafe and runs with it into the future.

Dougal Muffet bakes rustic breads with hand-milled flour, excellent buttermilk croissants and roasted apple tarts topped with calvados cream. It’s little more than a kiosk on a rooftop, and you may need to queue, but keep your eyes on the prize. Also in Newtown.

80 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, apbakery.com.au

COFFEE ROOM

If the barista’s outfit looks particularly clean, it’s because this cafe’s big sister, Washroom, is a growing brand of self-service laundromats. There’s one right next door, in fact. And with food designed by Fratelli Paradiso’s Trish Greentree and beans by Single O, Coffee Room is just as handy. If you spill green smoothie on your shirt, you know where to go.

256 Arden Street, Coogee

EDITION ROASTERS

Head roaster Taku Kimura omniroasts single-origin beans to bring out fruitiness and clarity, and the quietly spectacular cinnamon scrolls are baked in-house. The pitch-dark

Top: a perfect pick-me-up from Good Chemistry.

Above: pizza slices from Small Talk Coffee and Snacks.

space transforms into a mellow izakaya by night, with sizzling yakitori teamed with whisky and sake.

60 Darling Drive, Haymarket, editionroasters.com

GENOVESE COFFEE HOUSE

Just in case you had no idea this was an Italian roaster – and from Melbourne, no less – the team serves breakfasts of roasted cherry tomato with creamy burrata; folds sopressa, pickled fennel and chilli into fresh panini; and fills crisp cannoli with lush ricotta cream. There’s even a standing bar so you can take your rich, sweet espresso straight-up.

1-3 Lawrence Street, Alexandria, genovesecoffeehouse.com.au

GOOD CHEMISTRY

This laneway cafe draws on the cool, creative crowd that gathers daily at the Ace Hotel and doubles as a bar at night. The space is industrial, the tiles green, the table communal and the magazines intelligent. Meet your mates over an apple Danish, spicy salami toastie and good Mecca coffee, and come back for a native negroni at night.

47 Wentworth Avenue, Sydney, acehotel.com

THE GOODSLINE

Head chef Chris Evanges has got you covered with a brekkie menu ranging from spanner-crab omelette to sausage, egg and cheese in a soft potato bun. Add a white-peach Bellini sparkling with prosecco, whether you’re heading back to the office after lunch or not.

19A Harris Street, Pyrmont, goodsgroup.com.au

HAVEN SPECIALTY COFFEE

There are now more Havens in Sydney than ever, and that’s a

good thing, because of their devotion to batch-brew, pour-over and dreamily good espresso.

The new Darling Quarter site is a haven of Japanese joinery, sparkling water on tap, rustic hand-made ceramics and some of the finest filled bagels in town. Also at Rosebery and Haymarket.

25 Harbour Street, Sydney, havenspecialtycoffee.com.au

HOMAGE

In the thrusting, sky-scraping towers of power that now populate Parramatta, it’s hard to find an old-school street cafe that has that warm welcome and specialty coffee of old. Liza Chehade’s Homage ticks the box, and does it with Melbourne’s Proud Mary and Five Senses beans, Brickfields’ fruit bread, Pepe Saya butter and Brooklyn Boy bagels to boot.

71-71 George Street, Parramatta

INDUSTRY BEANS

If you’re wondering what’s in those cool cans on the shelf, it’s cold brew coffee. And that bubble tea? That’s actually coffee, too. Industry Beans keep surprising and innovating, so that every visit is fresh. The food breaks ground as well, from porcinidusted eggs in a potato nest, to barramundi with sambal and mango coffee togarashi.

38-40 York Street, Sydney, industrybeans.com

JACK GRAY

It’s very easy to chill out on the sunny terrace of Jack Gray with a well-engineered coffee and deli roll of lemon chicken, preserved lemon and herb mayo. Builder-turned-cafeowner Benjamin Coombes brings produce from his family’s Southern Highlands farm for brekkies and lunches, such as the pumpkin for a salad with mint yoghurt and paprika oil. Jack Gray also leads a double life as a wine and cocktail bar on weekends.

110 Grays Point Road, Grays Point, jackgray.com.au

LUCIEN BAKED GOODS

The sugary crust of a blood-orange choux pastry, the bronzed shoulders of a caramelised canele, the salty crunch of focaccia, and the rich sweetness of Circa coffee combine in this new venue from the team behind Parramatta’s much-loved Circa. The lobby cafe’s pale wood tables are streaked with sunlight and shadows, while long-term Circa chef Tom Clunie puts a Middle Eastern spin on breakfast and lunch.

111 Phillip Street, Parramatta

OH BOY Emma and Adam Marshall have a thing about coffee by the sea. From Navy Bear in Darling Point to Mosman Rowers, their cafes come with sun and water views. Even so, sitting overlooking the Andrew (Boy) Charlton pool is like being an extra in a commercial for Sydney. Add clever food – scrambled eggs with curry butter or orange and cardamom cake – plus good Vittoria coffee and you’re starring in your own postcard.

1C Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, birdandbear.com.au/oh-boy

OLEA

This new parkside cafe has an old-school Italian vibe, with its mix of timber and marble and wellstocked charcuterie and cheese bar. Accompanying the Allpress coffee is a Mediterranean-influenced menu, running from Spanish baked eggs with chorizo to special biscotti from the isle of Lipari.

8-10 Tryon Road, Lindfield, olealindfield.com

ONA COFFEE

If you’re serious about coffee, you’ll know about Sasa Sestic, Ona’s founder and the high priest of Canberra’s coffee scene. Ona Sydney aims for excellence at every step of the coffee journey, from master classes run by its team of baristas, to packaging up used coffee grounds for compost. It’s the place to go for rare coffee beans preserved at sub-zero temperatures, but it’s also just a nice

place to hang out over an espresso or a cup of filter coffee.

140 Marrickville Road, Marrickville, onacoffeesydney.com

PINA

Andrew Hardjasudarma and Yuvi Thu first built Room Ten into a cult hit with smooth Mecca coffee and well-crafted sandwiches. Now with Pina directly opposite, it’s “the monster that ate Llankelly Place”, drawing crowds from near and far. Their chicken sandwich is a work of art, scrambled eggs are textbook and the vegetable-based salads are crunchy with nuts and creamy with avo. Bold flavours and generous portions make it worth the wait.

Shop 4, 29 Orwell Street, Potts Point

PORCH & PARLOUR

The morning ritual is strong at Porch & Parlour: they come for the Will & Co coffee, the spicy huevos rancheros poachies and the banana bread stack with coconut yoghurt. And they leave with something adorable from the range of speckle-glazed Porch Ceramics made by chef and coowner Sammy Smith. So Bondi. Shop 17-18, 110 Ramsgate Avenue, North Bondi, porchandparlour.com

ROLLERS BAKEHOUSE

The pigeons of Manly have never been happier. Rialto Lane is strewn

Below: Jack Gray’s handsome light-filled space. Right: the pastries at Rollers Bakehouse are wicked.

with crumbs from black sesame, chocolate and spanakopita croissants, dropped by the crowd lounging outside on tiled benches and wooden boxes. Self-taught baker James Sideris subscribes to the art of doing one thing well, and his pastries are richly laminated with surprise fillings that bring joy. Wood and Co. coffee is a necessary foil.

19 Rialto Lane, Manly, rollersbakehouse.com

SMALL TALK COFFEE AND SNACKS

Here is a place that over-delivers. How they manage to hand-roll bagels, stretch focaccia and brew coffee in their tiny cafe in Dulwich Hill is a daily miracle. The hot jalapeno and egg bagel is the way to go, with a cold brew from Sample Coffee, plus a dark chocolate and hazelnut babka.

Shop 2, 355 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill, smalltalkcoffee.com

STIX

David Allison specialises in farmto-table cooking with produce from his Hawkesbury farm. Stix is home to Double Roasters coffee and Young Henrys beer, as well as head chef Brian Murray’s ancient grains salad, a fried chicken and kimchi bap and bkeila baked eggs with white beans. Also in Hunters Hill as of late 2022.

20 Chapel Street, Marrickville, stix.com.au

TWO GOOD CAFE

In 2022, social enterprise Two Good Co opened this small but special cafe to help raise funds to support its employment pathways for vulnerable women. The lightfilled sandstone space is stocked with breakfast muffins, cakes, T Totaler Tea and Kua coffee from Monday to Friday, with additional tasty offerings from rotating guest chefs.

Yirranma Place, 262 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, twogood.com.au

CAFES

SOUTH

Inner South

Ayam Goreng 99

INDONESIAN

Heat, spice and crunch from an Indonesian classic

A Kingsford institution, this familyrun, fuss-free joint has fed loyal fans traditional deep-fried and charcoalgrilled chicken for a quarter of a century. Get sticky-fingered with three kinds: paha goreng, deep-fried thigh in a turmeric marinade; paha goreng kalasan, a sweeter deep-fried Javanese-style chook; and paha bakar, crisp and charcoal-charred with a glistening, caramelised skin. Smear everything with house-made belachan chilli sauce, also sold in take-home jars. The succinct menu offers street-food classics ranging from rich satay to fried noodles; oxtail, chicken and meatball soups, and beef rendang that melts like butter in the mouth. Even if you’re here for the marinated-chook choices, consider pushing the snack boat out with turmeric-laced giblets, and end your meal with sweet treats containing rose syrup, coconut milk, shaved ice and black and green jellies.

464 Anzac Parade, Kingsford, ayamgoreng99.com

L D Wed-Sun $

Banh Xeo Bar VIETNAMESE Easy-going canteen with a passion for pork

Ben Sinfield and Tania Ho’s Vietnamese-ish eatery has an enduring love affair with pork, sourcing the finest free-range Berkshire porkers from Taluca Park, and using every little bit, from head to tail. Deep-fried pig’s trotters with salt and vinegar are gnawingly hearty, and little crumbed pig’s head croquettes – richly squishy – can be ordered as a side to throw into your bun bo hue noodle soup, awash with brisket and herbs. The setting is modest, with plain wooden tables

and stools and people queuing for takeaway, but there’s a cooked-toorder integrity to the food, which is accompanied by a compact list of natural wines and craft beers. The namesake banh xeo sizzling savoury pancake is golden with turmeric and studded with king prawns, soft onion and, you guessed it, pork.

Shop 11, The Cannery, 61-71 Mentmore Avenue, Rosebery L Mon-Sat D Friday

Fish Butchery SEAFOOD Highly polished fish and chip shop of the future

Josh Niland opened the first Fish Butchery with his wife Julie in 2018, a few doors up from their Paddington seafood temple Saint Peter. While the original continues to offer takeaway and retail, there’s now a bigger butchery in town and you can sit down. Hooray. In the heart of industrial Waterloo, in a long, gleaming room, customers watch chefs fillet, bone and dice myriad ocean treats for take-home dinners or to eat right there and then. The audibly crunchy fish and chips (perhaps mirror dory, maybe nannygai) is unquestionably Sydney’s

Above: Flyover Fritterie’s Gunjan Aylawadi. Below: Fish Butchery’s fish and chips.

best, but specials of Australia’s greatest seafood are the real treat.

Barbecued King George whiting from Victoria’s Corner Inlet, say, or crumbed garfish, and Murray cod chorizo and chimichurri rolls. Expect to be eating from a box with a view to Kennards Self Storage, but with fish this good, it doesn’t matter one bit.

965 Bourke Street, Waterloo, fishbutchery.com.au

L D Sat-Sun $

Flyover Fritterie INDIAN

Warm service and spices to brighten your day

Fed up with too many of the same curry and naan combinations at Indian restaurants across Sydney, Gunjan Aylawadi opened her own space to recreate the vibrant flavours and street-food diversity she experienced growing up in Delhi. The casual eatery is a bright and buzzy spot, prettied up with wildflowers and pink accents to distract from concrete walls, and hugely popular with local students and young families. Everyone loves the dosa potato jaffle bursting with peanut chutney and turmeric-yellow spuds, and brilliant with chai made from scratch that day. Individual silverbeet, broccoli and cabbage pakoras are piled onto a mixed fritter

plate and everything is vegetarian (but mostly vegan). This means you don’t have to feel that unhealthy about inhaling the bonus fritters served with a creamy coconut and lime khichri stew combining redlentil dal with basmati, quinoa and black lime. Delightful stuff.

88 Regent Street, Redfern, flyoverfritterie.com.au

L D Tue-Sun $

Fontana

ITALIAN 15/20

Roman holiday house-party

Former Don Peppino’s chefs Daniel Johnston and Harry Levy are joined by co-owner Ivey Wawn at this highly spirited newcomer. It’s a sparsely decorated joint, punctuated by the odd succulent and an abstract oil-and-pastel by artist Chanel Tobler, but what Fontana lacks in fit-out it makes up for in excitement on the plate (and brilliant left-field Australian and Italian wines). Mozzarella in carrozza kick things off: outrageously crunchy fried pillows of cheese and ’nduja, but you’ll want the artichoke alla guida too, that deep-fried feature dish of Rome’s Jewish community. A magical slab of ricotta is made fresh each morning and served simply dressed with olive oil, and slappy tubes of paccheri pasta partner with a kangaroo-tail ragu braised in red wine and stock, inspired by soul-warming oxtail stew coda alla vaccinara. The best bit? Unlike pop-up Don Peppino’s, Fontana is here for keeps.

133A Redfern Street, Redfern, clubfontana.com

and sacred heart imagery. An outpost of Rosa Cienfuegos’ Dulwich Hill tamaleria, this is a market stall at heart, brightly presented as an eat-in and takeaway cafe and Mexican deli. It’s also a mini masterclass in Mexican street eats, from soft little corn tacos of chicken tinga (the meat shredded into a sauce of chipotle chillies in adobo) to plump burritos of beans and cheese, and tamales of poblano pepper. Hands are the best cutlery for warm chicken empanadas and thin quesadillas enfolding crumbly pork. If you miss your chilli burn, apply the vibrant house-made green salsa verde or red salsa roja –and don’t forget it’s a deli, so you can buy them to take home as well. 129-133 Redfern Street, Redfern, mexicanfoodaustralia.com/itacate

L D Tue-Sat $

Kepos Street Kitchen

MIDDLE EASTERN

Sunny cafe with a seriously good Middle Eastern kitchen

During lockdowns, Michael Rantissi really nailed the sort of takeaway Israeli and Middle Eastern food we all needed to make us feel better, and

Fish burger with pickled cucumber and dill at Redfern’s Kepos Street Kitchen.

the sweet little front room of Kepos Street Kitchen is now lined with fridges of good things to take home. But queues still run out the door at lunchtime, and locals still flock here for good coffee and sit-down breakfasts of shakshuka baked eggs and spinach and ricotta bourekas. Lunch shape-shifts between the casual (a towering fish burger with pickled cucumber and loads of dill), to an elegant cigar of Moroccan spiced lamb with poached egg and goat’s cheese under a mountain of chervil. Herbs are never underused here – break open a Tel Aviv falafel and the inside is bright green with parsley. The halva “magnum” enrobed in Belgian couverture is as ridiculously good as it sounds.

96 Kepos Street, Redfern, keposstreetkitchen.com.au

B L daily $

La Salut CATALAN Spanish-style wine bar inside The Norfolk Hotel

Itacate & Mexican Deli MEXICAN

Mexican market stall disguised as a cafe and deli

Itacate’s tiled tables burst with primary colours, and a huge mural painted by Alexis Pepper Hernandez swirls with blue corn, serpents, cactus

This slick, buzzing boozer is the latest offering from the team behind Ragazzi and Love, Tilly Devine, who have transformed the former sports bar at the Norfolk with neutral-hued stone and voluptuous curved lines. Kick things off appropriately with vermouth or sherry (both have ample representation) and let everything else fall into place. Paleta Iberico, from the lesser-known front shoulder of the pig, is impressively nutty and complex while a just-set potato tortilla is offered with an optional caviar upgrade. There’s croquetas and other smaller drink-friendly bites plus larger plates including a classic chorizo and beans, or tender slices of lamb’s tongue dressed in a vibrant roast-capsicum asadillo. With an interesting drinks list well worth a deep dive, the residents of Redfern have a beaut new local for late afternoon snacks and more.

305 Cleveland Street, Redfern, barlasalut.com

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Lucky Kwong

CHINESE

Australian-Chinese canteen by one of the big names in the biz

This ain’t your average cafeteria. That much is clear in the well-preserved industrial bones, the soaring ceiling and evocative sculpture by artist Nell, suspended in mid-air. Mostly, however, it’s due to the commanding presence of Kylie Kwong and the clipped QR-code menu of modest staples such as stir-fried greens, sang choy bao and other memorable hallmarks from the AustralianChinese cooking legend’s long career. Dumplings are exquisite –thin-skinned, stuffed with prawns and spanner crab, and dunked in a kaleidoscopic Sichuan chilli dressing tingling with native bush mint. Homestyle fried eggs with vibrant yolks are as good as ever, too, spun into a brittle nest, sauced in XO and showered with spring onions. Hour-long bookings keep things tight, but for many of us, any time stoking Kwong’s vision of a richer dining landscape built on cultural exchange, community and collaboration is time well spent.

Locomotive Street, Eveleigh, luckykwong.com.au

Mrs Ding HUNANESE

Fiery Hunan home cooking sets a suburban strip alight.

From the metaphorical ashes of former Kensington stalwart Chairman Mao, loved by hatted chefs and students alike, this bright, modern eatery marks the restaurant return of Andrew Bao and the legendary home-style Hunan cooking of head chef Dingjun Li. Botany locals are loving the largesse – be it the portion size, or the hot, salty, sour, smoky punch that Li’s food packs. While flavours are often dialled up to 11, dishes are also beautifully balanced, from a mound of silky stir-fried eggplant glossed with black-bean sauce and fiery green chilli, to unctuous, melting, steamed five-spice pork belly, and a standout dish of broad beans and pork mince enlivened by the tang of preserved mustard leaves and, yes, more chilli. Best order another Tsingtao beer to cut your mouth some slack.

Shop 1-2, 1366 Botany Road, Botany, mrsding.com.au

L Thu-Sun D Tue-Sun $

Top: Spanish small plates are the way to go at La Salut bar in Redfern. Above: housemade burrata, charred baby corn, baby fennel and farro salad at Pino’s Vino e Cucina.

Pino’s Vino e Cucina ITALIAN

Some serious pasta credentials

You might expect a corner osteria in a quiet Alexandria street to be cheap, cheerful and perhaps a little cheesy. At Pino’s you would be right about the cheerful bit, as well as the cheesy, but only in the ingredient sense. Cheeses are ubiquitous at owner-chef Matteo Margiotta’s restaurant, from a thoughtful formaggi and salumi pizzicheria (grocery) selection, to a gloriously creamy sausage and cabbage risotto. Cheesy relief, should you desire it, is found in an al dente mafalde pasta with spanner crab, roasted cherry tomatoes and breadcrumbs; squid-ink malloreddus with a jumble of prawns; and charred octopus with crisp-fried potato. Locals adore this spot, so book in advance and it will be cheesy grins all round. 199 Lawrence Street, Alexandria, pinosvinoecucina.com.au

D Tue-Sun $$

Yan

MODERN ASIAN 15/20 Wok show amid residential hub

A flash of flame bursting from a wok heralds your arrival at this punchy Asian smokehouse, tucked into one of Wolli Creek’s apartment towers. A smoky ginger and lemon highball, and smoked banana prawn with garlicky soy, set the fiery mood as does an incendiary plate of fried squid dressed in a sticky hawker-style black-pepper sauce. Lamb ribs with coriander chimichurri and a pepperberrydusted beef short rib are heavy hitters on the list of fire-kissed mains, but the smoked chicken katsu with fruity Chinese barbecue sauce offers the most intriguing and rewarding take on the brief. Loyalists, of which there are many, know to leave room for dessert. Try the whole young coconut filled with coconut water jelly, topped with a tower of coconut-cream gelato. 19 Arncliffe Street, Wolli Creek, yanrestaurant.com.au

D Wed-Sat $$

South & South-West

Alphabet St

THAI

Beachside crowd-pleaser that loosens its Thai

This modern Thai eatery features an interior that’s as far from traditional Thai as Cronulla is from Bangkok. Pink walls and cute graphic-art pieces set the scene for flavour-bomb dishes that arrive at your table like rambunctious dinner guests – a fragrant, vivid crowd ready to party. Don’t miss the texture-fest of juicycrispy fried chicken in a soft bao bun or the double-bill of betel leaves starring grilled prawn and coconut, and tea-smoked trout with tomato relish. Meanwhile, chicken and prawn dumplings with sweetcorn are the right idea with a locally-brewed lager, and lamb shank is tender in a rich massaman curry. Chilli coconut margaritas are perfect sundowners, especially if you score a table on the balcony. Also at Sutherland. Shop 5, 8 The Kingsway, Cronulla, natalegrouprestaurants.com/ alphabet-st-cronulla

An Restaurant

VIETNAMESE

Pho-only empire with a focus on efficiency

12.45: Arrive at a spotlessly clean table set with chopsticks, sauces and napkin dispensers. 12.46: Choose one of nine beef pho noodle soups, or one of five chicken, and place your order. 12.47: Platter of fresh bean sprouts and leafy Asian herbs lands on the table. Then a massive amount of fresh chilli. Pot of tea, also. 12.48: Steaming bowls of pho arrive,

smelling sweetly of star anise and cardamom, and you become as one with your fellow devotees, adding fish sauce, squeezing lemon wedges and tearing leaves into the pure, clean-tasting broth. Pho topped with beef combination – rare beef, cooked beef, gelatinous beef tendon and raggedy bible tripe – is the most fun. 1.15pm: Pay (cash only), sigh deeply with satisfaction and head around the corner for an iced Vietnamese coffee. 27 Greenfield Parade, Bankstown, anrestaurant.com.au

B L D daily $

Ayam Bakar 7 Saudara

INDONESIAN

Converted fish and chip shop with home-style cooking

Ayam Bakar 7 Saudara, for the first time, can be confusing – it’s a converted fish and chip shop with most of the stripped-back interior intact. But that confusion disappears once you meet the wife-and-husband team at the helm. It’s strictly homestyle Indonesian cooking here, with the namesake dish (which means “grilled chicken”) involving tender, marinated pieces of chook thigh or breast, with a touch of kecap manis sweetness. Beef rendang is perfect with coconut rice, the giving parcels of beef tearing apart with the slightest touch of a fork. Tahu telor is a gently deep-fried tofu omelette with crisp edges drizzled in spicy-sweet sauce. Absolutely delicious. Tart and freshmade gado-gado – that peanutty salad of raw and blanched vegetables with tofu and tempeh – is also a treat, especially on hot summer days.

34 Penshurst Street, Penshurst L D Tue-Sun $

“Welcome to Vietnam, family dinner” proclaims the giant neongreen laminated menu. There are more than 90 dish options pictured, and choosing is all part of the delightful sensory overload at this cheery eatery where smoke from the charcoal grill billows across decorative rickshaws on the footpath. Head past the fish pond and into the dining room, strung with blinking fairy lights and vines, where families hunker over simmering steamboats brimming with periwinkles, cockles, pipis and mussels. Regional specialties and house favourites abound – mudfish claypot, golden whole chickens with sticky rice, betel-leaf parcels of juicy marinated beef and platters piled high with fresh herbs, salads, noodles and rice-paper rounds to wrap glistening charred pork. Sip on a fresh coconut to finish while kids squeal down slides in a Star Wars-themed play corner. Family fun at its best.

48 Canley Vale Road, Canley Vale L D Wed-Mon $

Hai Au Lang Nuong VIETNAMESE Sydney meets Saigon

Enjoy beach views and sea breezes at The Pines in Cronulla.

Phu Quoc

VIETNAMESE

Hands-on deliciousness at this lively favourite

Sure you’ve had spring rolls but have you tried cha gio? The Vietnamese spin is a textural riot that substitutes spring-roll skins for rice paper deepfried to a bubbled crunch. Wrap the golden batons in their accompanying lettuce with mint, perilla leaves and pickles, and dunk into nuoc cham as required. Glorious. Roll your own rice-paper rolls with chao tom –fluffy clouds of prawn paste grilled on sugarcane skewers (chew them afterwards for sweet salvation) – or get fully interactive by dipping sliced beef in vinegar broth on your own campfire stove. Not your style? Don’t worry, Phu Quoc has 165 dishes to choose from. Cosy up with a nourishing bowl of beef noodle soup, crunch your way through a fried noodle nest doused in saucy seafood or savour the classic com tam dac biet, marinated grilled pork chop with broken rice, fried egg, pork omelette and pickles.

Shop 11, 117 John Street, Cabramatta B L D daily $

The Pines

CONTEMPORARY

Outside might be barefoot, but inside it’s all indulgence

Beach vistas and sunshine pour good vibes all over the white-on-blonde dining room at this lovely coastal spot. Executive chef James Metcalfe delivers and adds a bit of luxury to the laidback surroundings, too. There’s beluga caviar to start, lobster tails topping a wagyu burger and oysters making a rock-star entrance on clouds of dry ice. Meatier highlights include Rangers Valley rib-eye dry-aged for four weeks and succulent glazed pork jowl with seared scallops and fennel puree. There’s abundant seafood and a vegan menu to boot. Service is gracious and deft while sommelier Noel Sorrenti is on hand for an engaging tour across the New and Old World wine list. Meanwhile, excellent cocktails ensure spirits are high.

Unit 1, 8-18 Kingsway, Cronulla, thepinescronulla.com.au

L D Wed-Sun $$

Left: a feast at Phu Quoc includes spring rolls and sugar cane prawns. Below: superb sushi has hit Ramsgate with the opening of Ren Ishii.

Queen Margherita of Savoy PIZZERIA

Certifiably authentic pizza in the Shire

Set foot in this spirited, snug little tavern, bright with fuchsia fairy lights, and the first thing you’ll notice is what’s written on the chalkboard: “Wood-fired. Handstretched. One size … please don’t ask for pineapple.” It’s an insight into owner and pizzaiolo Lee Carroll’s orthodox approach, which prides itself on premium ingredients and proper Neapolitan technique. Toasty, chewy bases freckled by open flames hold their own beneath traditional toppings: a salty combo of capers, olives and anchovies, say, or a sauce-less spread of fior di latte, crumbled pork sausage and roasted potato. There’s a tendency to season with gusto, but the delicate batter on a clutch of calamari fritti and righteously al dente rice inside crunchy ’nduja arancini prove the kitchen’s mettle in other ways. A solid case for carb-loading, with a spritz in hand.

Shop 9, 2 Surf Road, Cronulla, qmos.com.au

D Tue-Sun $

Ren Ishii

JAPANESE 15/20

The new neighbourhood sushi destination

Named for Lucy Liu’s character in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill , Ren Ishii is good news for Ramsgate and surrounds. Luke and Stephanie Phillips run a warm, friendly, modern Japanese restaurant with a cocktail bar inside, and street-side seating outside. Key to their offering is longserving sushi chef Yoshinori Fuchigami, whom the pair met when working at Rose Bay’s Catalina years ago. His nigiri is first-rate, and even the more contemporary dishes have

that moreish blend of acidity and richness. Kingfish crudo is tumbled with crisp nashi pear, seaweed and tobiko (flying-fish roe) in a sharp miso vinaigrette, and a tuna “taco” is a kaleidoscope of crunch and fun. Other dishes come from Luke Phillips – udon noodles richly sauced with braised wagyu, perhaps, and a terrific pile-up of salt-and-pepper quail under a cloud of finely cut spring onion.

29 Campbell Street, Ramsgate, renishii.com.au

Sun Ming

HONG KONG

Classics with fresh flair

Sun Ming lays claim to being one of Sydney’s original Hong Kong cafes – known as cha chaan tengs – and mixes old-world charm with modern Cantonese panache, evident through the combination of contemporary street art and traditional Chinese signage. Cha chaan tengs are known

for seafood and second-generation owner-chef David Chan excels at steamed and butterflied garlic king prawns that delicately pull apart from their shells. Pucks of lightly fried silken tofu served on a sizzling plate are delicious over rice, while the signature dish belongs to Chan’s grandmother – sticky rice with lap cheong sausage that’s smoky, savoury and sweet. Service is brisk, a la Hong Kong, but always friendly and happy to accommodate solo diners huddled over congee or large groups locked in for the restaurant’s other fan favourite: baked pork chops with cheese on top. 173a Forest Road, Hurstville, sunminghurstville.com.au

B L D daily $

Tan Viet Noodle House

VIETNAMESE

Value, quality and snappy service

Sticky-fingered toddlers cover themselves in shards of crisp chicken skin while folk in workwear inhale tomato rice with peppery cubes of

Most diners at Tan Viet Noodle House stick to beloved classics such as the signature juicy chicken with salty, crisp skin.

beef. An elderly couple dip crusty bread in hearty bo kho – beef stew thick, dark and fragrant with fresh basil – and later a chap orders takeaway egg noodles, informing staff he “knows the boss”. It’s a broad church dining here on any given day, but all are welcomed by brisk, friendly service and massive tabletop tea urns. Dishes exude freshness and the signature chicken is juicy under salty, moreish skin while the pork chop is a golden delight, its fattiness balanced by a liberal amount of lemongrass. Tables turn often with new diners, but everyone seems to stick to the same classics, all wonderfully messy, nourishing, salty and hot. Also at Eastwood and Haymarket.

100 John Street, Cabramatta, tanviet.com.au

B L D daily $

Tuong Lai

VIETNAMESE

Arcade eatery with many runs on the board

This small, buzzy jewel down an arcade regularly fills with chatting families, workers and friend groups sharing tea and pungent delicacies in generous serves. Sit at tables ready with oolong flasks and red condiment trays to order house special com tam dac biet, a glorious comfort dish of sweet, grilled pork chop topped with sunny-side-up fried egg, pork skin shreds, prawn and pork meatloaf and plump broken rice. Or join banh hoi chao tom’s fans that tear prawn paste chunks from sugar-cane sticks to pack in lettuce-wrapped parcels bulging with mint, bean sprouts and perilla leaves. Pho’s spicy cousin bun bo hue – rich beef noodle soup – is essential, as is the slurp-worthy udon broth with crab meat. Menus are in Vietnamese and English, but regulars order from memory, testament to this decades-old institution.

Shop 3, 66-68 John Street, Cabramatta

B L Thu-Tue $

Inner West

Abhi’s Indian Restaurant

INDIAN 15/20

Elegant institution for breaking naan with friends and family

A visit to this longtime suburban hero may well result in dreams of bread. Specifically, a silky, creamy, spiced aloo paratha that doesn’t just contain potato, but is somehow infused with it. There’s also the laccha paratha, all flaky, buttery, charred layers and a sublime foil for zippy Goa fish curry. More carbs? It would be silly not to. Masala dosa is another highlight, with crisp batter encasing a piquant spud-and-onion filling, and teamed with an inspired carrot pickle. Before that, however, the more gently flavoured blue-swimmer crab patties shouldn’t be missed. Abhi’s is consistently packed with families who have been celebrating occasions – or just the weekend – at the restaurant for more than 30 years. If owner-chef Kumar Mahadevan isn’t chatting with those regulars in the shiny, silver-walled dining room, he’s likely watching over a goldstandard lamb korma in the kitchen.

163 Concord Road, North Strathfield, abhisindian.com.au

L Tue-Fri, Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Ante

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20

Mood-lit bolthole for adventures

in food, sake and jazz

With audiophile and sake importer Matt Young at the helm, Ante is a leading example of the new style of bar-and-restaurant taking over Sydney – places where booze and food are considered with equal respect. Come to the sleek greyon-charcoal room for Young’s excellent jazz records and junmai sake recommendations; stay for Jemma Whiteman’s Japaneseinspired cooking full of concentrated flavour. Dairy cow marinated in koji, skewered and cooked over coals, say, shiso-flecked bonito crudo glossed with burnt honey and rhubarb, and a cricket-ball-sized kare pan holding minced beef (or maybe carrot) treated to Sri Lankan spices and deep-fried in thick batter. Crispy rice is energised with Turkish red pepper and a wispy katsuobushi plume, and there’s brown butter and cardamom madeleines to finish – perhaps with an “Umevardier” nightcap of Campari, rye and wood-aged umesh. Ante and Newtown are very much on the up.

146 King Street, Newtown, ante.bar L Sat-Sun D Thu-Sun $$

Left: Abhi’s tangy-sweet beef ambotik curry. Below: the busy warehouse dining room at Baba’s Place.

Apandim Uyghur Restaurant UIGHUR

A feast of lamb pies, hand-pulled noodles and big-plate chicken

If there’s one pie you need to meet in this life, it’s the goshnan – a bundle of lamb, onion and cumin encased in homemade pastry then pan-fried to a bubbled crisp. Daub it with the chilli sauce available on each table at this Burwood favourite and you’ll wonder what took you so long to be acquainted. Arrive hungry for Apandim, which is often busy with expats and locals chatting over plates of chewy lagman hand-pulled noodles and giant metal skewers of lamb fragrant with more cumin. Toho qordah, or big-plate chicken, is no exaggeration. It’s a massive serve of saucy-spiced chook, potatoes, capsicum and wide noodles that’s true Xinjiang comfort food. Stir-fried lamb tripe is also terrific, as is a traditional jasmine iced tea, filled with edible goji berries, golden raisins and dried dates.

189 Burwood Road, Burwood, apandim-uyghur-restaurant. business.site

L D daily $ (cash only)

Baba’s Place

MIDDLE EASTERN

Borderless cooking in a fun, backstreet warehouse

When multiple cuisines are on the same menu it’s often a signal to run, but borderless cooking is exactly the intention at this backstreet warehouse decked out to look like a ’70s suburban home. Baba’s isn’t interested in Mediterraneanstyle small plates – it wants to showcase the food shared by migrant communities in Lidcombe, Greenacre, Chullora and beyond. Yoghurt made with a 400-year-old culture direct from Lebanon is topped with chickpeas and almonds, and drizzled with garlic-chive oil. Tarama on toast uses the sweetness of Japanese milk bread to temper

salty bottarga. Meanwhile, a shishinspired swordfish skewer is packed with the essence of charcoal, and “bouillabaisse bolognese” is a fun play on Shanghai noodles starring fork-tender lamb enhanced with house-made XO bolstered by prawn and bacon. This is food that has adapted, as people do, to generational change.

20 Sloane Street, Marrickville, babasplace.com.au

L Sat D Thu-Sat $$

Bar Louise

SPANISH 15/20

Instant tapas party, whether you’re upstairs or down

The 1950s lurid pink-and-purple facade of the Marie-Louise hair salon still stands out a mile on Enmore Road. But look a little closer – it now reads Marie Louise Salon de Tapas, home to a new Spanish tapas bar from the Porteno team. It’s an instant party in the downstairs bar and upstairs dining room, as trays of sangria, platters of freshly sliced jamon and skewers of gildas (olive, anchovy and wrinkly guindilla pepper) are ferried to tables. Head chef Marcelo Munoz takes all your tapas favourites and ramps up the flavour. Mussels escabeche float in spicy prawn oil; peppers and eggplant are grilled into a fruity escalivada; and sweet, dark, housemade morcilla comes with fried egg, peas and mint. It’s loud and fast and before you know it, you’re back on the street, reeling from the flavours, aromas and noise.

135 Enmore Road, Enmore, barlouise. com.au, barlouise.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Mon-Fri $$

Bella Brutta

PIZZERIA

Rocking wood-fired Italian for the Newtown pizzerati

There’s pizza and then there’s Bella Brutta pizza: big wood-fired brutes of slow-leavened sourdough judiciously topped with acidic

Devilled eggs at Newtown’s Cafe Paci.

tomato sugo, mozzarella and basil, or clams with fermented chilli, or LP’s pork and fennel sausage. The LP in this instance is Luke Powell, quality smallgoods manufacturer, former Tetsuya’s head chef and Bella Brutta owner. The menu is tight, with a list of pizze and a few well considered share plates such as moreish little mortadella croquettes, and stubby wood-roasted leeks under a scattering of soft egg, chopped anchovy and capers in a beguiling vinaigrette. It’s a good, neighbourly place to be for a let’s-do-pizza night, glass of natural wine in hand, either at the marble counter or on the long banquette that runs down the skinny, zincgrey space. As for dessert, there’s cannoli, and then there’s Bella Brutta cannoli, crunching and oozing with zesty ricotta.

135 King Street, Newtown, bellabrutta.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Tue-Sun $

Cafe Paci

CONTEMPORARY 16/20

Wine bar clothes

with restaurant bones

Cafe Paci might front as a wine bar, but this isn’t your regular casual purveyor of drinks and snacks. Led by chef Pasi Petanen, there’s layers of thought and flavour behind even the most seemingly simple preparations.

Take the bread, which folds potato through a rye base, adds caraway for depth and finishes with a sweetsticky molasses glaze. Or silkysmooth potato “dumplings” (aka gnocchi) sauced with a rubbly trout XO. The kitchen shines new light on artichokes, shredding raw hearts into a salad with comte and anchovy, and the care and attention in an octopus and potato dish means both hit their ideal textures. Specials might extend to meaty kingfish wings slicked in adobo or black-garlic roasted chicken. Service is chirpy, the drinks list rolls sake and smashable wines together, and the room remains as polished and buzzing as ever.

A quiet riot.

131 King Street, Newtown, cafepaci.com.au

L Sat D Mon-Sat $$

Cairo Takeaway

EGYPTIAN

The backstreets of Cairo brought to life on Enmore Road

Great food writer Claudia Roden believes the best falafel is made in Egypt, where chickpeas are swapped with broad beans for a lighter, creamier interior. Order the falafel from this Enmore mainstay and you’ll likely end up agreeing. Freckled with toasted sesame seeds, they’re satisfyingly crisp, and when served as part of the mixed vegetarian plate, the herby pucks are paired with eggah (baked parsley and onion omelette), charred cauliflower, pickled vegetables, soft pita and hummus. The koshari is a must, a nest of golden-fried onions on bright tomato and garlic salsa, chickpeas, lentils

and ditalini pasta. Share dishes with friends over a BYO bottle if you’re early enough to score a table in the low-lit dining room or courtyard. The popular little restaurant, with all of its casual Cairo charm, is counter service only and doesn’t take bookings.

81 Enmore Road, Enmore, cairotakeaway.com

L D daily $

Colombo Social SRI

LANKAN

Soulful cooking with a conscience

Genuine hospitality is found in spades at this social enterprise kitchen dedicated to the employment and training of asylum seekers. Step in from the concrete chaos of Enmore Road for a smiling, seamless dining experience that pays tribute to the Sri Lankan home cooking of co-founder Shaun Christie-David’s childhood. Towers of terracotta pots and white-washed wood transport you to the streets of Colombo, where kottu rotti is a staple – comforting and colourful bowls of chopped roti bread, green vegetables and gravy. Slow-cooked goat curry is fiery and rich, with meat so tender you can slice it with a spoon. The highlight

Below left: hawawshi, spiced mince flatbread, from Cairo Takeaway. Below right: Continental Deli Bar and Bistro.

is surely crunchy soft-shell crab, enveloped in soft roti tacos and punctuated with vibrant, papaya salsa – but don’t skimp on the sides such as featherweight hoppers and punchy sambols, either.

159 Enmore Road, Enmore, colombosocial.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sun $

Comeco Foods

JAPANESE

Japanese gem that expertly subtracts gluten and meat from the menu

Comeco Foods might be Sydney’s most welcoming cafe. The Japanese eatery’s vegan and gluten-free menu of sushi, curry and tempura sets plus desserts means that everyone – coeliacs, pregnant women craving sushi, diners avoiding pork for religious reasons, guests with shellfish allergies – can safely dine here. Coowner Yu Ozone even grinds organic rice flour for the cafe’s sourdough doughnuts to limit potential contamination for sensitive diners. This care is inspired by her own dairy, egg and gluten allergies, and she has spent six years honing a tempura batter that’s miraculously free of dairy and egg. Ozone reworked her shokupan bread recipe more than 100 times and the matcha gelato took a year to perfect, and features a blend of three types of green tea. You notice the precision in everything at this feels-like-Tokyo cafe, from summer

vegetable tempura with matcha salt to the 11-vegetable curry blend.

524A King Street, Newtown, comecofoods.com.au

L Tues-Sun $

Continental Deli Bar & Bistro

EUROPEAN 15/20

Friendly diner with class

and sensibility

The ever popular ground floor bar at Newtown’s slickest delicatessen is thick with the relaxed vibes of a local drinking hole, while upstairs (now with beaut new red-and-white striped wallpaper) has you sorted for longer dinners and larger groups. It’s more or less mandatory to order the cheese and charcuterie plate, a perfect sampler of mortadella, saucisson, cloth-bound cheddar and comte.

Tinned martinis are also par for the course, or even the best Ramos Gin Fizz in town. Next comes excellent pasta: casarecce with pumpkin and mushroom ragout, perhaps, walking the line between savoury and sweet. Grilled rib-eye cap with confit eschallot jus and charred shishito peppers is great mates with gratin Dauphinois, featuring just-right layers of potato, cream and cheese. Meanwhile, the rhum baba, much like Continental itself, is still essential after seven years of delicious service.

210 Australia Street, Newtown, continentaldelicatessen.com.au

L D daily $$

Eaton Chinese Restaurant

CHINESE

Top spot for late-night lobster

Here there just might be an answer to the late-night XO pipi problem Sydneysiders have faced since Golden Century shut up shop. Pulled live from the tank, inspected tableside and quickly wok-tossed with your choice of sauce, Eaton’s version is definitely up there with the best. It’s easy to see why this inconspicuous neighbourhood restaurant, partitioned from bustling Liverpool Road by a facade of hazy fish tanks, has such a cult following with locals and Sydney chefs. Freshly shucked deep fried oysters will have “natural only” bivalve purists swallowing their pride. They’re crisp, vibrant and bursting with briny deliciousness. There are spring rolls, of course, special fried rice, Shandong chicken and a host of the usual suspects, done well. But really, it’s all about the live seafood, so save your pennies and splurge on ginger shallot lobster.

313 Liverpool Road, Ashfield D daily $$

Emma’s Snack Bar

LEBANESE

it’s madness and mayhem when full – and it’s always full, partly because it makes vegetarians feel just as at home as meat-eaters. Tables are small, water is self-service, wines are listed as “floral and friendly” or “ripe and fleshy” and there’s a constant stream of takeaway going out the window. But their promise of “just good fresh Lebanese food” is as true today as ever, translating as thick and creamy hummus with a pile of flatbread, long filo cigars of minced lamb known as ladies’ fingers, crunchy fattoush salad and a house special of Moorish chicken – a big roll of flatbread filled with chargrilled, marinated thighs. Just good fresh Lebanese food? That’s about right.

59 Liberty Street, Enmore, emmassnackbar.com.au

D Tue-Sat $

The Fold

SRI LANKAN

A neighbourhood Sri Lankan eatery with major pastry chops

Gigi Pizzeria

PIZZERIA

Special pizzas worth the wait

Plant-based since 2015, this low-lit institution bakes magnificently stone-roasted pizzas from a swanky Naples-built oven, parked like a glowing soothsayer of top-notch crust. Start with chubby chilli-flecked olives and crunchy potato croquettes before surrendering to a perfectly crisp, chewy and blistered marinara, certified by Italy’s keepers of the dough, the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. Don’t miss the patate pizza, a golden, garlic-infused disc of rosemary and black truffle paste-boosted spud, or the calzone con cavolo, plump with nuttily sweet cauliflower puree. Bring some mates to add funghi e radicchio pizza, festooned with Swiss brown mushroom and tangy, dairy-free blue cheese, and don’t miss the torta all’arancia – orange-soaked almond and polenta sponge with candied peel. Queues are lengthy, the music is loud and service is brisk, but Gigi’s pizza heals all. 379 King Street, Newtown, gigipizzeria.com.au

L Sat-Sun D daily $

Left: radicchio pizza at Gigi Pizzeria. Below: Moorish chicken at Emma’s Snack Bar.

House-party

with food and drink aplenty

In 1970, Lebanese immigrants George and Emma Sofy opened a “mixed business” corner store in Enmore. Now run by son Anthony,

This family-run restaurant was supposed to be a cafe-bakery, helmed by a trio of pastry chefs with serious credentials including Franca Brasserie and Sixpenny. But then, you know – lockdowns, pivots and all that. So family patriarch Augi De Hoedt put on an apron and Dulwich Hill was bestowed the gift of brunch hoppers (steamed fermented rice bowls). Go for the signature appaappa, with two plain hoppers and a runny egg version, laid out with three types of fiery sambal. The morning baked goods have garnered a cult following, however the BYO dinners are also brilliant, featuring traditional curries and a strong vegetarian showing – the signature kottu-kottu of sliced roti tossed with egg, veg and spices is a sensation. Dessert is nonnegotiable, naturally, particularly the Lankan millefeuille with long flaky planks of pastry, creamy buffalo curd and smoky treacle. Heaven. 402 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill, thefoldsrilankan.com.au

B L Wed-Mon D Thu-Sat $$

Glebe Point Diner

CONTEMPORARY

A local institution that still hits the high notes

In a city that adores all things flashy and new, a restaurant that’s still a favourite after 15 years deserves applause. This neighbourhood diner has aged enviably well, staying true to the ethos of relaxed, simple and elegant Australian-European food that has long been its calling card. Alex Kearns is the owner and chef, and responsible for juicy king prawns bathed in brown butter and punctuated with crisp-fried curry leaves and capers, and curves of orecchiette resplendent in a fresh, bright broccoli puree with crumbly salsiccia sausage and parmesan. The reliable crowd-pleasers remain – grass-fed rib-eye with Sydney’s best onion rings, and the dessert double-down of chocolate mousse with salted chocolate sauce – along with attentive service and a solid lineup of French, Italian and Australian wines. Long may GPD live. 407 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, glebepointdiner.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Mon-Sat $$

Hansang

KOREAN

Broth and hotpot favourite with monster-sized portions

Could this casual Strathfield eatery be home to the city’s best soup? Big call, sure, but not as big as Hansang’s two enormous vats of 72-hour bone broth simmering behind a glass display. Belly-warming comfort and occasionally confounding portion sizes ($38 plate of fried chicken, we’re looking at you) beckon repeat visits to the industrial space – although be prepared for a short wait for a table. Vibrant bibimbap and spicy pork-neck hotpot is reward enough, even before you factor in the dizzying procession of accompaniments – rice bowls and banchan galore. Chicken and ginseng soup restores body and spirit, a kimchi pancake

is delightfully crisp, and the stone pots are Korean cooking at its most nourishing. But at the end of the day, it’s still all about the oxtail soup with unctuous, milky sagol-gukmul broth. Truly a thing of beauty.

Shop 2, 8-14 Lyons Street, Strathfield, hansangsydney.com.au

L D daily $

Kindred

ITALIAN 15/20

Generously portioned comfort food that’s easy to love

One thick slice of the superlative house-baked sourdough is all you’ll need to understand why the fan base at this cabin-like neighbourhood mainstay keeps on growing. It becomes even clearer when pastas hit the table: slick tagliatelle tossed through righteously reduced beefheel ragu, for instance, or neatly cut celeriac ravioli slathered in a lemony, butter-rich sauce with added crunch thanks to fioretto and pepitas. They are very much the drawcard – and rightfully so – but even the supporting players thoughtfully balance texture, fat and acid with nods to what’s in season. A simple smoked-trout dip is perked up with pickled fennel, salsa verde and tomato vinaigrette, while vincotto calibrates the sweetness of heirloom carrots and golden beetroot tucked between fluffy curds of stracciatella. You’ll walk out wishing more inner-city restaurants

Below: Malay Chinese Takeaway’s chicken laksa.

Bottom: Lotus Dumpling Bar in Summer Hill.

focused on familiar pleasures made from scratch.

137 Cleveland Street, Darlington, kindredrestaurant.com.au

L Fri-Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Little Lagos

NIGERIAN

African beats, bouncy cocktails and funky flavours to match

So, Enmore Road is Sydney’s hottest street right now, according to the local press. It may well be too, and Little Lagos is one of the most popular newcomers of the past two years.

Owner Adi Adeniyi holds court at his packed-out diner, pumping music to an energised crowd – from students to families and everyone in between. Start perhaps with suya – snacky spiced beef or chicken strips – and a Kenyan lager to ride shotgun. Every table has jollof, Nigeria’s “world famous long-grain basmati rice” flavoured with tomato, onion, capsicum and chilli, to go with sweet fried plantains and a goat or chicken stew. More adventurous is ila asepo – a gluey, soupy puddle of fine-diced okra, simmered with ox leg, skin and tripe. Fufu, that sticky West African staple of pounded yam, is an essential side.

125 Enmore Road, Newtown, alittlelagos.com

Lotus Dumpling Bar

CHINESE

Modern Chinese eatery making wine a highlight

Some restaurants deliver exactly what you expect, and some just tick that extra box. This contemporary Asian diner from the Lotus Group is a box-ticker. With its bare ash tables, monochrome tiled floor and mirrored walls, it’s a smarter fit-out than it has to be. The pork xiao long

bao soup dumplings are textbook, the signature steamed jade prawn dumplings are a colourful take on har gau, and bird’s nest pot-stickers come steamed and then fried into a lacework of crispness. And how many dumpling bars go full-on truffle in season? Or have a wine list with so many craft beers and wonton-friendly rieslings? Chefs Chris Tsao and Steve Wu elevate simple dishes into something more considered, from glossy tea-smoked duck breast (with plenty of pinot options to match) to slow-cooked beef spare ribs. Extra boxes ticked and then some.

26 Lackey Street, Summer Hill, lotusdininggroup.com

L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Lucky Prawn CHINESE

A lazy susan spin of cold beer and kitsch

This throwback suburban Chinese eatery might be Marrickville’s most popular restaurant since the tennis club began offering Portuguese. Part of Hawke’s Brewing Co’s massive new taproom, the Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre (also home to a memorabilia room dedicated to Australia’s most dinky-di PM), Lucky Prawn is a celebration of golden-fried prawn toast, sizzling beef, spring rolls and nostalgia. A “Chinese Meals” sign is handpainted in a way that says “come in, we have sweet and sour pork”, nicely balanced with pineapple juice and soy, too. Crab omelette is yolky and lacy in all the right places and steamed prawn har gau dumplings have the requisite amount of bounce. We also love the bar menu of snackable highlights to be enjoyed around the pool table, crisp lager in hand. Nothing like a few hot-and-numbing chicken wings and Midnight Oil to welcome the weekend.

8-12 Sydney Street, Marrickville, hawkesbrewing.com/beerandleisure

Maiz Mexican Street Food MEXICAN

Elevated new era for a tostada-slinging favourite

Step inside the old courtyard with its lush greenery, ornate ironwork and ambient lighting, and you’re suddenly transported from Newtown’s vegan mile to an al fresco dinner party in Mexico. On warm evenings a retractable roof opens to the stars, a feature best appreciated with an icy pulque cocktail on the balcony. Maiz is on an upward trajectory, having evolved from market stall, to brunch offering, to impressive dining experience. Food remains rooted in tradition, but flavours and presentation are amplified. Aguachile is bright and punchy, a tidy bed of Ulladulla swordfish bejewelled with citrus and radish immersed in deep raspberry and hibiscus leche de tigre. Soft, hand-pressed tortillas brim with silky confit duck, rich with a cacao and macadamia mole. Hits keep coming with meticulously crafted desserts, too – sweetcorn sponge cake with fermented strawberries is a standout.

415 King Street, Newtown, maizstreetfood.com

D Tue-Sat $$

Malay Chinese Takeaway

MALAYSIAN

A CBD laksa icon makes its way to the suburbs

Above: Lucky Prawn is a celebration of old-school Chinese food. Below: hotpot at Hansang.

Get in early or join the line snaking down Liverpool Road most nights –the laksa here is complex, spicy and incredibly popular. In a city where laksa prowess is keenly competitive, this fragrant soup is up there with the best of them, but consider exploring the rest of the menu, too. Char kway teow embodies the spirit of a Penang street stall with its hearty scramble of soy-stained thick noodles loaded with Chinese sausage, chicken, egg, sprouts and a healthy dose of wok hei. A commendable paired-back chicken rice comes silky and just set, served room temperature with a generous portion of aromatic broth. (Opt for a thigh portion if given the option.) The menu is small and there’s no alcohol licence as we go to press, but if you’re after a fast, genuine flavour fix, Malay Chinese is your best friend.

205 Liverpool Road, Ashfield, malaychinese.com.au

D Tue-Sun $

Naija Jollof

NIGERIAN

Cosy BYO diner offering West African staples

At Naija Jollof you will face a dilemma and the rules are thus: guests may choose four generous portions per regular serving but on any given day there will be many more than four enticing options, plus a few specials. The answer? Call your mates, fill your plates and get sharing. Odds are, you’ll find the eponymous jollof rice in the house, all smoky richness and heat, as well as a warming red beef stew and salty-sweet fried plantains. Things get tough though when the rotating list of other players might include a nutty egusi soup made with melon seeds; tangy peanut stew, and crisp-skinned chicken Maryland pieces with red chilli sauce. Perhaps, also, spinach laden efo riro soup, and if you’re really lucky, morsels of goat stewed in a supercharged house-made spice blend. Big flavours, big fun. Assemble your crew.

205 Enmore Road, Enmore D daily $

No 92

MODERN MEXICAN

Charming wine bar with innovative Mexican riffs

Mexican-born chef Alejandro Huerta transforms tacos into intricate works of art composed of unconventional ingredients at this ambitious bar and restaurant. Black-bean XO adds depth to charred fioretto blossoms, while crumbed snapper is kicked up with purple shiso and gochujang mayonnaise. A freshly pressed “ceremonial” taco emerges from tie-dyed purple cloth with a fiery stamp, almost too pretty to pair with a medley of juicy mushrooms and creamy red mole. It all starts to make sense when you find out Huerta spent time at boundary-pushing Copenhagen restaurant Noma. The new menu is a departure from the restaurant’s former snack-based

offerings, signalling a focal shift from wine bar to dining destination. It has been well received too. The charming Victorian Georgian building is packed on Sundays as groups explore the bottomless brunch, sharing setmenu (a la carte is also available) and extensive wine list.

92 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, no92gpr.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Odd Culture Newtown CONTEMPORARY 15/20

For lovers of all things delicious and fermented

It was a sad day when Newtown institution Happy Chef was engulfed by flames in late 2018. Fast-forward four years, however, and it’s a more cheerful story at the site, with this cafe-restaurant-bar hybrid delivering modern bohemian vibes and odes to the art of fermentation. Signage from the old noodle eatery looks over a hulking timber bar spruiking natural-leaning wines, rotating wild-ale beers and seasonal cocktails with fermented fruit sodas. Snacks and share plates continue the funk: rounds of cucumber atop whipped preserved tofu with salted fermented chilli, sardines on toast with sambal, and a next-level umami-boosted chicken roasted with koji for

maximum tenderness (and served with chook-fat-enriched congee, no less). Brunch fanciers should make a date for the tonkatsu sauceloaded bacon butty, while natural wine boffins can visit Odd Culture’s (almost) next-door bottleshop and bring the party home.

266 King Street, Newtown, oddculture.group/venue/ odd-culture-newtown

B L D daily $$

One Penny Red

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Dependable favourite for wine lovers and locals

The One Penny team has been running a tight ship at the old Summer Hill Post Office for the best half of a decade now and the enthusiasm is still palpable. It’s a tried and tested formula – communal, unpretentious and flexible with small tweaks and seasonal influences weaving in and out of a menu built around favourites. Starters are fresh and fragrant, such as cobia crudo spiked with horseradish and fennel seeds, or shaved and house-smoked pork neck with pepperberry, apple and shards of crackling. It’s hard to bypass communal classics –especially wood-roasted chicken with a side of the kitchen’s famous crisp-edged spuds – and the whole package is ideal for sharing a couple of decent bottles among friends.

It’s a sentiment obviously shared by past diners, whose empties line the window sills, a testament to the popularity of semi-regular “raid your cellar” nights.

2 Moonbie Street, Summer Hill, onepennyred.com.au

L Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Osteria di Russo & Russo

ITALIAN Old-school Italian hospitality with new talent in the kitchen

Run by father-and-son team Pino and Marc Russo, this mood-lit trattoria has been delighting

The Peruvian taberna experience at Pepito’s.

inner-westies with modern Italian cooking, cracking wine and vintage paraphernalia for the past nine years. It’s become as much a part of Enmore Road as hair-extension shops and gig posters, and with new chef Jowoon Oh introducing more fermented flavours, we’re excited to see R&R evolving. House-made linguine is rich with bug meat and salumibased XO; macaroni bounces about with pork sausage, mortadella and kimchi salsa verde, and bluefin tuna carpaccio is dressed with cumquat vinegar. Fat strands of sourdough pici veer more towards tradition with a wagyu-shin ragu demanding another glass of chianti, while grilled and rosy duck breast is lifted by bittersweet muntries and pomegranate. Finish with arancello liqueur made by patriarch Pino and give a cin-cin to the friendly floor team.

158 Enmore Road, Enmore, russoandrusso.net.au L Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Pepito’s PERUVIAN

Live bands and food that packs a punch

A punk-rock band gets the party started every second Wednesday at this local favourite, providing an appropriately punchy soundtrack to the in-your-face flavours coming out of the kitchen. Pull up a blue vinyl chair, order a shot of pisco and lean into the Peruvian taberna experience. Staff are smiling and eager to help, and will likely implore you to try the ceviche with leche de tigre. Do so. It’s an explosion of tastes and textures, brimming with zesty kingfish and topped with fried calamari and toasted corn. Follow it with a pan con pescado, a fiery, fried fish “sanguche” packed with pickles and a Japaneseinspired nikkei aioli. Dessert is a sweet, milk-laden tres leches cake served in a martini glass – a toast to an evening well spent.

276 Illawarra Road, Marrickville, pepitos.com.au

CANTONESE 15/20

Chinese banquets atop a rooftop terrace

This didn’t come from us but if finances (or time) are tight, order a generous plate of Queen Chow’s fried rice – lush with cuttlefish, char siu and sweetcorn and topped for $6 more with a garlicky “typhoon shelter” – plus a glass of pinot gris, and all will be well. Otherwise strap yourself in for prawn toast with chilli bean mayo, dim sum platters (steamed or fried, cholesterol depending), spicy kung pao chicken sang choy bao, and market fish with ginger shallot and white soy. Updated Cantonese favourites rarely get much better and combined with a thoughtfully curated drinks list, including plenty of non-alcoholic options, this is a highly reliable night out. Friendly service and plenty of care over dietaries only add to this glam diner’s appeal.

Level 1, 167 Enmore Road, Enmore, merivale.com/venues/queenchow

L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Above: dining at Queen Chow. Below: warming bowl of goodness at Rising Sun Workshop.

Rising Sun Workshop

MODERN ASIAN 15/20

A full-throttle eatery parked above a motorbike repair shop

There’s nothing idle about this Newtown institution where seats at the shared tables are in high demand from morning ’til late. Dishes are as finely tuned as the bikes downstairs, particularly at dinner when a concise skewer of charcoal-licked abalone rests in swoony liver butter, and a plate of steamed spring vegetables is revved up by a luminous laksa sauce. Chef Nick Smith wields diverse flavours with incisive harmony, epitomised in a plate of ouzo-braised fennel dotted with coarse kalamata tapenade, resting on silken tofu and soy “cream”; and while the ramen that draws crowds throughout the day is absent at dinner, its spirit remains in the ramen butter topping Cape Grim bavette. With liquid fuel courtesy of an all-Australian list of spirits, beers and natural-leaning wines, plus sharp, friendly service, Rising Sun isn’t just a neighbourhood favourite, it’s an essential Sydney experience.

1C Whateley Street, Newtown, risingsunworkshop.com

B L daily D Thu-Sat $$

Queen Chow

Shanghai Night

CHINESE

No-frills favourite dishes up the classics

In a row of restaurants serving almost identical dishes to jam-packed dining rooms every night of the week, competition is fierce but New Shanghai stands out. It’s the oldest and most down-to-earth, sporting a mash-up of decorative wall hangings from Aussie Impressionist prints, to a homage to Lyonnaise dining and a sun-bleached unicorn poster. It’s kooky, surreal and perfect. But of course, everyone’s here to fuel up on Shanghainese favourites including the super-popular xiao long bao (the soup dumplings are literally on every table). They’re plump, loaded with flavour and might just have a few more pleats than the neighbours’, but who’s counting? Keep the starch and umami-fuelled good times going with luscious rice cake in XO, or to really experience 30 years of wok hei, go straight for simple vegetable sides such as stir-fried Chinese broccoli with garlic.

275 Liverpool Road, Ashfield

L D daily $

Sixpenny

CONTEMPORARY 18/20

Refined, sustainable comfort leads the way to tomorrow

Food rich with style and substance has long been a trademark of this disarming fine-diner where couples have celebrated special occasions for more than a decade. An incongruous brick corner site is part of the charm, too, with a dining room of quiet grace and radiant timbers hidden behind sheer curtains. Head chef Tony Schifilliti has joined the kitchen with co-owner Dan Puskas and flavour built on fermentation is key to a seven-course set menu. Black garlic miso adding a gently sour undercurrent to braised borlotti beans, say, topped with sashimigrade paradise prawn and curls of house-made bottarga. Pan-fried

Murray cod is weaponised with a midnight-black sauce of squid offcuts, while the “better” parts of the cephalopod are spooned with frothy koji butter on discs of broccolini fragrant with green garlic. After 10 years of smart cooking rooted in age-old techniques, Sixpenny is just getting started.

83 Percival Road, Stanmore, sixpenny.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sat $$$

Sydney Cebu Lechon FILIPINO

A feast of lechon roast pork, island-style

Sink your teeth into the four-hour charcoal-roasted pig and you’ll know exactly why this humble eatery is so popular. The secret is the seasoning, a bouquet of lemongrass, shallots, star anise and garlic rolled up in free-range boneless pork. It’s aromatic, succulent and topped off with glassy crackling that crunches in all the right places. Decked out like a buzzing street stall, the menu here is correspondingly short and sweet. Lechon is a must, with an upgrade to fragrant garlic rice. Pinakbet, a comforting stew of eggplant, snake bean, okra and pumpkin amped up with shrimp paste, ticks your daily vegie-quota box. Check the blackboard for specials such as sticky barbecue pork skewers and garlicky, skinless longganisa pork snags. For dessert, grab a tub of small batch ice-cream – from dark chocolate to purple yam to cheese milk – from the freezer.

Shop 4, 80-80A Enmore Road, Newtown, sydneycebulechon.com.au

L D Sat-Sun $

Totti’s Rozelle

ITALIAN

A fun-time family bash through regional Italy

When Totti’s opened in 2018 at Merivale’s Royal Hotel in Bondi, it was an immediate hit thanks to chef Mike Eggert’s relaxed cooking and

Below: charcoal-roast pork from Sydney Cebu Lechon.

a courtyard engineered for rosé in the sun. A CBD version launched in 2020, and now we have a Rozelle outpost at the Three Weeds pub. The old boozer has been transformed into a sweeping white-washed space framed by wicker baskets, wine bottles and ornate bowls of lemons. Locals can’t get enough of the place and its signature puffy bread, made for swiping through burrata and topping with cheerful cherry tomatoes. Springy spaghetti chitarra with clams, garlic and chilli is terrific, and other favourites include buttery sirloin on the bone and thumbthick pork schnitzel sharpened with parmesan, capers and flash-fried sage. Adults finish with amaro while kids get messy with banana splits. This is how family dining is done.

197 Evans Street, Rozelle, merivale. com/venues/tottis-rozelle

L D daily $$

VN Street Foods

VIETNAMESE

Fast dining full of flavour

Fresh ingredients, bright flavours and generous portions are all part of the charm at this street-style Vietnamese diner. In summer, an icy coconut drink with delicate rice-paper rolls is your go-to speedy supper. In winter, it’s steamy, aromatic pho and soupy bowls of unctuous bun cha (pork meatballs). Huge banana leaf platters are excellent all-season value, strewn with snowy threads of vermicelli or sticky rice, tender herbs and your choice of protein (crisp golden chicken or beef rolled into peppery betel-leaf cigars are our picks). Stuck on what to order? Build your own “bento box”, a bargain at $14, or make like a regular and go for the deeply flavoured fried pork sausage. If your knees have previously struggled with its squat stools, the good news is VN recently took over the space next door, complete with regular chairs and tables. 294-296 Illawarra Road, Marrickville, vnstreetfoods.com.au

Westwood Pizza

PIZZERIA

New-school pizzeria where Australian produce shines

The phone starts ringing at this hip hole-in-the-wall two hours before opening, as customers scramble to secure one of just 150 pizzas available each night. Pre-orders are timed to the minute, ensuring each pizza emerges fresh from the wood-fired oven with the cheese lightly golden and a sourdough crust freckled with charred blisters. Heritage flour and a leisurely, three-day ferment create delicate and flavoursome bases; toppings are simple but elevated, with a focus on Australian produce. Creamy ricotta softens the heat of a punchy ’nduja pizza, while the margherita balances sweet tomato sauce against the subtle bitterness of the base. These pies are best eaten fast, folded and inhaled as you perch on one of the few wooden stools. Don’t skip the salad: seasonal options such as cos lettuce, wood-fired grapes and pecorino brighten the meal with crunch and acidity.

245 Australia Street, Newtown, westwoodpizza.com.au

D Wed-Sun $

Yang’s Dumpling Restaurant CHINESE

Casual next-level Shanghai-style dumplings

Clockwise from above: Totti’s Rozelle; pizza at Westwood; Sixpenny’s mead-vinegar custard with frozen raspberries and strawberry consomme.

It may be on a quieter strip of Burwood’s thriving Chinatown, but seek out Yang’s neon-pink sign and you’ll find some of the city’s best dumplings. With just a handful of tables and casual takeaway vibes, dumplings here arrive soft, translucent and plump, filled with glistening prawn or minced pork, and in the case of the popular crispbottomed sheng jian bao, a punchy pork-bone broth that always finds a way to spurt on your chin. There’s a magic to the theatre of chefs rolling and folding dough behind glass while a TV pumps ’90s pop tunes and happy diners hunker over bowls. Join them and scoff fluffy sweet-savoury mushroom buns, curried-beef soups and deep-fried coconut rolls. Wash everything down with Tsingtao or green tea and leave a little plumper. Shop 9, 11-15 Deane Street, Burwood, yangs-dumpling-au.business.site

L D daily $

West & North-West

Bayti

LEBANESE

Polished but relaxed family-run spot with an epic set menu

Siblings Priscilla and Najee Khouzame launched their family’s first restaurant in 2019 with skills gleaned from their Lebanese parents’ esteemed catering business. The room – featuring marble, terrazzo and leather – looks the part and the set banquet is informed by Australia, Lebanon and, clearly, good taste. This starts with mezze. To your left, roasted spatchcock dusted in fragrant zaatar and served with garlicky toum. Next to it, gently smoky baba ghanoush decorated with pomegranate. Beside that, creamy hummus garnished with roasted cashews and wagyu. The 10 or so polished dishes are built around fluffy Lebanese saj bread, before a slowroasted lamb shoulder (or a whole fish) arrives as a main course. Wines draw on Lebanon, cocktails might include limonada spiked with vodka, znoud (crunchy filo dough) fingers

Above: Lilymu gives Asian favourites a makeover. Below: the marble and terrazzo dining room at Bayti.

burst with ashta (cream) and the hospitality is infectious. Get a group together and go see for yourself.

45 Macquarie Street, Parramatta, bayti.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Chatkazz

INDIAN

The heart and soul of Sydney’s liveliest Little India

Among the Harris Park shops selling saris, spices and sweets, there’s Chatkazz, the suburb’s busiest and brightest day-to-night eatery. Efficient staff manage a mammoth menu of dishes and categories, from Mumbai Roadside Specials to Sweets and Sizzling Desserts. For some, it’s an excellent adventure, while for many others, it’s just dinner. Whatever section you delve into, dosa (offered in two styles) are a given, but consider vada, too, the little black-lentil doughnuts served with hearty sambhar and coconut and tomato chutneys. Tomato-laced vegetable biryani covered with paratha crisps is springy with peas, beans and pungent pickles and bhindi do pyaza is all caramelised okra, onion and chilli in a thickly spiced sauce. The sweets section is pretty comprehensive, but stroll the streets afterwards – kulfi, jalebi and falooda await.

Shop 4-6, 14-20 Station Street East, Harris Park, chatkazz.com.au

B Sat-Sun L Tue-Sun D daily $

Gursha ETHIOPIAN Hands-on eating in the heart of Blacktown

So what … is wot? If you don’t speak Ethiopian cuisine just yet, this friendly eatery hung with flags of the world can get you up to speed in the most delicious way. Simmered-sauce dishes (wot) are heady with earthy, fragrant spicing – cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, nigella, nutmeg and cloves –and teem with chicken and beef, or lentils, split peas, kale and more. Get going with a dollop of raw beef, white cheese and chilli, then head straight to the wot combo of meat and veg on injera (Ethiopian flatbread). Many tastes make colourful splodges on the wide, spongy and gently soured bread.

It’s so easy to dip and scoop and dip again (clean hands please) and maybe even offer a gursha – that’s popping an injera-wrapped morsel in a mate or loved one’s mouth, you know.

Shop 3, 115 Main Street, Blacktown, gurshaethio.com.au

L D Wed-Mon $

Lao Village LAO

A Fairfield legend lives on, with sticky rice and papaya salad

A five-page laminated photo menu sums up the classics, making choosing just that bit easier, even if you kind of want it all. Lao cooking is all about fish sauce, lime juice and lemongrass through grilled meats and soups and rice and grills and oh, Lao sausages. You won’t find a table without them in this bright purple, two-room icon that’s served generations of fans (in a couple of different locations) since the early 1980s. The aforesaid snags mix a mousse-y, pleasantly herbal meat paste into the lightest crisp casing, just excellent dipped into chilli sauce and rolled with fresh herbs. Fried rice is gloriously crunchy, underscored by the hum of chilli, and other go-tos include green papaya salad (take the more fish-pungent Lao version) and

a cylindrical basket of sticky rice. Squeeze the latter onto your plate and scoop with spoon or fingers.

29 Dale Street, Fairfield

L D daily $

Lilymu

MODERN ASIAN 15/20

Fresh twists on Asian dining in

buzzy surrounds

This welcoming neon-lit spot in bustling Parramatta Square reinvents familiar dishes from Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong in surprising and delicious ways. Top of the list: “tom yum” dumplings that embody the soup perfectly and feature sour-sweet prawns sharpened with soy and lime. Chicken larb arrives in bite-sized sando form, layered with juicy meat, crunchy slaw and circles of soft white bread; pearly fried rice comes creatively dressed with nutty grains and fried curry leaves. Fijian kokoda, reinterpreted as a textural kingfish and coconut ceviche, shows off chef Brendan Fong’s cross-cultural upbringing, while wok-fried fusilli with fat scallops cleverly swaps the usual Italian sauce for house-made XO and shimmers with electric orange roe. Go big-ticket with a heaving plate of glossy roasted duck or char siu-style wagyu, and finish on a serene note with artisanal tea.

3 Parramatta Square, 153 Macquarie Street, Parramatta, lilymu.com

L Tue-Fri, Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Left: the open kitchen at neon-lit Lilymu. Right: king prawns with saffron aioli at Ruse bar.

Pameer Restaurant

AFGHAN

Follow the charcoal smoke aroma for family-friendly food

Pameer is a place to feed a big family. Case in point: the packs of skewers, flatbreads, salad, sauces, whole chickens, rice and soft drink. They regularly squeeze up to 10 hungry locals – babes in arms through to grandmas, aunties, teenagers and uncles – at close-together tables to eat, talk, laugh and eat some more. It’s a friendly place, behind a sky-blue sign and photographs of kebabs, rice, chicken and lamb shanks on proud street-facing display. Just you and a mate? No dramas – more modest offers include greens, beans, lamb and herbs in a ghormeh sabzi stew, or a mere two to three kebabs on rice – chicken, marinated beef or minced lamb, the rice dotted with crimson barberries. But start, as you must, with a plate of manto: lamb mince and lentil dumpling pockets smothered in herb-dusted yoghurt. Marvellous. 110 Main Street, Blacktown, pameerrestaurant.com

L D daily $

Peranakan Place

NONYA

Soulful cooking rules in this hideaway hang

You could zoom right past this little treasure, squished up against a kebab shop and a pub. But it’s worth

stopping. The humble purveyor of Singapore staples plays it relatively straight – see the Hainanese chicken rice, rendang, noodles, laksa and steamed otak-otak parcels – but Peranakan specialties and orderahead chilli crab, popiah and fishhead curry add extra dimensions. The fit-out is spare – maroon and rust-coloured walls, tropical fruit prints – and service verges on rudimentary, but we’re here for the food. Nonya fish curry teams tamarind-sour with tomato-sweet (nice for roti-mopping) while belachan beans offer all the requisite funk. Nasi lemak features fried egg on a mound of coconut and pandan-perfumed rice, with platemates ikan bilis, sambal, achar and chicken wings. Fresh lime soda with sour plums is mighty refreshing, but you can always BYO your preferred choice of chilli-and-coconut-friendly beverage, too.

139 Parramatta Road, Auburn, peranakanplace.com.au

L D Fri-Sun $

Ruse Bar and Brasserie EUROPEAN

European piazza-style glamour in Parra

Named after ex-convict and landowner James Ruse, here’s a sleek and spacious drawcard for Parramatta Square. Lit by curvaceous wicker lamps and staffed with thoughtful, industrious types brimming with

food and wine knowledge, Ruse’s indoor-outdoor dining room is a brooding mix of marble, wood and cascading plants. A central open kitchen – framed by whole fish, crab and oysters on ice, and flames flaring from a Basque-style wood-fired grill – draws the eye. At least until chef Jay Rao’s grilled lamb-belly cracker and juicy roast Murray cod arrive anyway, the latter sporting beautiful crisp, burnished skin and bathing in glossy artichoke sauce. Consider a marbled Jack’s Creek sirloin bolstered by smoked potato puree and fat baby leeks, before dark-chocolate ganache with mandarin sorbet, meringue and passionfruit. Swipe a finger to collect every last bit.

12 Darcy Street, Parramatta, rusebarandbrasserie.com

L Tue-Fri D Tue-Sat $$

Song Fang Khong LAO/THAI

Tiny family-filled diner for hardto-find Lao favourites

Just near Fairfield station, there are two renowned Lao restaurants – “the purple one” (Lao Village), and around the corner, Song Fang Khong. The latter is more like your grandma’s house, with painted white brick walls, tanned tiles and vinyl chairs. Lao food is similar, but often more bitter and pungent than Thai cuisine, and nearly every table orders the raw beef salad (served with fresh herbs and grounded roasted rice), savoury and zesty before hitting you with a big wallop of spice. Crispy fried rice with pickled ham and dried school prawns is a crunch-fest with every bite, featuring perfectly crisped-up chunks of rice immersed among tender cured pork. Raw prawn salad keeps the acid and umami humming, while thick-cut barbecued ox tongue is a must-order signature for offal fans. If there’s better food this close to a train station, we don’t know about it.

7 Anzac Avenue, Fairfield

L D daily $

Sun’s Burmese Kitchen BURMESE

Soulful aromas of the sour, nutty, pickled and sweet

Hsan Myint Aung opened this family-run restaurant with his wife Lyn in 2012, aiming to share his home country’s cuisine – potently spiced (but low on heat) rice-based dishes with Thai, Indian and Chinese influences. Set in a quiet row of unassuming shops, its claret-hued walls lit by glowing oil-paper parasols, Sun’s offers authentic, wallet-friendly and generously sized serves of Myanmar favourites. The earthy, sour tang of Aung’s memorable lahpet thoke, a famous Burmese salad, blends crunchy lentils, soft pickled tea leaf, nuts, tomatoes and punchy dried shrimp. Match it with battered gourd fritters, plump fried kidney-bean fritters and a golden Barramundifillet curry flecked with tomato-gravy marinade. Cool the tongue with a Myanmar Lager or traditional rosesyrup falooda sundae before perusing take-home packs of spices, dried fish, chilli pastes and fermented tea leaves. 10 Tulloch Street, Blacktown, sunsburmesekitchen.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sun $

Temasek

SINGAPOREAN-MALAY

Buzzy hawker-centre efficiency at a much-loved local

When a restaurant heaves with people yearning for the food of their homeland, it must be doing something right after 30 years. With the background noise of a bustling hawker centre, much of Temasek’s frenetic energy comes from efficient waitstaff zipping about with fragrant soups and egg or rice noodles. Laksa Singapura is a no-brainer, less on the spicy side than other versions, and more aromatic with coconut milk. (Ask for the house-made sambal if you want to play with fire.) Nearly every table orders the Hainanese chicken in one shape or form – half, whole or in a single serving with

Hainanese chicken is one of the most ordered dishes at Parramatta’s Temasek.

chicken rice. You won’t find a more slippery and juicy example in Sydney, with luminescent skin topping soft chicken flesh. Roti canai is also taken to the next level when drenched in curry sauce. As skyscrapers swallow Parramatta, long live Temasek. 71 George Street, Parramatta, temasekrestaurant.com

L D Wed-Sun $

Traditional Cantonese Taste

CHINESE

A shrine to the rice-noodle roll

Why queue to order, pay in cash, find your own table, and wait for a bowl of something as simple as cheung fun, or flat rice-flour noodles? Because they’re great. And because here, unlike almost everywhere else in town that serves them, they’re cooked to order. Forget the thick, neat rolls you know from yum cha, this is more like the silky skin of a deflated balloon encasing your choice of pork and egg, or chicken and mushrooms. Add your own soy from the communal bowl, and immerse yourself in the traditional Cantonese taste as the name suggests. There are bowls of good, hot rice congee as well, but our heart goes to the cheung fun. And allow time for picking up live crab, barbecue duck and freshly made tofu from Eastwood’s food shops.

Shop 9A, 1 Lakeside Road, Eastwood B L D daily $

North Shore

Amah by Ho Jiak MALAYSIAN

Home-style Malaysian just like grandma used to make

What the mammoth food court above Chatswood railway station lacks in charm, Amah makes up for in concept. Helmed by former Mr Wong head chef Hun Loong, the mission is to interpret his grandma’s home-style cooking, and while the technique is informed by years in fine dining, the execution stays close to the original. That means fish-ball soup – the flounder broth rich, the Spanish mackerel fish balls bouncy and sweet – is clear and finessed but still wholesome. Equally, the gloriously fatty, darkly caramelised char siu pork belly (balanced by fresh sambal belachan) is rustic and polished all at once. The ties to sister venue Ho Jiak are clear in peerless char kwai teow, while saucy cabbage tossed with mung bean noodles shows good vegetable work. Service is fine, but it’s Amah’s wholesome cooking that remains the draw. Do pay her a visit.

The District, Podium Level, Chatswood Interchange, 436 Victoria Avenue, hojiak.com.au/chatswood

Annata

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

A sultry wine-focused bolthole with culinary flair

With arched windows overlooking a bustling Crows Nest dining strip, Annata combines a sense of finedining with the convivial mood of a neighbourhood wine bar. It’s an intimate canvas for date nights to split a beef tartare with toasted nori, that’s also tailor-made for sharing a bottle of Adelaide Hills fiano with friends. Dishes are executed with an inventiveness that never veers into gimmick territory, such as Hiramasa

Clockwise from left: the tranquillity of Berowra Waters Inn; beachside at Bathers’ Pavilion Restaurant at Balmoral; crab at Amah by Ho Jiak.

whipped anchovy – a briny pleasure that reveals unexpected bursts of flavour. Hapuka “teriyaki” with roasted cauliflower and smoked eel emulsion couples a global outlook with respect for local produce. End the night with a delicate millefeuille crowned with a brownbutter ice-cream balancing sweet and savoury; further proof of a venue accustomed to doing more than one thing well.

69 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest, annatasydney.com

D Tue-Sat L Fri-Sat $$

Bathers’ Pavilion Restaurant

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside

Is there anything brighter than a Balmoral smile? From the cosmetically enhanced choppers on the beachside dog walkers, to the beam on that lucky soul who finds a fee-free car park. Bathers’ is so dedicated to the pursuit of happiness that restaurant manager Jessica Mead has the words “a smile a day” tattooed on her finger. Indeed, the water views and blue-and-white striped banquettes should have everyone grinning. Add to that a delightful dish of diced kingfish and pearl oyster with thin-sliced green

strawberries sharpened by yuzu gel. Earthy stinging-nettle ravioli with pureed chestnuts and buttery mushrooms pops in the mouth, while sous-vide Murray cod is beautifully coated in black garlic and sweet dollops of Davidson plum. If the highfalutin restaurant isn’t your speed, there’s also Bathers’ Bistro and Kiosk, plus Betel Leaf upstairs for modern Thai. Happy days.

4 The Esplanade, Balmoral, batherspavilion.com.au

L Wed-Sun D Wed-Sat $$$

Berowra Waters Inn

CONTEMPORARY 16/20

A riverside escape to quietly push the boat out

The complimentary transfer from wharf to Berowra Waters Inn only takes five minutes, but the moment you hop on the restaurant’s flatbottomed tinnie, a four-hour holiday begins. See you later, cares of the week. Hello ancient bushland, louvre windows and lofty food. Owner-chef Brian Geraghty took the keys in 2012, and last year was joined by talented pastry chef Lauren Eldridge for desserts worth the pilgrimage alone –especially curls of paper-thin rhubarb crowning freeze-dried yoghurt and rhubarb sorbet. A six-course-andsnacks tasting menu might also include raw kingfish holding its own

against black-pepper-infused oil and a vinegar made from fermented banksia nectar; or pork slow-cooked in masterstock and pressed overnight for wickedly sharp crackling that’s terrific with prune puree. A pox on the one-hour drive back to the city – book a nearby guesthouse and explore the all-Australian wine list instead.

Via East and West Public Wharves Berowra Waters, berowrawatersinn.com

L Fri-Sun D Fri-Sat $$$

Boronia Kitchen

CONTEMPORARY

Suburban all-day favourite with fine-dining panache

and capabilities are both a cut above. It’s been the way since the late Amy Chanta opened the first branch of her almighty empire in 1989. Under the leadership of daughter Palisa Anderson, the kitchen’s fidelity to purity of flavour still rings true across 100-plus dishes, elevated by organic produce from the family’s farm near Byron Bay. Navigating the menu can be torturous for the choice-o-phobic, but megawatt freshness is guaranteed no matter where you land, from pristine green-papaya salad to fluffy crab fried rice or a simple stir-fry of minced chicken, silken eggplant, chilli and Thai basil. The legacy continues.

Shop 12, Chatswood Place, 260 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, chatthai.com

Left: a selection of Chat Thai’s spiciest dishes, including a yellow crab curry.

Simon Sandall follows in a tradition of fine-dining chefs who abandon their slick inner-city posts in search of the simple life. The former Aria talent has been cooking kitchengarden-inspired dishes for years, although “simple” doesn’t quite capture his smart ideas, not with dishes such as pearl-meat ravioli in a fragrant duck broth flying off the pass. The room is sleek and familyfriendly and the menu belies a love of great produce. Even the homeliest of dishes provide dashes of flair, from the house-preserved apricots on your morning porridge, to the earthy tumble of black truffle boosting excellent rotisserie chook. Duck fat potatoes could be crisper, but the sourdough prawn toast remains a thing of beauty. It’s all about that ASMR-level crunch and that zingy yuzu mayo.

152 Pittwater Road, Hunters Hill, boroniakitchen.com.au

B L Wed-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Chat Thai THAI Institution still looking forward

Begin with guay tiew lohd – steamed parcels of pork belly, bamboo shoots and springy tofu wrapped in a film of tapioca and rice flour. They’re a good indication that Chat Thai’s intentions

L D daily $

Haidilao Hot Pot CHINESE

Offbeat gem reimagining an age-old culinary

art

Hotpot, a tradition with roots in ancient Mongolia, gets an ultra-modern makeover at the Chatswood branch of this cult Sichuan dining chain. Here, the old and new fuse effortlessly. Friends convene in padded booths to cook tender marinated lamb and enoki mushrooms. Couples order fried fish cakes and taro root from iPads. Waiters know the timelessness of good service, regularly checking that your chosen soup bases (the tomato and tom yum are both laden with flavour) remain hot and bubbling. They also suggest condiments to match meat and seafood with care. At Haidilao, it’s easy to be distracted by left-field flourishes: free manicures while you wait for a table, a waiter who performs a choreographed routine (yes) when you order the dancing noodles. But it also proves why the kinetic magic of hotpot thrives a thousand years on.

Level 6, Westfield, 1 Anderson Street, Chatswood

L D daily $

Jugemu & Shimbashi

JAPANESE

Restore your inner zen

“It’s like Japanese vegemite!” says the lady taking our order. Well, almost. The house-made buckwheat miso, slicked over a slab of buttery grilled toothfish, is better than Australia’s celebrated breakfast spread. It’s sweet, salty and complex with incredible umami. Impressive too is the soba, made from scratch before both lunch and dinner services. Walk by at the right time and you can watch the entire noodle-making process through the windows. Our pick is their signature walnut soba, toothsome buckwheat noodles served with chicken and mushrooms in a rich walnut and sesame soup. Or take the udon route with nabeyaki, a chicken and prawn tempura hot pot with chewy ropes of udon noodles. Okonomiyaki cabbage pancakes are also terrific, deliciously crisp with garnish-it-yourself fixings of seaweed and bonito flakes. It’s worth booking ahead for the sunken tables (no shoes) for the full Japanese experience. 246-246 Military Road, Neutral Bay, jugemushimbashi.com.au

L Tue-Wed, Fri-Sat D Tue-Sun $

La Latina

LATIN AMERICAN

A Latin American canteen offering an express visit of the region’s flavours

With several countries claiming arepas as their own, La Latina uses its menu to be diplomatic. It describes the “hand-made corn pockets” as a “Latin American sandwich” and packs them with salsa-simmered beef, caramel-sweet plantains, spiced black beans or other flavours reflecting this part of the world. This canteen also recognises the dual citizenship of its sweet cornbread (known as cachapas in Venezuela and arepas de choclo in Colombia). Grilled and encased in cheese that’s melted into different shades and intensities, it’s dark and salty with one

bite, creamy and light with another. La Latina might be a compact eatery and grocery in one, but it’s an inviting portal into Latin American cuisine, whether you’re ordering obleas (caramel-sealed wafers the size of a face shield), waiting for your empanada of melted cheese and guava to cool, or grabbing sweet Argentinian alfajores from the fridge. 82 Archer Street, Chatswood, lalatina.yqme.com.au

L Tue-Sun $

Loulou Bistro

FRENCH 15/20

Bistronomy bonhomie avec frites

There has been a palpable resurgence of Frenchness in the Sydney dining scene – not just of the bistro, but of classic French sauces, viennoiserie and charcuterie. It all comes together in one entrepreneurial package at Loulou, which bills itself as cafe, traiteur, boulangerie and bistro. Founding chef Billy Hannigan has moved to head up the group’s CBD brasserie, leaving Ned Parker to hover over the magnificent Josper grills, hand-chop steak tartare and bake tiny madeleines to order. Well crafted terrines are sent out with warm brioche, rotisserie chicken is great to share (or to pick up from the traiteur to take home) and golden frites come with almost everything, from mussels escabeche to very good and peppery steak au poivre vert. And could you get any more French than the light-as-a-cloud John dory rolled around scallop mousseline and coated with a caviar-flecked champagne cream sauce? Non. 61 Lavender Street, Milsons Point, loulou.sydney

L D daily $$

Myeongdong

KOREAN

Korean barbecue with killer banchan

Below: Loulou Bistro’s passionfruit madeleines. Bottom: For idyllic waterside dining try Ormeggio at The Spit.

In a suburb packed with Korean restaurants, Myeongdong stands out thanks to its sprawling menu of crowd-pleasers and generosity. It’s all about the banchan here – that bright spectacle of gratis sides. Expect 13 texturally-charged bowls ferrying the likes of crunchy lotus root and shimmering cubes of eggplant jelly. Go for the barbecue and you’ll likely be seated kerbside under a giant plastic awning, but there’s plenty to keep you indoors too, such as hot stone bowls nailing the nutty-saltycrunchy harmony. Myeongdong’s take on Korea’s poster dish, bibimbap, features luminous rice grains topped with marinated beef strips, bean sprouts, spicy kimchi and a sesamedusted egg. Double-fried chicken should be sold by the bucket, given how fast the gently spiced, hypercrisp wings are inhaled. Still hungry? Hit your table buzzer for almost-instant service and order the umami-rich sweet potato noodles – it’s hard to go wrong here.

Shop 1, 5 Railway Street, Chatswood daily $

Nilgiri’s INDIAN

Exuberant exploration of regional Indian fare

It’s been almost a quarter century since Ajoy and Meera Joshi first invited Sydney on a joyride through India’s culinary landscape. The couple remain passionate guides, their buzzy Cremorne corner space a portal to flavours roaming the subcontinental compass but lingering often in Ajoy’s native south, amid the spicy complexity of Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and Goa. Meera, magically present at every table even on a busy night, tells origin stories, while Ajoy dispenses knowledge and his “patience and love” philosophy from the pass. Their context enhances dishes such as vegetable samosas with such meaty richness your palate does a doubletake, and khurma with dense, squishy house-made paneer that’s hearty but never too heavy. Tomato pulao rice is delicious even without a dunk in fragrant masala, as is the soft, flaky wholemeal methi paratha.

Shop 3, 283 Military Road, Cremorne, nilgiris.com.au

D Wed-Sun $$

Ormeggio at The Spit

ITALIAN 16.5/20

Spritzy waterside restaurant with sprezzatura

Last things first: the delizia al limone, Ormeggio’s signature

dessert, is one of Sydney’s best. Its creamy layers of (unwaxed) Meyer-lemon gelato are studded with candied lemon peel, topped with Italian meringue that’s blowtorched tableside and then showered with finely grated zest – sweet, tart and delicious in equal measure. The lead-up to this finale is no less impressive, starting with the salty, oily (in a good way) rosemary focaccia and moving through the finely-tuned likes of smoked scampi and squid-ink tagliolini to perfectly charred swordfish with fermented chilli sauce and crisp kale. This is big day or night out territory, with wallet-sapping prices to match, but if you’ve scored a waterside table on a warm afternoon, there are sunny Capri comparisons to be made. Just be warned that the recently renovated dining room is somewhat white and sparse on a less balmy winter’s night.

D’Albora Marina, Spit Road, Mosman, ormeggio.com.au L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sun $$$

RAFI

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Bright and beautiful all-purpose eatery

Applejack Hospitality’s latest bar and restaurant is a ridiculously attractive place where light streams through to floor-to-ceiling windows, showing off a mosaic floor, plush booths, leather and tones of pink and bottle

green. Chef Patick Friesen’s menu is classic coastal Sydney to match the breezy vibe, with a focus on seafood and market-fresh vegetables. Barbecued octopus is grilled slowly over charcoal and dressed Greekstyle in fruity olive oil, lemon, oregano and chilli; roast toothfish is marinated in koji and sharpened with a rough sauce of grilled lemons, capers and white soy. Then there’s the excellent chook, expertly brined, blanched and roasted so the skin crinkles like cellophane. Add a side of sprightly radicchio with anchovy and garlic dressing for a quick business lunch, or take a negroni under an Aperol-orange umbrella if returning to the office isn’t on the cards.

99 Mount Street, North Sydney, rafisydney.com.au

L D Mon-Sat $$

Ryo’s Noodles

JAPANESE

Pioneering and pumping pint-sized ramen joint

This is ramen worth queuing for, and you’ll need to; rain or shine, you’ll find a steady stream of people waiting for Ryo’s bowls of handmade noodles in rich, aromatic broths. Thankfully, it’s a slurp-and-dash joint, so it’s not long before you’re seated inside the squeezy yellow diner. Things are fast-paced, but there’s still an opening act of snacks to keep you happy while your broth bubbles away, including textbook gyoza and shattering karaage chicken. For the main event, choose from a chicken or pork-based broth (plus a couple of others); the former a light Tokyo-style soup and the latter a cloudy tonkotsu rich in collagen, topped with a soft-yolked egg and slices of velvety pork.

Or pick the red-hued spicy broth topped with a knob of butter to cool the burn. A last word of advice?

Arrive early.

125 Falcon Street, Crows Nest, ryosramen.com.au

L D Thu-Tue $

Above: kingfish ceviche at North Sydney’s RAFI.

JAPANESE

Fast-paced noodles and neon

Dessert after ramen. Come again? It’s a thing at Chase Kojima’s tiny, neon-lit ramen omakase bar, where a quick succession of five small plates is followed by knock-out ramen, and perhaps white chocolate and passionfruit ice-cream. Bang! Here’s an exemplary chawanmushi, the dashi-enhanced egg custard steaming with nutty burnt butter, salmon roe and fresh crab. Pow! Ribbons of raw wagyu daubed with minced tuna, all rich, sweet and creamy under a sheen of teriyaki and poached yolk sauce. Diners can choose between five creations for the headline act, including tonkotsu draped with velvet-soft pork cheek, and a “chilli miso butter” ramen made on chicken broth gently simmered overnight for an umami-slinging soup clinging to animated noodles and scallops. Expect the ride to be finished in little over an hour, too. It might be the perfect restaurant for our attention spans in the online age.

Shop G05, 88 Archer Street, Chatswood, senpairamen.com L Thu-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

S’more

CONTEMPORARY

Splashy produce party rocking the suburbs

Wedged between a real-estate agency and beauty parlour, S’more bills itself as a neighbourhood bistro and it sure looks the part. Napkins are blue linen, the furniture is humble and the lighting low and warm. However, unlike other local bistros, there’s also

one-kilogram rib-eyes for $350, plus a last-meal wishlist of caviar, truffles, lobster and vintage bordeaux. Owner-chefs Sam Young and Grace Chen work hard to please their fans who travel far for the indulgent (and sometimes quite noisy) experience including more modest offerings such as raw scallop jacked up with Korean chilli, and pitch-perfect steamed coral trout in tomato dashi. Don’t miss the roast chicken, brined, glazed and twicecooked for beautifully burnished skin and covered in a pepper gravy with enough weight to be a meal in itself. Chen’s pudding walking a line between creme caramel and panna cotta is also a must.

79 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag, smoresydney.com.au

L Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Sushi Oe

JAPANESE 16/20

Sydney’s most difficult booking rewards diehards with its most pure sushi experience

As omakase explodes into the mainstream, Toshihiko Oe has gone from something of a cult hero to a leading figure. How can one man who runs a restaurant for just six guests folded into a suburban izakaya have such an impact? It’s all in the detail, and attention to each part of his seasonal sushi menu is fierce. See the lobster sashimi topped with a jelly-like scraping of flesh from close to the shell, or the blend of rices which underscore almost 20 courses of nigiri, every grain distinct. Here’s a piece featuring sweet, fatty imperador belly; there’s another with firm kombu-cured flathead. Then there’s the tuna courses, complex broths and hand rolls. Throughout, clarity and purity rule, fish forever the focus. Yes the stools could be more comfortable, the SMS booking system more streamlined, but there’s no denying the excellence.

Shop 16, 450 Miller Street, Cammeray

D Tue-Sat $$$

Northern Beaches

Banco

CONTEMPORARY

Gastropub by the sea

The plump, creamy, chive-dusted lobster roll isn’t listed on the menu at Kurt Bosley’s cosy bar and diner – it’s one of those things that Manly locals know about and you don’t. Except, now you do. Also good to know: the music is hip-hop, cocktails are pre-batched and Gloucester-born chef Dan Webb channels a menu that could be called British gastropub by the sea. So yes, there’s a scotch egg, with runny yolk, soft leaves and curry mayo. The wagyu-shin curry pie is served with raita and pappadums and the fall-apart 12-hour braised lamb shank is another crowd-pleaser. This is a little place with big ideas and feels like a great fit for fast-changing Manly. Plus, women making terrific wine are championed on the list, alongside vegan, biodynamic and “slightly funky”. Good to know.

17B Whistler Street, Manly, bancomanly.com

D Wed-Mon $$

Clockwise from top left: chilli miso butter ramen at Senpai Ramen; Bar Elvina has the feel of a Mediterranean taverna; spanner crab, avocado and puffed cracker. at Banco.

Bar Elvina

CONTEMPORARY

Laidback coastal diner with a focus on seafood

This breezy, white-washed bar and restaurant was welcomed with open arms by locals when it opened in 2020. Its sunny terrace and Spanish archways are reminiscent of a Mediterranean taverna, a vibe bolstered by the seafood-forward menu. Flinders Island scallops arrive hot in their shells, bathed in bright-green seaweed oil and dotted with nori pesto. The sweetness of grilled king prawns is tempered by a wasabi butter which also comes in handy for dipping shoestring fries, already doused in an umami salt and accompanied by addictive Marie Rose mayo. Seafood-averse eaters can be satisfied with roast lamb shoulder enlivened with bunya nut dukkah, although it would be a shame to pass on the meaty barbecued kingfish glistening in mussel butter. Try a wattleseed tiramisu or settle in for another natural wine or cocktail – the drinks list features flourishes such as wattleseed-washed rye.

Level 1, 50 Old Barrenjoey Road, Avalon Beach, barelvina.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Bert’s Bar and Brasserie CONTEMPORARY 16.5/20 Fine-dining with all the bells, whistles and tableside service

Rally the family, book a late lunch and put yourself in the hands of an expert service team for a delicious three, four or five hours. There’s no rush at Merivale’s flagship Newport fine-diner as the sun dances across Pittwater, only hard decisions such as rum baba flamed tableside or dense dark-chocolate tart? Best order both and sink into a highly-cushioned banquette with something sticky from the knockout wine list. Sommelier Emilien Rebeilleau knows his cellar insideout and might recommend grower champagne for oysters on ice, New World riesling for the dailychanging crudo selection (coral trout, bluefin tuna and swordfish dressed with virgin grape-seed oil perhaps), and a cheeky Margaux with ruddy, charcoal-grilled rib-eye. Wood-roasted yellowbelly flounder boosted with garlicky pil-pil is terrifically fleshy, and top-notch work from chefs Jordan Toft and Sam Kane. This is lavish dining done right.

2 Kalinya Street, Newport, merivale. com/venues/berts

L Wed-Sun D Wed-Sat $$$

Clareville Kiosk

CONTEMPORARY

Stylish comfort cooking

There’s much more to Clareville Kiosk than the name suggests. Sure it has a relaxed beach-house setting, but owner Nathan Boler’s kitchen turns out confident, disciplined food with contemporary flair on a menu that shifts with the seasons. Things might start with spring rolls packed with spiced confit duck, before a beaches staple arrives in the form of a taco piled with fish fillets in crisp, light batter, pico de gallo, shredded cabbage, shellfish-flavoured mayonnaise and pickled jalapeno for heat. Just-set lobster flesh is tangled

Below: the unmistakeably Australian setting of Kuring-gai Chase National Park is where you’ll find Cottage Point Inn.

in spaghetti with parsley and a hint of chilli under pangrattato. It’s all highly tasty stuff, and the care and attention is obvious, especially with a chocolate mousse tempered by the slight sharpness of dried raspberries and toasted coconut. Skilful service and a well-priced wine list up the ante. Kiosk? And then some.

27 Delecta Avenue, Clareville Beach, Avalon, clarevillekiosk.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Cottage Point Inn

CONTEMPORARY Elevated dining in a magical waterside setting

Venture down the steep pathway towards this former boathouse set deep in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the distinctive scent of lemon myrtle signals an unmistakably Australian destination. Well-heeled guests may arrive at the fine diner via seaplane or water taxi but this is the relaxed, unshowy experience Sydney does so well. Chef Stephen Hetherington draws your gaze away from the serene setting and back to the (handmade ceramic) plate with a seductive tasting menu: wagyu bresaola draped across creamy stracciatella; Tathra Place duck in perfectly formed tortellini;

and buttery, crisp-skinned Murray cod with native sea vegetables. A risotto of alliums, wild garlic and pecans is deeply comforting. Catalan goat’s cheese is served with rhubarb and fennel-seed lavosh, while knowledgeable waiters in linen shirts tick the final luxe-meets-laidback box.

2 Anderson Place, Cottage Point, cottagepointinn.com.au

L Thurs-Mon D Fri-Sat $$$

Jonah’s CONTEMPORARY

Seaside icon with an astonishing cellar and views

As this grand dame of the northern beaches nears her centenary, Jonah’s remains a rollicking good long-lunch option with stellar ocean views of bush-fringed mansions and the sapphire-blue shoreline of Whale Beach. A cream-on-white dining room channels the chi-chi Hamptons while modern Italian cooking threads the menu across three choose-your-own courses. In the spirit of old-world hospitality, serves are stunningly generous: doughy boats of goat’s cheese tortellini cup pools of burnt butter sauce while juicy wild-caught barramundi sings with the green goodness of pea puree. However, the sweetness of a pineapple, lemon curd, meringue and almond-crumble dessert could do with some tempering. For our money, sunny afternoons are best spent on the terrace, sipping something from the 1600-strong cellar and slowly working through the opulent seafood tower. King prawns, oysters and riesling, oh my. 69 Bynya Road, Whale Beach, jonahs.com.au L D Thu-Sun $$$

Below: views don’t get any better than those at Jonah’s.

Above: dishes from Pilu at Freshwater.

Right: reuben sandwich at Tothy Brothers Deli.

Pilu at Freshwater

ITALIAN 16.5/20

Showcase for the flavours of Sardinia

It may seem hard to believe, but the view from this heritage weatherboard house over Freshwater Beach is no illusion. Neither is the timelessness of owner-chef Giovanni Pilu’s cooking, which continues to radiate with freshness and finesse after almost 20 years. A crudo of neatly diced, wild-caught coral trout sparkles with Meyer lemon, horseradish and crunchy slivered almonds. Crimped-up pasta parcels known as culurgiones, plump with goat’s milk ricotta, are given a smoky-sweet contrast from pecorino Sardo and chestnut puree. Slow-cooked suckling pig, a longstanding signature, still hits a crisp, fatty bull’s-eye, brightened by roasted carrots and pickled blackwalnut pesto. When produce this fine is put forth with such care, served by a team both relaxed and assured, and paired with a drinks list deserving of every accolade, little can go wrong. Beach end of Moore Road, Freshwater, pilu.com.au L Wed-Sun D Wed-Sat

St. Alma MEXICAN Chips and guac, sure, but so much more

Following the success of Alma in Avalon, Jack Leary and Tim Christensen dreamed of a big, airy, light space in Freshwater for their next venture. And they got it. The old Bendigo Bank site has a fabulous fit-out, and Mexico City chef Maximo Martinez works with masa, corn and agave to expand our perceptions of his country’s cuisine. The menu is a happy mix of ceviche, tacos and imaginative snackery such as warmly-spiced chicken tinga empanadas with impressively fine pastry. Even the al pastor taco, so often bland, is a careful construction of slow-cooked pork belly, feisty chipotle and tangy pineapple. The

bar also raises the, er, bar, with rare tequilas and mezcals beside Estrella beers and natural wines. And the churro with coconut gelato is like the sugar-dusted doughnut of your dreams. Perceptions expanded.

20 Albert Street, Freshwater, st-alma.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Tothy Brothers Deli

CONTEMPORARY Smoked-meat heaven

As the sun sets on a suburban strip near Collaroy, Tothy Brothers is heady with the aroma of slow-cooking meat, and the terrace is packed with families and couples on their second round of snacks and jalapeno margaritas. Brothers Blake and Sean Toth lead the party with smoky deliciousness inspired by their time living in the US. Lunch is built around American sangers, including an excellent reuben with sauerkraut and signature pastrami brined for two weeks in brown sugar, bay and juniper. By night, proceedings are more composed, with smoked chicken boasting crisp golden-brown skin, a superb pork and fennel sausage with mash and gravy, and cabbage braised in smoked whey, butter and kombu before a spin over charcoal. Raw kingfish curled around crunchy kohlrabi keeps things fresh, while the local beers and margaritas flow on.

Shop 4, 180 South Creek Road, Wheeler Heights, tothybrothersdeli.com.au

B L daily D Thu-Sun $$

Central Coast

Osteria Il Coccia

ITALIAN 15/20

Fire-kissed cooking in a gorgeous Mediterranean-style diner

The plush, creamy interiors of Osteria Il Coccia’s new digs opposite Ettalong Beach seem a world away from its former Ocean View Road diner, but the smoke-wreathed tasting menu remains. Phew. Dense house-baked sourdough with smoked butter has also made it over, now paired with salmon roe-topped tarama. From an open kitchen that cooks entirely over flames, Italian-born owner-chef Nicola Coccia tosses potato-laced pasta, teams Cowra lamb backstrap with hazelnuts and radicchio, and charcoal-grills rib-eye to be lapped by a gleaming lake of marrow jus. An intermezzo of freshness and acidity might be a welcome respite between all the meat and fire, but it’s hard not to leave happy when Coccia’s wife Alexandra, ever the host, beckons you to the lounges for cinnamonspiked ricotta cake or another glass of elegant valpolicella. Italian wines and hospitality reign supreme here.

49 The Esplanade, Ettalong Beach, www.osteriailcoccia.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Thu-Sat $$

The Lucky Bee

MODERN ASIAN

Pan-Asian share plates and cocktails by the sea

Is this a far-flung tiki bar or a kitsch eatery on the Central Coast? As a bartender shakes coconut margaritas under a spray of artificial flowers and yachts bob about in emerald waters, it’s hard not to relax and daydream of island holidays. Even

(formerly of Sydney’s Longrain) and Rupert Noffs’ bright and balanced Asian plates start flying out, ranging from pillow-soft scallop har gau to an orderly pile of crisp, caramelised eggplant with pickled chilli and black garlic, and a shattering Sichuan salt-and-pepper fried snapper. Originally located in New York City, where Noffs and Bennett lived for seven years, Lucky Bee moved to the hamlet of Hardys Bay in 2019, much to the delight of locals who visit in droves for warm service, Sunday yum cha and resort-inspired cocktails. A rum and orange curacao Royal My Thai? Right this way.

40/189 Ocean View Rd, Ettalong Beach, theluckybee.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Top: Woy Woy Fishermen’s Wharf serves super fresh seafood feasts.

Above: crunch and spice at Hardys Bay eatery The Lucky Bee.

SEAFOOD

Smart-casual seafood in a buttoned-down dining room

Every coastal town needs a good fish and chipper and Woy Woy doesn’t disappoint. Step past the booming takeaway kiosk and into a breezy dining room where floorto-ceiling windows reveal frolicking pelicans and ducks nose-diving under bush-fringed waters. An expansive menu covers the best parts of the sea – fish tacos cut with a crunchy slaw and chilli-ginger sauce, snapper ceviche, pipis in XO, and mussels plumped up in a spicy tomato and parsley-flecked broth (once you’ve finished your bread, you’ll start dunking your chips in the stuff). But we’re here for the daily-changing fish and chips, and land on Coffs Harbour mulloway coated in a batter so light and bronzed you might need to wear shades. Service can be patchy and it’s order-at-the-counter these days, but that’s all easy to forgive when the catch is this fresh.

The Boulevarde, Woy Woy, woywoyfishermenswharf.com.au

L Wed-Mon $$

Woy Woy Fishermen’s Wharf

Hunter Valley

Bistro Molines

FRENCH 15/20

Classic cooking overlooking wine country

Sweeping views, chilled chardonnay and generous, produce-driven cooking. This is how you long lunch in the Hunter Valley – at the considered hands of Sally and Robert Molines, who have been welcoming guests to their Provence-inspired fine-diner for the past 15 years. A seat in the paved courtyard is perfect (weather permitting) for a sunny dish off the specials board, such as braised globe artichoke circled by a petite vegetable jardiniere in roasted garlic broth. Crumbed and creamy lamb’s brains are freshened with carrot and celeriac remoulade, while a ruby-red noisette of venison gets along splendidly with plate mates Brussels sprouts and potato galette, plus a game jus to bring everything together. On chillier afternoons, the flower-lined dining room is a cosy spot for creamed rice with muscat and figs. Consider a spell at the onsite cottage and turn that long lunch into a long weekend.

749 Mount View Road, Mount View, bistromolines.com.au

éRemo ITALIAN Refined Italian inside a swish retreat

From the comfort of a rattan-backed chair at this plush Hamptons-ish restaurant at Spicers Guesthouse, you can enjoy the full Hunter Valley show of distant peaks and undulating hills. In the kitchen, chef Michael Elfwing leans on classic Italian flavours including zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and drizzled with local honey, and slivers of butter-soft salumi paired with shishito peppers. Pasta dishes such as pumpkin-filled ravioli in a sage and chilli butter flecked with Jerusalem artichoke crisps lead to mains that might include rib-eye lacquered with umami-rich onion jam and beef jus. Once the tiramisu has shaken you awake, order another grechetto (that’s Italian for “dangerously easydrinking Umbrian white”) and relax by the fire. Keen for a quicker bite between cellar doors? A terrace menu offers warmed olives, gnocchi and a cacio e pepe pizza that no doubt calls for more grechetto.

57 Ekerts Road, Pokolbin, eremo.com.au

L D daily $$

EXP. Restaurant CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Inventive hands-on dining in the heart of the Hunter

The paved courtyard of French fine-diner Bistro Molines catches the sun.

Smudged lippy or stained collar after a busy day wine tasting? The mood lighting at EXP. will dim these distracting thoughts and bring your focus back to what matters. Set in Pokolbin Village, the diminutive restaurant means serious dining business with local handcrafted furniture, crisp service and clever cooking. A friendly waiter encourages us to “just use your hands” for a raft of snacks by owner-chef Frank Fawkner including Yarra Valley caviar hitching a ride on a Jerusalem artichoke puree. The fun continues with skewers of king oyster mushrooms glazed with garum and primed for dunking in yolk and rosemary, while a treatise to ham on toast uses smoky-sweet ribbons of house-cured duck ham to straddle a sourdough crumpet. It’s all perfectly paced and executed and if the experimental menu makes you forget where you are, progressive Hunter wines will jolt you back.

2188 Broke Road, Pokolbin, exprestaurant.com.au

D Fri-Mon $$$

Jimmy Joans

CONTEMPORARY

All-rounder for roadtrip bites or a four-course set menu

You can cobble together a nifty little meal from the snacks at this new bar and eatery with a fine-diner on the side. We’ll return just for the textbook crunchy scotch eggs and piccalilli, ready to scoff at an outdoor timber table surrounded by gum trees and happy families. Or maybe an afternoon of local lager and a wagyu pie. Or brunch-time coffee followed by a lemon and blueberry financier. The handsomely designed venue is perfect for pit stops or a longer knees-up, and guests after something more substantial can book the real-deal restaurant, spruiking a four-course set menu that might

start with silky Jerusalem artichoke veloute and finish on poached pear with almond frangipane. Shellfish bisque risotto is full of big flavours, spanner crab and fleshy scallops, while grassy lamb is country-roast cooking at its best. A welcome all-rounder for the region.

84 Wilderness Road, Lovedale, jimmyjoans.com.au

L D Thu-Sun $$

Margan Restaurant

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Garden-to-table dining attached to a handsome cellar door

There’s “locally-sourced” and then there’s Margan, which begins a five-course set menu with freshas-fresh crudites pulled from a one-hectare garden just outside the plush dining room. Sustainability has long been the focus of the welcoming winery restaurant, which also pickles beetroot in vinegar made from smoke-tainted grapes for a multi-textured time also starring buttermilk curds and ribbons of brined pumpkin. Vegetarians are well catered for by the kitchen (not to mention the proficient staff), so parsley mousse rests on a nest of fennel and olive, and pine-green spinach cannelloni is stuffed with chard leaves bolstered by parmesan. Meat doesn’t appear until a moreish skewer of barbecued wagyu plumed with kohlrabi and the Hunter’s crispest radicchio. It’s all highly wine-friendly stuff, and while the cellar holds many local and Old World treasures, a signature Margan botrytis semillon to finish is a must.

1238 Milbrodale Road, Broke, margan.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Fri-Sat $$

Muse Kitchen

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Modern comfort cooking in a grapevine-fringed garden

Nestled behind Keith Tulloch Wine, Muse Kitchen’s lush manicured garden is made for taking a load

off at lunch and sharing crisp estate semillon. But it’s a fine place for dinner indoors, too, all warm timbers and provincial whites, with tuned-in staff delivering a threecourse-plus-snacks menu as homely as the surrounds. Twice-baked cheese souffle is the retro flavour packet it promises, its rich cheesiness offset by pickled grapes and braised endive. Early winter is captured in a plate of corn-fed chicken amandine with butternut pumpkin and sauce albufera (that’s fancy roast chook and gravy for those playing at home). A baked-Alaska-flavouredlike key lime pie keeps the nostalgia kicking along, but a knack for getting the small stuff right while keeping things relaxed plants this favourite firmly in the now. A second location has also opened in nearby Lorn for breakfast and lunch.

Cnr Hermitage and Deasys roads, Pokolbin, musekitchen.com.au

L Wed-Sun D Sat $$

Muse Restaurant

CONTEMPORARY 16/20

Soaring space for a big night out

Pokolbin has no shortage of spots to let loose with oysters and champagne during the day, but big-ticket dinners are harder to find. Thank heavens for Muse, then, where owner-chef Troy Rhoades-Brown has been lifting the level of Hunter dining since 2009 and training a crack kitchen and floor team that are among the state’s best. It’s a mighty room to relax in too, with high ceilings, brooding timbers and a fireplace fit for Charles Foster Kane. Local produce is king and highlights of a five-course set menu have included wood-fired quail with sprouting broccoli and a spiced quince glaze, and boldflavoured cauliflower custard teeming with flecks of smoked chicken. Ginger-pickled choko tops charred sugarloaf cabbage with rich and creamy pan-fried Murray cod, while

Top: Muse

Kitchen head chef Josh Gregory and restaurateur Megan RhoadesBrown. Above: duck ham and macadamia on a sourdough crumpet at EXP. Restaurant.

slow-cooked heirloom pumpkin is sweet enough to become dessert when paired with anise myrtle ice-cream. Superb wine service completes the package.

2450 Broke Road, Pokolbin, musedining.com.au

Tue-Sat $$$

Yellow Billy

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Light-filled lunch spot celebrating fire, smoke and wine

We’re a bit jealous of those Pokolbin locals who frequent this restaurant on any given weekend, order vintage Lake’s Folly by the glass and share plates heaving with meat and housegrown vegetables cooked over fire. Chef Sam Alexander knows his way around the parilla and charcoalgrilled flank steak is rich, red and deliciously primal, lifted by green peppercorns and a hit of smoked chilli. Spatchcock is treated to a tangy calamansi citrus vinaigrette, while pappardelle laced with barbecued mushrooms and charcuterie XO is one of the most deeply savoury dishes you’ll likely encounter all year.

Attached Piggs Peake Winery is a sunny spot to swirl some shiraz, but Pat Hester’s splendid drinks list goes beyond the Hunter to include grower champagne and Taiwanese whisky, the latter a perfect foil to saffron custard in a blood orange-topped pav.

697 Hermitage Road, Pokolbin, yellowbillyrestaurant.com

L Thu-Sun D Fri-Sat $$

Newcastle Flotilla

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Innovative restaurant in a semi-industrial zone

Warehouses to the left, a battery supply store to the right. In the middle, a cracking way to spend two hours with a set menu, perched at a timber bar or hunkered down in a well-polished, banquette-lined dining room. Chef Shayne Mansfield controls the pass at quietly thrilling Flotilla, working with local farmers to send out small plates such as shaved scallops with roe cream, and smoked beetroot tartare, before five-or-so courses rich with deep flavour. Charcoal-kissed quail sweetened with stone fruit sambal perhaps, or a juicy duck breast with mushroom XO and a lip-sticking sauce made from the leftover neck. Room for banana pudding and creme fraiche ice-cream? Yes please. With informed staff and an impressive wine list of cult French drops and Hunter favourites, this is essential Newcastle dining. Who needs beach views, anyway?

9 Albert Street, Wickham, theflotilla.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Thu-Sat $$

Humbug

CONTEMPORARY

Come-as-you-are dinner party at an old friend’s house

Young couple Mike Portley and Stephanie Wells opened this breezy, bright space in January and helped revive a part of Hunter Street Mall that was previously a hotbed of tumbleweeds. Long tables and banquettes are engineered for opening a second bottle, and Portley

leads the kitchen while Wells runs the floor, making sure glasses are never empty and suggesting wines from a natural-leaning list. Something with skin-contact to drink with slip-offthe-bone pork ribs, perhaps, covered in a culture clash of Thai basil, oyster sauce and a Calabrian chilli paste. Other dishes are just as bold and borderless, such as Spanish anchovies draped over Danish pastries filled with parmesan custard, and diced raw beef enhanced with porcini cream. Don’t miss the mafaldine with a beef cheek and brisket ragu of long-cooked gravity. Humbug represents the best of smart-casual Newcastle restaurants right now. 87-89 Hunter Street, Newcastle, humbugnewcastle.com.au

L D Wed-Sat $$

Rick Stein at Bannisters

SEAFOOD

Stein-influenced menu delivers great seafood in a special spot

If, for reasons beyond speculation, you missed Rick Stein’s name when booking a table at this luxury hotel restaurant, you certainly won’t miss the shelf-loads of recipe books by the beloved chef for sale. Although Stein isn’t cooking here on a regular basis, his influence is felt across a menu of Mediterranean and Asian-inspired seafood dishes that are exactly what you want to eat with views to tranquil Salamander Bay. A mixed sashimi plate showcases local tuna and Coffs Harbourcaught snapper; swordfish, prawns

and squid bob about a wonderfully aromatic Indonesian curry, and roast Nelson Bay mulloway sings with Moroccan spices. Singapore chilli crab is on the carte if you’re in the mood to crack a blue swimmer, while special occasions call for whole lobster thermidor. Staff keep wine glasses full and customers happy – certainly worth a weekend away or day trip from Newcastle.

147 Soldiers Point Road, Soldiers Point, bannisters.com.au

L Sat D daily $$

Scottie’s

SEAFOOD

Fish ’n’ chips but so much mor

This East End institution has been serving Novocastrians for the past 70 years, and the corner site has never looked better. A recent interior redesign meant it was out with the crab pots and in with a sleek fit-out of dark timber and neutral colours. It’s a calming place to sit for lunch on a Sunday and inhale a rust-red bouillabaissestyle soup teeming with mussels, rock cod and fat king prawns. Families drop by during the day for fish and

Top: cuttlefish with scallop, roe cream, fermented pumpkin and melon at Flotilla. Above: night out at Scottie’s. Below: Rick Stein at Bannisters’ sashimi plate.

chips and crumbed calamari, while young couples visit at dinner for yuzu margaritas and a decadent little lobster and sambal sandwich loaded with a hashbrown for crunch. Mud crab dumplings swimming in a fragrant saffron and makrut lime broth are a soul-warming treat, while grilled swordfish tuned with pistachio, green olives and crisp-fried curry leaves requires something fresh and fruit-driven from the predominantly natural wine list.

36 Scott Street, Newcastle East, scottiesbeachhouse.com

L D Thu-Mon $$

Subo

CONTEMPORARY

Arguably, the best comes last with this six-course tasting menu

Whoever decided to begin using Subo’s fern-flanked glasshouse for dinner service rather than the odd event: brilliant. There’s nothing

wrong with the soft lighting and hushed tones of the regular dining room, mind, but after more than a decade of creative cooking at the same location, a table surrounded by glass walls and ivy makes you feel like you’re in a new restaurant. A six-course tasting menu is still big on flavour, kicking off with kingfish sashimi bumped up with sesame emulsion. The umami in scallops topping angel-hair pasta is boosted with mandarin kosho and housemade XO, and ruddy slices of striploin benefit from a pool of mushroom-y dashi. Dessert is the highlight, though – silky meringue ice-cream simply dotted with pickled blueberries. Super delicious; highly refreshing. Service is efficient, and the drinks list lots of fun. For more great cocktails afterwards, kick on to The Koutetsu next door.

551D Hunter Street, Newcastle West, subo.com.au

D Wed-Sat $$$

Above: woodroasted duck, burnt butter and mandarin at Ates. Left: Subo’s dining area is flanked by luscious vegetation.

Blue Mountains

Amara

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Degustation dining in a serene bush setting

Perched on the eastern edge of the Blue Mountains, Spicers Sangoma Retreat was one of the country’s most private all-inclusive bush resorts. Then, last year, it opened the onsite restaurant to everybody for the first time. Now non-hotel-guests can plot their way past the fancy electric gates for a taste of chef Will Houia’s Harvest Menu. Pre-lunch Barossa cab sav in the safari-luxe sitting room? Yes please. Houia’s dailychanging degustations are a safari of a different kind. Bite-sized snacks – perhaps mousse-filled baskets of crispy potato skin or pickled veg rolls – set in motion a showcase of backto-basics cooking that spotlights hyper-local produce. Asparagus is vibrant in an artful nest of charred stems, ribbons and custard, while a cabbage dumpling of zesty pearl barley brightens spring lamb. Plenty of high-end wines poured by the glass means designated drivers can savour something exquisite, too.

70 Grandview Lane, Bowen Mountain, restaurantamara.com.au

L D daily $$

Ates

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Warming dishes straight from the wood-fired oven

The heart and hearth of Ates is its sturdy WJ Amos wood-fired oven, just as it was when the restaurant was Phillip Searle’s ground-breaking Vulcan’s. Former Tetsuya’s and Rockpool chef Will Cowan-Lunn has given both the oven and restaurant an easy-going Mediterranean, Middle Eastern accent. Crusty, house-baked focaccia goes beautifully with a dish of gnarly oven-roasted beetroot, and a fat wedge of roasted pumpkin is as sweet as American pie. Crisp-skinned, roasted duck comes in a pond of burnt butter with fresh mandarins to share, and a little sauternes custard oozes with caramel (sharing optional). It’s the

Top: Darley’s turns on the charm. Above: pickled beetroot, goat’s curd, radicchio, watercress, lemon vinaigrette at Blaq.

sort of food that you feel like after a day in the mountains – wood-fired and serious but approachable, with a commitment to using local produce, ales and wine. In further good news, the same team now runs the casual Zoe’s taco bar located next door. Hurrah.

33 Govetts Leap Road, Blackheath, atesblackheath.com

L Sat-Sun D Thu-Sun $$

Blaq

CONTEMPORARY

Mountain chic with rooms on the side

It may be called Blaq (as in Blackheath), but this restaurant at new-ish boutique hotel The Kyah is actually Miami-pink, the handsome central bar flooded with light and run by bright and breezy staff. Chef Mate Herceg’s food is also sunny, marked by the charcoal grill and accompanied by cut lemons and beautifully dressed green leaves. A charcuterie platter carries furls of prosciutto, wagyu salami, grilled eggplant and zucchini, loads of Gibson Grove olives, good housemade chutney and local Black Cockatoo bread. The menu lists “smalls” and “bigs”, from heirloom beetroot and goat’s curd to beef tagliata with rocket and parmigiano, but the best stuff is from the “charred” section, such as goldenskinned spatchcock, brined, split and grilled – and all mains come with the crunchiest and most irresistible salt-studded chat potatoes this side of Lithgow. Finish on the dark side, with a chic little chocolate mousse. 13-17 Brightlands Avenue, Blackheath, thekyah.com.au

B daily L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Darley’s

CONTEMPORARY

High-altitude fine-dining with an eye for comfort

Darley’s is as majestic and baronial as ever, with its dark wooden panelling, enclosed balcony (lovely by day),

sparkling chandeliers, doubleclothed tables and warming open fires. Head chef Chathun Perera sticks to the fine-dining script across a three-course menu, with key local producers – Mandagery Creek venison, Malfroy’s Gold honey – dotted throughout like truffles. Venison tartare is bright with kimchi and saltbush, and a tender, dry-aged duck breast partners with the vibrant flowers of sweet, wild rosella, salsify and earthy black trumpet mushrooms. There’s wagyu beef, of course, but you may not have been expecting pine-smoked beetroot pastrami with mandarin and dill. Butter-poached Murray cod with clams and charred lettuce is one of the few proteins not sourced within a 100-kilometre radius, which means you’re almost always getting a view (if only culinarily) of the Blue Mountains region.

5-19 Lilianfels Avenue, Katoomba, darleysrestaurant.com.au

D Tue-Sat $$$

Leura Garage CONTEMPORARY Buzzing neighbourhood refuelling stop

The job of a motor garage is to fix things, right? Leura Garage takes that on board, and then some. Not only does it fix cravings for a coiled wheel of pork sausage with grain-mustard sauce or a cold Badlands Brewery lager; it also fixes things it believes are wrong with the way restaurants operate. So a solar photovoltaic energy system and organic waste composter have been installed, and rainwater tanks supply the coffee machine, dishwasher and drinking water. The menu is big but persevere and you’ll find a treat, from fried calamari and French dip (a beef-stuffed roll you dip into beef jus) to a crisp-edged pizza. Sit inside or out, drink margaritas or local wine and the Garage will get you back on the road.

84 Railway Parade, Leura, leuragarage.com.au

L D daily $$

Central West

29 Nine 99 Yum Cha and Tea House

CHINESE

A charming tea house among the gum trees

Forget any preconceptions about honey-drenched, starch-thickened country Chinese food here. Shaanxiborn owner-chef Na Lan spoils diners with a meticulously crafted array of authentic dumplings and buns in a charming 19th-century sandstone setting of quiet courtyards and lowslung doorways. Choose your tea, then an option from a staggered set menu and the rest is taken care of. The service is swift and warm, with a bit of sass and more colloquial “darls” than a CWA bake sale. Defying geographical logic, seafood offerings are a stand-out: plump, translucent and perfectly pleated,

with simple fillings like crab and snow pea or prawn and garlic chive. Save room for super fluffy buns to finish, with a choice of fillings covering sweet and savoury. You’ll also want to bring cash and book ahead, because little Rylstone is becoming a popular detour.

28 Louee Street, Rylstone

L daily $

Charred Kitchen & Bar

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Inspired cooking and a premier wine list for those in the know

On approaching what looks to be the facade of a family steak house, with roadside signage to match, it’s difficult to know what to expect at this relaxed eatery. After a glance at the tasting menu, and noting nearby tables lined with Bollinger

and burgundy, it becomes evident there’s something special going on. Former Bentley chef Liam O’Brien’s attention to detail is impressive and, as the name suggests, the kitchen’s wood oven (dubbed Lucifer) takes centrestage. Charred pizza with smoked schmaltz and peri-peri conjures nostalgia for butter chicken in the best possible way. Smoke plays a subtler role in dishes such as porcini-mushroom custard with burnt onion, and delicate kohlrabiwrapped spanner crab with toum and fire-drawn butter. With food this refined and a wine list packed with local and international gems, Charred is the hottest spot in town. 1-5 New Street, Orange, charred.com.au

L Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Printhie Wines

CONTEMPORARY Vineyard vistas

Whatever you do, don’t miss the oysters. Clyde River water is transported to Printhie’s brutalist-chic new cellar door every three months to create a perfect living environment for the flinty bivalves, which of course you’ll need to enjoy with a signature sparkling on the side. The oysters are an optional (but essential) add-on to chef Jack Brown’s five-course tasting menu that might include wonderfully juicy smoked quail enhanced with South-East Asian flavours of coconut and pear, or a steadying wagyu rump cap teamed, albeit almost overpowered by, young garlic and ponzu vinaigrette gel. This is a beautiful lunch spot overlooking vineyards 10 minutes’ drive from Orange, and wine tourists keen for a quicker bite can pre-book a tasting and snackfilled picnic pack, complete with a blanket ready to be rolled out among vintage apple orchards. A winning new addition to the region. 208 Nancarrow Lane, Nashdale, printhiewines.com.au

L Thu-Sun $$

Above: Printhie Wines’ figs with malted milk and roasted chocolate.

Left: road trippers make a detour for the dumplings at 29 Nine 99 Yum Cha and Tea House.

The Schoolhouse Restaurant CONTEMPORARY

A buzzing ex-schoolhouse dining room in the centre of town

This pared-back contemporary space inside the old Union Bank of Australia building seems to tick every box for groups looking for a convivial night out in Orange. The ceilings are high, the wines are mostly local and many dishes are designed to be shared. Triumphantly crisp, chickensalt-seasoned potato scallops come courtesy of local hero “farmer Doug”, whose designer spuds grace menus all over town. Be advised – order more than you think you need. In fact, save a couple of scallops to ferry excellent beef tartare, lusciously dressed with smoked oyster cream and a mountain of fresh chives. Looking for an excuse to order a bottle of that beaut local pinot you sampled earlier in the day? Simple produce-driven dishes including crisp porchetta with herbs and pickled green tomatoes make the decision an easy one – as if you needed convincing, that is. 84 Byng Street, Orange, theunionbank.com.au

L D Wed-Mon $$

Sister’s Rock Restaurant CONTEMPORARY

Serene wine-country dining in the hills

Perched in the shadow of Mount Canobolas, overlooking the vines and cherry orchards of Borrodell Estate, it’s hard to imagine a more agreeable setting for a long wine-country lunch. The menu is playful and vibrant without losing sight of the season, kicking things off with a humble bowl of spiced pumpkin soup that’s about as good as it gets. The kitchen team isn’t afraid to notch it up a gear though, and delicate black garlic gnocchi harmonise with enoki mushroom, guanciale and XO sauce, while barbecued barramundi comes in a delicately scented broth offset by charred lemon. Young waitstaff are attentive and amiable, sharing an enthusiasm for local ingredients. A graceful jumble of berry compote with raw and caramelised apple grown onsite is an idyllic way to finish, providing a restrained snapshot of terroir.

298 Lake Canobolas Road, Orange, borrodell.com.au

L Thu-Mon $$

Below left: Kim Currie guides the food philosophy at The Zin House. Below right: share plates at Charred Kitchen & Bar.

The Zin House

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20

A quintessential experience in cabernet country

We love it when a kitchen and dining room rub shoulders. At Zin House, chefs work quietly in the main room on a large wooden bench that groans with fresh produce, native flowers and well-seasoned copperware. It’s an agreeable scene that’ll have you feeling right at ease and you’ll need to put aside an afternoon because this is long lunch territory. Small treats form the first of five set courses, showcasing local charcuterie, olive oil, breads and fresh-picked garden goodies. The seasons inspire the menu, and you might encounter Jerusalem artichokes beautifully teamed with barley, borage flowers and fennel tips, or pine mushroom fettuccine finished tableside with winter truffle. Simple dishes such as smoked-beef cottage pie demonstrate the team’s confidence in produce sourced from the property. With a glass of Lowe Wines zinfandel in hand, the sentiment is mutual.

327 Tinja Lane, Mudgee, lowefamilywineco.com.au

L Thu-Mon $$$

Mid North Coast

Bar Que Sera

CONTEMPORARY

City-style bar in a country town

This breezy locals’ favourite near Coffs Harbour is relaxed enough that you can wear thongs and shorts, but slick enough that a nice shirt and jacket wouldn’t be overdressing. A spot at the bar is made for drinking excellent cocktails and working through snacks such as a prawn roll thumping with fermented lemon and dill mayo, and crunchy mozzarellafilled croquettes flecked with rosemary and thyme. The rest of the menu reads like a dinner party by the beach: a couple of salads, some pasta, a bit of fish and a rib-eye to share. Charred zucchini is sharpened with olives and freshened with mint, while lemon beurre blanc is poured over sweet and firm-fleshed Woolgoolga mahi mahi. Sibling bar Morty’s Joint has just opened next door too, rocking fried chicken, craft beers and honesty-box pool. Book a weekend of sunscreen, surf and pisco sours today.

61 First Avenue, Sawtell, bar-que-sera.com

Osteria Fiume ITALIAN Mellow Bellingen

The Stunned Mullet CONTEMPORARY 15/20 Every day’s a holiday

on the rise

A big verandah for kicking back with mixed olives. Welcoming staff to guide you through a short menu of Italian favourites. Lambrusco on the pour and Kurt Vile in the background – dreamy music for a sleepy town. Bellingen’s food and booze credentials are on the rise (see also Charlie’s at Church and Bruno’s Mediterranean Kitchen), but Fiume is our pick of the lunch spots for its take-a-load-off vibes, handsome fit-out and dishes full of flavour. Vitello tonnato is a no-funny-business rendition of the Piedmontese classic, house-made maltagliati pasta is perfect with chardonnay thanks to a judicious use of brown butter and pecorino, and porchetta covered in salsa verde and creamy cannellini beans has the right balance of crackling and fat to juicy meat. Mercifully, there’s also cold drip coffee and biscotti to finish and kick you back into gear.

58 Hyde Street, Bellingen, osteriafiume.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Fri-Sat $$

Holy moly, there are some serious red wines in the cellar here. Armand Rousseau, Ganevat, Chateau Margaux – so many French hits –plus impressive vintages of Australian producers including Mount Mary and Rockford. Good thing there’s a juicy piece of wagyu eye fillet to ride alongside, punched up with Peruvian chilli and topped with grilled okra. With blond-wood tables and coastal landscape prints, Stunned Mullet looks like every second holiday town restaurant, but the stalwart sure knows its way around seafood as well as wine. Perfectly seared scallops are given an umami boost thanks to roasted Russian garlic aioli, and toothfish is a standout, full of flavour and the fun textures of savoy cabbage, daikon and crisp-fried enoki. Staff, meanwhile, are immensely friendly (although when you’re paying $39 for a glass of chablis, it would be nice to have that chardonnay poured at the table).

24 William Street, Port Macquarie, thestunnedmullet. com.au

L D Mon-Sat

Clockwise from left: white anchovies, celery salt and local mustard cress at Osteria Fiume; The Stunned Mullet; mahi mahi with lemon beurre blanc at Bar Que Sera.

Northern Rivers

Beach Byron Bay

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20

Bush and surf a whisper away

They don’t come much closer to the beach than this, a whitewashed weatherboard kiosk and restaurant surrounded by patches of bushland on both sides and wide, open ocean in front. Not a bad spot to splash out on Pouilly-Fuisse from a cracking little wine list; an even better place to fold tropical painted crayfish into a crepe and drizzle it with lemon butter sauce. Alanna Sapwell leads the kitchen and sends out smart, produce-championing dishes from snacky cucumber “boats” ferrying white anchovies and gribiche, to refreshing guava granita and coconut sorbet topping assorted jellies of white peach, pineapple and rollinia – a locally-grown type of custard apple native to Brazil. Crisp-skinned mahi mahi in a broth of barbecued

tomatoes and seaweed keeps with the coastal theme, and holidaymakers should note the attached kiosk for breakfast rolls, choice cakes and first-class fish and chips. Much kudos all round.

2 Massinger Street, Byron Bay, beachbyronbay.com.au

L D Thu-Mon $$

Belongil Beach Italian Food

ITALIAN

The hottest place in town for spaghetti and spritzes

Maurice Terzini is the Energizer Bunny of restaurateurs. Somewhere between launching venues in Sydney and Melbourne, and overseeing a remodelling of Bondi’s Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, he also found time to open a surfside trattoria in Byron. The site is a mix of brutalist chic and holiday-park patio – all

concrete, tiles, long tables and paperbark trees, punctuated by plush pinks and energetic art. Attractive locals breeze in for a quick natural wine sundowner and snacks, maybe prawn fritti with finger-lime aioli, or grilled scampi perfect with just olive oil and lemon. A menu created by chef Danny Rossi with Icebergs’ Alex Prichard rewards a deeper dive, though, and Moreton Bay bug-topped linguine shiny with lemon thyme butter and cherry tomatoes is exactly what you want after a dip in the ocean. More like this in coastal towns everywhere, please, Mr Terzini.

33-35 Childe Street, Byron Bay, bbif.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Bistro Livi

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20 Spanish food, laidback vibe

The Northern Rivers’ best new restaurant is a place engineered with locals in mind – a spot you can pop into for a solo martini, nice anchovies and chargrilled quail, plump and juicy in a sweet-sour sauce of pomegranate molasses, raisins and pine nuts. But, it’s still best to book as a group and order as much of the Spanish-influenced menu as possible. An dining room of stained timber and soft lighting invites a Spanish sin prisa (“no rush”) approach to eating, helped by the music of Neil Young. Weekly-changing dishes might include paprika-red calamari panfried quickly with txistorra sausage, hand-picked spanner crab elevated by a butter fragrant with curry leaves, or a glossy pork chop covered in soy-seasoned shiitake and local radishes. Fine service and singular wines seal the deal, Livi makes Murwillumbah a must-visit town.

Shop 1A, 1-3 Brisbane Street, Murwillumbah, bistrolivi.com

L Sat D Wed-Sat $$

Top: grilled prawns at Belongil Beach Italian Food. Below: holidaymakers picnic on the grass at Beach Byron Bay.

Cadeau

EUROPEAN

A feel-good European odyssey to warm the soul

Few Australian restaurants wield “European” as comprehensively as this 50-seater, where the continent is represented multilaterally through barigoule, bagna cauda, malakoffs and agrodolce. The latter, a capery green sauce spooned under a crumbed and fried orb of lamb’s brain, possesses powerful flavour, as does wine-braised baby octopus sprawled on a slice of sourdough dolloped with lemony aioli. Venison rack scattered with cubes of smoked marrow and doughnut-shaped pommes dauphine evokes dinners in chef Giorgio Ravelli’s father’s house in alpine Switzerland, after which the restaurant was named. With a menu built around European travels, Cadeau will leave you nostalgic for past journeys and excited for adventures to come, even if they all happen in this cheery dining room. (And don’t miss the Sunday roast special if you’re in town on the weekend.)

Shop 2, 26 Mullumbimbi Street, Brunswick Heads, cadeaurestaurant.com

Capiche

ITALIAN

Beachfront la dolce vita in Ballina

By day, you can watch lifesavers zipping about in rescue boats through floor-to-ceiling glass windows at this new smart-casual finer-diner at Lighthouse Beach. At night the space becomes a bit more of a party with flickering candles, dance music on the playlist and big comfy booths for large groups and families. Crowd-pleasing Italian is the pitch, with plenty of house-made pastas, and blisteredcrust pizzas cooked in a wood-fired oven behind the chic bar. It’s the antipasti that really stands out, however, such as crispy school prawns addictively seasoned with tomato salt, sympathetically fried zucchini flowers stuffed with housemade ricotta, superbly tender beef carpaccio sharpened with parmesan and capers and barbecued octopus with spritely salsa verde. Pick of the pastas is a wild boar ragu rigatoni tangy with cultured cream. And for dessert? Decadent tiramisu, of course, and more of that ocean view.

65 Lighthouse Parade, East Ballina, capicherestaurant.com.au

L Thu-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Ciao, Mate!

ITALIAN 15/20

A passion for Italian cooking with Northern Rivers spirit

In both name and menu, Ciao, Mate! disproves the notion that Italian food should be a sacred, serious business. Sure, there’s plenty of authenticity to pistachio pesto pasta, pizza (dough is fermented for 36 hours before being blasted in the wood-fired oven that commands the kitchen) and every spoonful of a ridiculously creamy tiramisu. But for all of the “ciao” of chequerboard tiles and tomato tins, Matt Stone and his fellow chefs bring just as much Aussie “mate!” with touches such as a macadamia-cream base on potato pizza and sliced starfruit with a swirl of fermented jalapeno hot sauce topping local stracciatella.

A heavy-hitting wine list straddling Italy and Australia guarantees a wildly good time at this lively trattoria – and amaro to finish.

33 Byron Street, Bangalow, ciaomate.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Mon

Clockwise from above left: the chequerboard tiles and dining room at Ciao, Mate!; Italian favourites at Capiche; Frida’s Field is a regenerative farm as well as a restaurant; Cadeau’s farina bona cake, blueberries, sorrel granita and white chocolate ice-cream.

Frida’s Field

CONTEMPORARY 15/20 Save room for cake at this restaurant/working farm

Step one: book in advance. This regenerative farm, restaurant and wedding venue near Byron only hosts three long lunches a week and requires upfront payment. Step two: order a beef fat-washed Old Fashioned and settle in for a set menu of confident, honest cooking from chef Alastair Waddell. Frida’s runs a small herd of Angus wagyu, so beef is invariably a headline act, perhaps shin slow-cooked and honed with parsley sauce, or wood-fired scotch fillet dressed with soy. It’s all exemplary stuff, particularly when you’re in a high-ceilinged dining space of dark timber and views to bottle-green pasture. Starters might include tender cuttlefish in a gingery crab bisque, or a gold-standard Cornish pasty with racy house-made brown sauce. Save room for sides – nutty and submissive wood-fired Jerusalem artichoke is a revelation – and even more room for sweets. Waddell might bake the best carrot cake in the business.

76 Booyong Road, Nashua, fridasfield.com

L Fri-Sun $$

Harvest Newrybar

CONTEMPORARY

and rich and creamy fettuccine with nori and wild mushrooms. A jumble of barbecued squid is interspersed with ribbons of potato and Thai basil, and coconut sorbet with pineapple provides a fitting taste of the tropics. For lunch on the go there’s also the deli, abundant with sourdough, sandwiches and knockout terrines. 18-22 Old Pacific Highway, Newrybar, harvest.com.au

L Wed-Sun D Thu-Sat $$

The Hut Byron Bay MEDITERRANEAN

Convivial coastal-style dining up in the gorgeous Byron hinterland

Karkalla CONTEMPORARY

Locavore

deli and destination diner

With a focus on local, seasonal produce since 2007, the ever-evolving Harvest is as popular with regulars as it is with visitors to the Byron region. Relax inside or outdoors on the verandah of a converted farmhouse, which has also served as a post office and general store in its century-old history. Aromas from a wood-fired oven in the open kitchen (overseen by creative director David Moyle) permeate the dining room, and tables decorated with daisies add to the charm. Many dishes are built around innovative combinations of flavours, such as pepperberry mortadella,

You can find this humble eatery in a former schoolhouse on a quiet road winding through the Byron Bay hinterland. Surrounded by camphor laurel and fig trees, the stylishly restored dining room has a light-and-easy vibe, with weatherboard walls, high ceilings, timber floors and sash windows. After being greeted by charming floor manager Achille Martino, expect a generous Mediterraneanstyle menu of wholesome farm-totable dishes, beautifully prepared by Italian-born chef Bruno Conti. Tuna crudo is fragrant with mandarin oil, saganaki showcases golden-fried kefalograviera cheese sweetened by leatherwood honey, and highlymarbled wagyu is supercharged with black garlic mustard. Pasta is a must, especially pappardelle with lip-sticking beef ragu, and – if it’s truffle season – agnolotti al tartufo in warming chicken consomme. Vegan guests are catered for with an entirely plant-based menu starring Conti’s hometown focaccia alla Genovese. Essential Northern Rivers long lunching.

471 Friday Hut Road, Possum Creek, thehutbyronbay.com.au

L Fri-Sun $$

A focus on native Australian foods Kangaroo is (literally) a tough meat to get right, but the team here nails it – beautifully charred and still juicy, with native herb salsa verde underneath and layers of crisp, golden potato on top. Karkalla is the passion project of Bundjalung woman Mindy Woods, a former MasterChef contestant and fierce advocate for putting more native foods on plates. So crunchy tempura-style saltbush comes with piquant bush-tomato mayo, and salt-and-pepperberry calamari is a welcome spin on the Aussie squid staple. Kutjera (desert raisin) tastes like smoky sun-dried tomato in a romesco boosting roasted eggplant, and blistered sea succulents season steamed barramundi in a kombu broth. Woods has crafted a cosy, tasteful space to kick back in, full of recycled wood, comfy cushions and throw rugs. A great spot for another native-thyme-infused negroni.

Shop 10, 8 Fletcher Street, Byron Bay, karkalla.com.au

D Thu-Mon $$

From top: hinterland goodies at The Hut Byron Bay; Harvest Newrybar’s century-old farmhouse premises; native ingredients and flavours come to the fore at Karkalla.

La Casita MEXICAN

Taco-slinging surf shack with panache

From the fine folk at Fleet comes this bright and beautiful little spot for tequila-fuelled party times or post-surf tacos on the go. Jalapeno stuffed with fresh pork sausage and salty cotija cheese is every bit the gooey, mighty-flavoured snack you would expect, while raw-fish tostadas are lifted by hunks of dragon fruit and boisterous salsa macha. It’s all about the tacos, though, delivered by on-message floor staff in an apricot-pink courtyard surrounded by soothing palms and succulents. There are rump-steak tacos with queso and zingy tomatillo salsa, a poached-chicken number with deeply-flavoured almond mole and big rings of pickled onion, and tortillas cradling moreish lamb slow-roasted under coals. Top vegan options include a grilled cauliflower taco with cashew crema, while cake fans shouldn’t miss the tres leches. And if tequila isn’t you, try a housemade pineapple soda instead.

Shop 5, 3 Fawcett Street, Brunswick Heads, lacasita.com.au

Lola Dining

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Spirited small-towner with a big heart

As far as good eating and drinking in the Northern Rivers go, you’ll increasingly find yourself exploring beyond Byron. But Ballina? Maybe for the Big Prawn. Then, Lola is shifting the conversation. Start with the Ballina prawn bun – which tosses the town’s icon with mayo, celery and lettuce and stuffs it into a brioche bun – and it’s clear that owners Rosa Diaferia and Olivia Serrano are on to something. There’s focus in the service, the short wine list and an (excellent) negroni, while the menu ties local produce into the pair’s Spanish and Italian backgrounds – tuna crudo with ajo blanco and dragon fruit, say, or cappellacci with ricotta and braised leek. Pendant lights cast a warm glow around the cosy room, juicy charred chicken on lentils with charcutiere sauce warms hearts, and desserts balance brains and beauty. A new reason to discover Ballina? Lola just might be it.

Shop 1, 28-34 Cherry Street, Ballina, loladining.com.au

D Wed-Sat $$

Clockwise from far left: Lola Dining’s Rosa Diaferia and Olivia Serrano; fish finger sandwich at No. 35 Kitchen; dishes from Raes Dining Room including (at left) oysters with pandanus vinegar and rosella kombucha granita.

No. 35 Kitchen and Bar ITALIAN

Free and easy Italian-ish with big-city skills and local sensibilities

It’s hard to think of Cabarita without thinking about the luxury of Halcyon House, where poolside cocktails, long lunches at Paper Daisy and Anna Spiro’s textiles reign supreme. But No. 35 offers something different, streamlined, straightforward and just plain easy to like. Small plates. Large plates. Sides. Dessert. One page of wines with some cult Italians, Birra Moretti and pitch-perfect spritzes. The brick-lined room is warm and inviting, but you want to be on the tables out front, tucked into a chair or sprawled on a banquette, breeze flowing, sharing reggiano-dredged beef tartare on toast or a pankocrumbed local snapper sando loaded with sweet pickles. Mains are simple, too, ranging from pasta (cavatelli puttanesca, maybe), to steak, to a serviceable pork chop topped with radicchio. Finish with faultless tiramisu and leave thankful for life’s little luxuries.

35 Tweed Coast Road, Cabarita Beach, number35.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Thu-Sat $$

Top: bay lobster tartare with pomelo, lobster custard and roe at Pipit. Above: Paper Daisy chef Jason Barratt.

Paper Daisy

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Casual coastal chic and food with flair

The in-house restaurant of boutique hotel Halcyon House throws open its doors to outside guests each evening, offering an ever-changing four-course menu based around seasonal produce and sustainably sourced seafood. Innovative dishes are the creations of chef Jason Barratt, and despite the hotel’s luxury status, there are no white tablecloths here – it’s more high-end beach house, with linen cushions, fruit bowls and shelves lined with a rainbow of books. Yellowfin tuna energised by red-pepper yoghurt and sea parsley looks more like a magnolia flower than a meal, while bay lobster – surely the region’s most popular ingredient – is enveloped in a green-tea dumpling. Duck breast with toasted grains and black garlic is a deeply savoury taste sensation. And whether you’re a hotel guest or not, the cosy lounge area is the right place to relax with roasted fennel ice-cream, pear and spiced dates.

21 Cypress Crescent, Cabarita Beach, halcyonhouse.com.au

L daily (groups of four or more)

D daily $$

Pipit

CONTEMPORARY 17/20

Elevated hyperlocal cooking in a quiet Tweed Shire town

Life moves slowly in Pottsville, just like the gently bubbling ferments and ageing concoctions that take up every available space in the open kitchen of this soothing, handsome restaurant. Chef Ben Devlin manipulates extraordinarily local ingredients into the best versions of themselves, exemplified in the generous assortment of bite-sized snacks to begin: a biscuit made with flour milled from fish bones and topped with grouper-fat caramel; just-picked turnips with a verdant vegetable off-cut sauce. Mullet with macadamia miso is cured in mullet “whey”, clean-flavoured bay lobster tartare might be sharpened with marinated citrus, and rare tropical fruits are showcased across a flurry of desserts. Meanwhile, the wine list is all-Australian, staff are all smiles and locals are loving the new “bistro Mondays” when the usual tasting menu is switched to a la carte. Regional dining at its very best. Shop 4, 8 Coronation Avenue, Pottsville, pipitrestaurant.com

L Fri-Sun D Mon, Thu-Sat $$$

Raes Dining Room

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20

Beachside luxury backed up with careful, considered cooking

This relaxed yet elegant boutique hotel restaurant has the feel of a sun-kissed Greek villa with a dash of Casablanca. Whitewashed walls, creeping ivy and historic black-andwhite surf photos all add to the vibe.

Dressed in sandshoes and babyblue shirts, cheerful and efficient staff talk guests through the dishes of Jason Saxby, Raes’ chef with a passion for native ingredients and ethically-sourced seafood. Start with seaweed-cured kingfish played off against apple, cucumber, horseradish and lemon myrtle, before pristine market fish served with Ballina pipis joined by warrigal green salsa and crisp wakame. Sweet and succulent bay lobster tops chilli-spiked shellfish risotto with a backbeat of bergamot, and a “MacAffogato” knows how to have fun with coconut and roast macadamia sorbet, espresso and macadamia liqueur. Note the topnotch sustainability-focused wine list, too.

6-8 Marine Parade, Byron Bay, raes.com.au

L D daily $$

Roco Ramen

JAPANESE 15/20

A finessed noodle pop-up takes over Fleet for an extended stay

What’s this? A tiny ramen joint popping up on the site of one of Australia’s most celebrated restaurants? While Fleet is on sabbatical, one of its chefs, Daiki Shigeta, is doling out the Northern Rivers’ finest noodles, complete with jammy eggs and gloriously fatty chashu. Timber booths, noren strung high, sake on the shelves (poured expertly by Fleet drinks master Robert Mudge) flip the place into Japanese territory, and then there’s the snacks.

Toast topped with labne and prawns enriched with garlicky oil, maybe, or unbelievably tender charcoal ox-tongue cut with lime. But you’re here for ramen – the porky tokusei clean and rich, the tan tan combining chicken and roasted prawn shell. Each is layered and addictive, the soup clinging to house rye noodles. Catch the pop-up while you can, then watch where it lands permanently.

Shop 2, 16 The Terrace, Brunswick Heads, rocoramen.com.au

D Wed-Sat $

Shelter

CONTEMPORARY

Sustainably-minded dining for locals and holidaymakers alike

Airy and spacious, Shelter is about as fresh as the gentle breeze rolling in from the ocean waves out front. This is dining with a serious side of beach-house chic – clock the white walls, wide open windows and rattan-backed chairs – where ease and enjoyment come first and the service is as relaxed as at a holiday house. The menu follows suit, keeping things streamlined on the plate. Don’t be fooled, though; there’s noteworthy cooking going on. A dome of pillowy taramasalata, perhaps, loaded with trout roe and chives and served with crisp chicken-fat roti for scooping. Or charred octopus dressed with slivers of guanciale and green pawpaw. Fish specials draw on the day’s catch, wine is appropriately light and lo-fi, and the bug sando – the sweet flesh almost pearlescent – is a thing of absolute beauty. All this, plus breakfast and a room upstairs? We’ll drink a Spritz to that. 41 Pacific Parade, Lennox Head, shelterlennox.com.au

Three Blue Ducks

CONTEMPORARY

Pastoral fantasyland fuelled by a love of everything local

The idyllic restaurant-nurseryprovidore-playground that is The Farm had already become a spiritual home for the Three Blue Ducks, but with the 2021 closure of the Bronte original, this community-focused cornucopia, just outside Byron, has taken on even greater importance. It’s here where the group’s driving philosophy is most at play. Supply lines branch out from the pigs scratching in the paddocks to likeminded locals: sourdough comes from residents The Bread Social; stracciatella is made from local milk. The produce leads the menu, but it’s the Ducks’ commitment to flavour that stands out. That stracciatella is lifted by pickled melon and a fennelseed crunch. Mussels in yellow curry are served over rice with a ton of veg and a chilli-coconut topping. Wine fits the bill with a focus on local (there’s that word again) drops made thoughtfully, while service is bright and assured.

11 Ewingsdale Road, Ewingsdale, threeblueducks.com/byron

L daily D Fri-Sun $$

You Beauty

CONTEMPORARY 15/20 Modern Aussie eatery in a historic hinterland town

Brought to you from the team who run neighbouring nuovo-pizzeria Ciao, Mate! and the Eltham Hotel, You Beauty has taken more than a little inspiration from dinky-di pubs and outback pool rooms. However, with brass trims, wildflowers and smooth timber interiors, the intimate venue feels more like an inner-city wine bar (albeit one with an eclectic community noticeboard and rocking soundtrack). Sustainably-focused chef Matt Stone showcases local farm produce with a hyper-seasonal menu, and a kangaroo skewer with fermented honey and turnip kraut is outstanding. Fresh-as-fresh asparagus is perfectly charred and partnered with crisp sugar-snap peas and salted egg-yolk sauce; house-made feta is sharpened with Meyer lemon and roast quail is exceptionally succulent with fermented green peppercorns. For a quick salami plate and natural wine, or full-on meal, You Beauty has you in good hands.

37-39 Byron Street, Bangalow, youbeauty2479.com

L D Wed-Sun $$

From left: Shelter owners Andrew Love and Troy Noonan; dining buzz at Three Blue Ducks; Bangalow’s You Beauty takes inspiration from all things dinky-di.

Canberra

Bar Rochford

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20

Beaut food and top drinks with chilled party vibes

Follow the remixed Billie Holiday up the stairs to an elegantly furnished and buzzing room, and you’ll find whatever kind of night you’re looking for. A wine bar, cocktail destination and restaurant all at once, punters jonesing for a bracing martini can place their trust in some of Canberra’s finest mixing talents. Meanwhile, the small plates that fly out of co-chefs Josh Lundy and Belinda Barrett Smith’s kitchen are ideal for riding shotgun with a quick drink, or may provide the foundation of an intimate dinner. Lobster vol-au-vents and intricately layered potato galette with steak tartare and parmesan cream are stand-outs. More substantial plates – including koji-rubbed pork with gochujang caramel and dashi-bathed cos lettuce – ache to be matched with one of the many natural wines. No matter the experience you’re after, Rochford is a good time all the time.

Level 1, 65 London Circuit, Canberra, barrochford.com

Corella CONTEMPORARY Cosy bar and diner with a native accent

A snacky share menu with more than a nod to native flavours. The moody vibe of a cocktail bar, with the date-night tables of a bistro. A thoughtful, natural wine list. Corella sits easily within Canberra’s growing small-restaurant scene. It’s the first foray into dedicated dining for the team behind Assembly: The People’s Pub, and while the service can be a bit pubby, a fried Skull Island prawn bun, and finger of brioche piped with chicken-liver parfait and spiked with pickled muntries are on-message. The kitchen’s vegetarian take on beef tartare is built with raw strands of carrot and zucchini and might need a rethink, but a charred pork chop is agreeably drenched in warm grapes and its own oily juices, and a tall dome of coconut panna cotta gets a much-needed update with Geraldton wax flower and macadamias.

Shop 1, 14 Lonsdale Street, Braddon, corellabar.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Left: pizza oven at Italian and Sons. Above: barramundi, Jerusalem artichoke and tarragon at Bar Rochford. Below: Corella kitchen in action.

Italian and Sons

ITALIAN 15.5/20

Big Italian cooking in Braddon

A barrel-aged negroni arrives with a bowl of zucchini fries, the semolina-crumbed tangle crispy and squeezed with a cheek of lemon – just like our waiter’s mother used to make them in southern Italy, he tells us. That’s the timbre of this beloved trattoria run by the four titular sons of an Italian migrant. A sense of nostalgia seasons every dish, from a Tricolore of pink peppercorns, white pine nuts and bright green dill scattered over chardonnay vinegar-pickled grilled sardines, through to the cream-and-cocoa-covered helping of rich tiramisu. Punchy pasta and pizza offerings hum with the same national pride, as does the robust Italo-Australian wine list, all delivered with the kind of conviviality and enthusiasm you’d expect in an eatery inspired by the flavours of Italy.

7 Lonsdale Street, Braddon, italianandsons.com.au

L Wed-Fri D Tue-Sat $$

Lamshed’s Food + Wine

CONTEMPORARY

Suburban wine bar anyone would be happy to come home to

A shopping strip in the neat streets of Canberra’s south – complete with a butcher, a bottle shop and a hair colour specialist – is one of the last places you might look for a lively wine bar with top-notch food. Happily, Lamshed’s doesn’t plot its way by GPS alone. Settle in among the cosy suede banquet seats, rough plaster walls, candles and wine crates for pretty little crumbed crab and potato croquettes, served with creamy taramasalata and topped with smoky avruga caviar. Crispskinned, pan-seared snapper on a pearly bed of fennel and mussel risotto is bright and bold. A glass of golden palomino from south-western Spain is balanced by the salty goodness of thin-sliced tempura eggplant with white miso. Grape buffs will also get a tickle out of tender striploin steak with rich mulled wine butter.

The ’burbs have rarely tasted so good.

27 Bentham Street, Yarralumla, lamsheds.com.au

L Wed-Sun D Tue-Sat $$

Miss Van’s

MODERN ASIAN Vibrant spin on the food of Vietnam and Laos

Beloved shipping container pop-up Miss Van’s has found a permanent home, giving owner Andrew Duong and chef Adam Hazleton a weatherproof opportunity to deliver even more comprehensively on their “new South-East Asian” pitch. Grilled discs of Laotian sausage rest on charred cabbage dolloped with savoury-sweet jaew bong sauce and retain their street-food lineage, as do

Top: Mu Omakase’s misomarinated toothfish. Above: octopus with paprika mayo, lemon and kipfler potatoes at Lamshed’s Food + Wine. Right: chic banquette at Onzieme.

thin egg noodles tossed in an umamithumping butter infused with white pepper and Maggi seasoning. Mussels bathed in a red curry sauce – waiting to be mopped up with bread – offer a take on moules mariniere. Dine in with one of the justly renowned cocktails while you enjoy the wafting scent of lemongrass, or take away a banh mi inspired by the VietnameseLaotian matriarchs of Duong’s family, after whom the restaurant is named.

Shop 4, 113-119 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra, missvans.com.au

L Wed-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Mu Omakase

JAPANESE 15.5/20

Small bites leave a big impression

The Mu experience begins in the softly-lit adjoining Cicada Bar with a yuzu-spiked cocktail, rice beer or nip of Japanese whisky. Soon you are whisked into the 10-seat private dining room, where in the warmer months you’ve got a front row seat to the dozen-or-so-course procession of intricate fish and seafood bites. In winter, the robatayaki grill breathes fire over Hokkaido scallops dressed with Mu’s house-made XO, rosy octopus arms grilled in duck fat, and sublimely buttery toothfish cured for two days in saikyo yaki miso before being barbecued and dressed with a jammy Davidson-plum sauce. There’s an array of sake but leaving it to the staff to select the best fit for each course is the smartest drinks play. 1 Constitution Avenue, Canberra, chairmangroup.com.au/mu

D Tue-Sat $$$

Onzieme

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Euro-chic bistro

Whole pumpkins bake in the woodfired oven and natural wines and jars of pickles line the bar of this relaxed corner spot. Owner-chef Louis Couttopes first elevated the idea of dining in a wine bar at Bar Rochford; now he’s doing it for Kingston. The menu gets a rewrite if there’s a glut of turnips or if a diner drops in with an armful of backyard feijoas, which imbues a sense of spontaneity. Fat sardines might come with lovage oil and nasturtiums, or meaty Murray cod head with jerk sauce. Silky-smooth chicken-liver parfait is blanketed with tangy apple puree, and raw prawns are tossed in lime and feijoa juice with leaves of huacatay (Peruvian black mint) lifting the fruitiness. Note, also, there’s a tiny bar downstairs known as 11e Cave.

Shop 5, 39 Kennedy Street, Kingston, onzieme.com.au

D Tue-Sat $$

Pavilion Dining

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Fine-dining goes farmhouse

Sometimes when a restaurant claims to be farm-to-table, there isn’t a farm in sight. But at Pialligo Estate there are 22 hectares of fruit and olive trees, beehives and vegie gardens supplying the events centre and food hub to make the promise ring true. The figs sandwiched between crisp crostoli with a luscious fig creme at Pialligo’s feature restaurant are grown onsite, while a charcuterie board showcases house-made pickles, hay-smoked ham and smoked duck breast. Chef Mark Glenn nails the brief with two or three-course menus that could star King George whiting with anchovy butter, or duck breast with pickled cherries and beetroot. With brunches and private functions amid the glittering chandeliers and tinkling fountains, there’s a lot going on, so it can be surprising to find yourself relaxed, wine glass in hand, staring peacefully out to the grounds.

18 Kallaroo Road, Pialligo, thepialligoestate.com.au

L Thu-Sun D Thu-Sat $$

Pilot

CONTEMPORARY 16/20

Taking Canberra dining to bold new heights

There’s a frisson of excitement at the start of the seven-course tasting menu at Pilot, akin to the rush of adrenaline as your flight takes off. Malcolm Hanslow’s high-impact dishes zig-zag with punchy flavours – chilli, coffee, herb oils, citrus, ferments and caramel – from the first yoghurt pita pocket stuffed with romesco to the last Jerusalem artichoke ice-cream sandwiched between chocolate biscuits. A swirl of shaved carrot ribbons glazed with burnt honey, zaatar and coffee is “OMG” good. Soft chicken tsukune dive-bomb into sourdough broth; hapuka rests on a cornichon puree under a frizz of fried onions. And the hits keep coming: Grandma’s

pumpkin. Sichuan cola duck. “Hippy salad”. Owners Dash Rumble and Ross McQuinn show grace under the pressure of two sittings a night, quietly converting diners to the esoteric joys of multi-varietals from the fringes of Australian wine. As they say, trust the Pilot.

Ainslie Shops, Wakefield Gardens, Ainslie, pilotrestaurant.com D Tue-Sat $$$

Raku

JAPANESE 15/20

Polished Japanese for date nights and post-shopping sashimi

“I can do all things,” reads the tattoo on the forearm of a chef in the kitchen. And you need only browse the door-stopper menu here to know that’s probably true. A tasting menu is the right choice for the overwhelmed, taking diners from rich rock oysters with tosazu dressing to toasted sesame ice-cream. Enjoy the ride at a counter seat close to the action for a precision-sliced platter of salmon, kingfish and Japanese scallops that’s bright and beautifully simple. Robata-grilled scotch fillet with wasabi sour cream and rhubarb salt is similarly restrained. It’s an odd venue for a refined restaurant, positioned as it is within a supersized shopping centre. But Raku pulls it off. Outside are discount shoes and

Above: the hits keep coming at all-day diner Rebel Rebel.

scented candles. Inside is a refreshing reminder that less is more. (Express lunch specials are ideal for a business meeting, too.)

148 Bunda Street, Canberra, rakudining.com.au

L D Mon-Sun $$

Rebel Rebel

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Stylishly

simple

and all things to all comers

A technicolour David Bowie portrait watches over diners, and the house cocktail list features a “Life on Mars” made with pineapple shrub and tequila. However, Rebel Rebel is no Ziggy Stardust-themed gimmick. The interior is functional with occasional flourishes such as dramatic raw-timber rafters and a candy-pink loo door. Meanwhile, Sean McConnell’s creative menu caters for all tastes, from cacao pops at breakfast to fancy pants cheeseand-crackers-style cannoli filled with parmesan custard, lemon zest and thyme (NB: they’re rich – one is enough). Creamy sauteed Jerusalem artichokes are served with slowcooked onion soubise and generous shavings of local truffles. Later, panfried sand whiting with cauliflower blossoms in a buttery sauce of capers and garlic is a treat with alpine-crisp Domaine Giachino made from jacquere grapes and also available at the on-site bottle shop. Now that’s music to anyone’s ears.

21-23 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra, rebelrebeldining.com.au

B Sat-Sun L D Wed-Sun $$

Rizla

CONTEMPORARY

Indoor-outdoor shrine to wine

“We’re all about the riesling”, says this relaxed and likeable corner diner – and with five Canberra District rieslings by the glass alone, it’s hard to argue. The short but sweet menu cleaves to the same clean, light style. A cracking tuna tartare seasoned with soy and cornichons comes with

a tumble of potato crisps dusted with salt and pink peppercorns, and roasted fennel with stracciatella is spiked with pickled currants and pepitas. Tender pork loin bears a mohawk of crimson kimchi-kraut and a side of ridiculously crunchy roast spuds, making it a better choice than an overly saucy pappardelle with mushrooms, hazelnuts and chevre. Service is cheery and helpful, the wine list is leather-bound and the terrace is banquette-lined. For a suitably crisp finish there’s a cheese platter spangled with fruit and nuts.

22 Lonsdale Street, Braddon, drinkrizla.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Terra CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Flame-fired hot stuff

The glow from the three-metre-long open fire and grill greets diners as they enter, ready for a celebration of meat, smoke and flame. If you’ve never met a rotisserie chicken you didn’t love, this is the place for you. Here, the birds are brined overnight, coated with a spicy dry rub, cooked over ironbark and served with braintingling house-made hot sauce. The result is tender, smoky and probably the best crisp-skinned chook in Canberra. A cracking chargrilled wagyu scotch fillet with rich Cafe

de Paris butter and red wine jus is tough to top, while seafood lovers are looked after by way of a barbecued octopus with roast potato, creamy aioli and a dusting of dehydrated corn for sweetness. Add in the dark, intimate interiors and chilled service, and Terra is all you’ll ever need on this earth to keep cosy and warm.

40 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra, terracanberra.com.au

B Mon-Fri L D daily

Wilma

MODERN ASIAN Retro Chinese with a modern native twist

You hear Wilma before you see her: the in-house DJ’s set reaches every nook and cranny of the enormous restaurant and bar as well as the street outside. Canberra’s so-called “progressive Asian barbecue” is a throwback to loud multi-level dining and features a menu that mashes AustralianChinese favourites with native flavours. Prawn toast is turned into a fried milk bun stuffed with tiger prawn mousseline and doused with a sweet-and-sour sauce starring Davidson plum. Meanwhile, the snag sanga boasts a snack-size pork belly,

Clockwise from top left: a front row seat at Terra; laksa dumpling, beansprouts and tofu at XO; Wilma’s coconut, quince and blood orange dessert.

prawn and chicken sausage on white bread with “bulldog” sauce and crisp fried leeks. Egg fried rice is like the takeaway Chinese you never had, tossed through with an energetic mee goreng sauce and topped with fried egg and truffle. Sounds great – tastes even better.

1 Genge Street, Canberra, wilmabbq.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

XO

MODERN ASIAN 15/20

Familiar Asian flavours in a slick new package

The same “we do what we want” attitude XO adopts for its menu carries over to its playlist. Case in point, a tom yum dumpling accompanied by the theme from . Despite its disregard for tradition, that excellent tortelliniesque dumpling, plump with ricotta and pumpkin and nestled in a heady tom yum sauce, also exemplifies chefs AK Ramakrishna and Noora Heiska’s enthusiasm for the cuisines they lovingly reshape. The menu changes regularly, but expect a gentle start –a betel leaf-wrapped som tum salad of green papaya and confit prawn perhaps, followed by heartier offerings such as the curative bak kut tehinspired broth with beef cheek and mushrooms. The irreverence extends to a wine list that favours rebels, and a dining room decorated with a surprising multitude of straight lines – a contrast to the fondness XO has for colouring outside them.

16 Iluka Street, Narrabundah, xo-restaurant.com.au

L Tue-Fri D Mon-Sat $$

Southern Highlands & Tablelands

Eschalot

CONTEMPORARY

Modern seasonal fare in a heritage setting

On the fireplaces-per-restaurant register, Eschalot is ahead by a country mile. The 1858 sandstone cottage in postcard-perfect Berrima boasts four open fires across its multiple dining rooms, keeping wintry Highlands blasts at bay. Comfier still is the chef’s “feed me” menu, which is so varied even the waitstaff are unsure what seasonal fare might be served up. Perhaps a simple kingfish ceviche with pickled daikon, all-but caramelised sherry eschalots and a bright dollop of yuzu mayonnaise. Turn up the heat with buttermilk-marinated deep-fried chicken and syrupy sweet chilliand-honey Sriracha glaze. Charred Rangers Valley skirt steak doubles down on the Deep South with a rich Louisiana-style coffee rub and, for local flavour, plate mates of pickled beetroots, pureed parsnip and tart riberries. A place to keep you toasty and warm, no matter the weather.

24 Old Hume Highway, Berrima, eschalot.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Thu-Sun $$

Grazing

CONTEMPORARY

Creative country cooking with a commitment to local producers

Grazing has become a bona fide attraction for diners seeking soulwarming cooking in the Southern

Tablelands. From stone facades to snow-white wisteria, the heritage property blooms with charm and character. Renovated interiors are understated, elegant and cosy, featuring original fireplaces, Persian rugs and tucked-away dining rooms ideal for small gatherings. Head chef Kurt Neumann delivers comforting food with an innovative edge. Tortellini is filled with nutty almond-based ricotta and crispy boudin-noir croquettes add textural diversity to tender wagyu shin. The fatty opulence of burnished pork belly is grounded by earthy Jerusalem artichokes, fresh from the garden. Skip dessert and savour your last moments of country quietude with a wine tasting on the sunny patio of the neighbouring cellar door. It’s the kind of place where you’ll need to draw straws to decide who’s designated driver.

42 Cork Street, Gundaroo, grazing.com.au

L Thu-Sun D Thu-Sat $$

Laggan Pantry

CONTEMPORARY

Cosy set-menu in postcardperfect surrounds

The handsome country home of Evan Marler and Sally Emerton welcomes you after a long journey through the Southern Highlands’ vast golden paddocks. An amiable border collie leads guests past flowering lavender and clucking chickens to a small, elegantly appointed dining room. In winter, the fireplace crackles

with just-chopped wood. Emerton provides relaxed, refined service, guiding guests through a selection of locally-sourced wine and, perhaps to pair with a pork croquette, craft beer brewed onsite. A six-course tasting menu celebrates seasonal garden produce, such as fennel and mandarin salad with lightly cured kingfish. Roast beef fillet is intensely rich and tender, elevated with delicate shavings of leek and microherbs. Later, a wafer of caramelised sugar perched on gingerbread panna cotta is perfect with a nightcap before bed – there’s cottage accommodation for one forward-planning couple, too.

1 Peelwood Road, Laggan, laggan.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Fri-Sun $$

Paste Australia

THAI 15/20

Refined regional restaurant with top-notch

Thai

Chef Bee Satongun calls her cooking “80 per cent tradition and 20 per cent creativity”. She should toss in an extra 10 per cent for attention to detail. What’s the ideal age of a coconut? Exactly 45 days, Satongun reckons, in case anyone is counting. Such precision gives coconut milk a perfectly creamy sweetness in fragrant Phuket-style yellow curry, with steamed blue swimmer crab and salty native sea succulents. Similar rigour is on show in a wonderfully well-balanced watermelon salad with fried shallots, shredded salmon and roasted galangal powder, topped with umami bursts of trout caviar – a signature dish from Paste’s acclaimed Bangkok outpost. Crying tiger beef is a little closer to home, featuring full-blood South Australian wagyu with lemongrass-and-lime-infused bone-marrow jus that’s 100 per cent rich and tender, or should that be 110 per cent?

105 Main Street, Mittagong, pasteaustralia.com

L Thu-Sun D Thu-Mon $$

cottage in Berrima. Above: grapefruit tart at Grazing.

Upper South Coast

Ain’t Nonna’s ITALIAN

Wollongong’s in-crowd congregate in buzzy trattoria with an open kitchen

Psst! Wollonong’s food scene is blossoming. Metamorphosing from its pop-up location, young and hip Ain’t Nonna’s recently found a new home and it’s already been well discovered. Husband-andwife team Cassandra and Matthew Bugeja offer a modern Italian menu, while the short, easy-drinking wine list is complemented by artisan options from boutique breweries. Locals graze on burrata, caponata, prosciutto and focaccia with ’nduja butter – don’t miss the delicately dressed oysters and perfectly salted arancini either. There are plenty of staff on the floor to make you feel well looked after, and the youthful enthusiasm is contagious as we watch pillow-light gnocchi with hazelnuts and burnt butter sauce journey from the open kitchen to our table with optional shaved truffle completing the dish. A fitting finale of tiramisu (which, actually, is just like Nonna’s), will leave you with a lot of love for the place and plans to return pronto.

83-85 Market Street, Wollongong, aintnonnas.com.au

Babyface Kitchen

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Pushing boundaries in the heart of the Gong

A paean to charred, grilled and smoked seasonal produce, particularly meat and seafood, in chic surrounds rendered in concrete and wood, Babyface is maturing nicely. Owner-chef Andy Burns’ tasting menu is a hedonistic ride where good ideas meet polished execution. Snacks fly out early, with Andean Sunrise potatoes scalloped and fried then paired with rhubarb ketchup, and the sweetness of mini crullers – those glorious ribbed doughnuts – balanced with cultured cream and loaded with salmon roe and tuna. O’Connor sirloin stars in a beef course, the meatiness reinforced with smoked Jerusalem artichoke and an earthy pine-mushroom sauce,

Above: the ocean foreshore is just metres away at Bangalay Dining. Below: the crew at Ain’t Nonna’s

while rich and silky mud-crab rice will melt the coldest of hearts. Wines are local, natural and champion small producers, and the house sourdough is excellent, but it’s a blackberry and sorrel ice cloaking burnt-plum custard and almond nougat that leaves a lasting impact. Increasingly essential dining.

Shop 1, 179 Keira Street, Wollongong, babyfacekitchen.com.au

L Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Bangalay Dining

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Ocean-edge fine dining with foraged native ingredients

Follow the wooden boardwalk towards thundering waves to find a sun-dappled dining room focused on freshness. Chef Simon Evans’ passion for South Coast produce inspires painterly dishes merging oysters, kangaroo, local pork, beef, fish and poultry with a bevy of coastal herbs, fruits and vegetables. Finger lime, river mint, quandong, lemon myrtle – all the native hits are here too, and many are foraged on the foreshore only metres away. An always-changing menu might include Lake Illawarra mullet crudo with tarama, apple, dill and anchovy brine; terrific samphire-topped roast dusky flathead; or Wessex saddleback pork loin with braised saltbush. Staff are on-message and once you’ve peaked with a macadamia and wattleseed liqueur affogato, consider the ease of a longer stay at the surrounding Bangalay Luxury Villas, just a few steps away between bush and beach.

30 Staples Street, Shoalhaven Heads, bangalayvillas.com.au

B daily L Fri-Sun D Mon-Tue, Thu-Sat $$

Cupitt’s Estate

CONTEMPORARY

Picturesque winery dedicated to fresh produce

Cuppitt’s has something for everyone. There’s the pizza oven, the brewery, the cellar door, the fromagerie.

The outdoor tables under strings of lights and the picture-perfect wedding backdrops. Heck, there are even tiny houses made for luxe getaways. Then, of course, there’s the restaurant, walled in by windows and overlooking the vines informing the wine list. The cooking isn’t half-bad either. Octopus, exceedingly tender and charred on the grill, is served with chorizo, aioli and Jerusalem artichokes in a nod to the Iberian Peninsula. Pureed pumpkin, feta, onion and flowers adorn a crisp flatbread. Mains can lack the finesse of entrees – a tricked-up moussaka fails to capture the spirit of the original and a wagyu rostbiff suffers from being too rich – but warm mandarin pudding for dessert is syrupy, sticky and all kinds of sunny. 58 Washburton Road, Ulladulla, cupittsestate.com.au

L daily D Tue-Sat $$

Franco Pizza Bar

ITALIAN 15/20

Lush, vibrant pizzas and natural wine

Diner enthusiasm is always high at this two-year-old passion project for husband-and-wife team Matt and Johannah Taylor and fellow chef Sam Jones. Avid pizza-chompers, seated in wood-panelled and plant-framed dining areas, start with house-made garlic focaccia, golden cauliflower fritti and plump anchovies topped with strips of preserved lemon. Pizzas cover the table later in the evening, and puffy-crusted highlights include a luscious potato number layered with heady roast garlic, gorgonzola, rosemary and pickled onion, and the Franco: a spicy smorgasbord

of pork and fennel sausage, ’nduja, fior di latte, mushroom and olives. Johannah’s dessert skills shine in a top-notch espresso and dark chocolate tiramisu, while buttermilk panna cotta is laced with rhubarb and mulled wine jelly. An 80-plus wine list (and wine club events) and beaches just blocks away complete the magical “coal coast” mix.

Shop 1, 382-384 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul, francopizza.com.au

L Sat D Thu-Sun $$

Gwylo

MODERN ASIAN

Bright newcomer brings neon flavours to the South Coast

Chef Matt Upson has form in sleepy Mollymook, having run fine-diner Tallwood until COVID inspired a flip in 2020. Now Gwylo occupies the same site, cool whites and red timbers giving way to neon signage, leather booths and a bar that works overtime turning out fruit-driven cocktails to match a menu that draws on Upson’s experience cooking around Asia. What might start with a wasabi sour can move quickly to generously sauced betel leaves shipping king prawns and jicama, then to bao stuffed with tempura cauliflower and cashew mayonnaise. The tone here is friendly, the music loud, the diners mostly local. And in a region craving this cuisine, Gwylo fills a gap neatly, but then dishes like a sour duck-leg curry or a plate of Southern Thai-style fried chicken also show Upson has a willingness to push past the tried and true. Shop 2, 85 Tallwood Avenue, Mollymook, gwylo.com.au D Wed-Sat $$

The Milton Hotel

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Pub with a kitchen punching well above its weight

A good pub can do wonders for a regional town. Take the Milton Hotel. It could tread the path of churning out schnitties and pouring VBs and

let the view – a magnificent vista out to Green Island – do the rest. But this pub doesn’t just prop up the local restaurant scene, it adds to it. Take a seat in the breezy main dining room and the cooking is smart, leaning on local produce and sound ideas: scallops with the roe on are flashed under the grill; kingfish caught just past the horizon comes first as sashimi, then deftly barbecued and perched on corn veloute strewn with pickled mussels. Order a sour beer by house brewer Dangerous Ales, follow it with a drop from a sharp, trendsavvy wine list, finish on a tonkabean sundae, and stick around for the afterparty as the music starts. 74 Princes Highway, Milton, themiltonhotel.com L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Ramox Cafe

CONTEMPORARY

Casual-chic terrace cafe framed by art

Immersing yourself in art is hungry work. After viewing Arthur Boyd’s work at the Bundanon Art Museum, nestled in its own hushed green Shoalhaven valley, carve out some time for lunch onsite at Ramox. Chef Douglas Innes-Will, last seen cooking at Brisbane’s GOMA gallery restaurant, has returned to his South Coast roots to produce a more edible kind of art. The order-at-the-counter menu is short but sweet, from a fresh and simple mortadella and pickle toastie, to a vibrant salad of roast pumpkin, baby beetroot, burrata and pomegranate. You may have to huddle inside in winter, but that’s when the kitchen turns on celeriac and almond soup, plus anise-braised lamb shoulder shot through with green harissa. Otherwise, sit on the terrace with a glass of rosé from local winery Cupitt’s Estate. A magical spot. 170 Riversdale Road, Illaroo, bundanon.com.au B (from 10am) & L Wed-Sun $

Top: pizza with passion from Thirroul’s Franco Pizza Bar. Below: roast Kent pumpkin, miso and nasturtium at Ramox Cafe.

Restaurant Santino

ITALIAN 15/20

Snazzy Italian bistro with Sinatra smarts

You might think they’re putting sugo in Wollongong’s tap water these days, there are so many new Italian joints in town. Hidden down a CBD laneway you can find one of the best, swimming in low-lit charm straight out of Midtown Manhattan. Santino is the second outing for brothers Fred and Kevin Duarte (owners of nearby pizzeria Kneading Ruby) and a buzzing celebration of classic Italian dining where chequerboard tiles and cushioned banquettes frame seamless service and a sophisticated wine list. Unwrap just-baked brie to find the gooey cheese dappled with fig, portobello mushroom and black garlic, before salty-sweet crisp-skinned chicken arrives with carrot agrodolce, or a main event of blushingly rare seasalt-spangled bistecca Fiorentina. Finish on a wobbly panna cotta with poached quince and don’t miss the selection of artisan wine, beer and spirits at sibling cellar Sonny’s Wine Shop next door.

Shop 2, 17 Globe Lane, Wollongong, restaurantsantino.com.au

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Small

Town Food + Wine

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20

How to show off the best the region has to offer

Alex Delly and Jo Thomas marked 10 years on the South Coast in 2021, and what started with farmhouse restaurant St Isidore now continues in this pint-sized establishment in Milton. The husband-and-wife team have quietly built Small Town into the most exciting restaurant in the region and Delly works with local goods where he can, topping Lagom Bakery bread with Jervis Bay mussels and almond toum for a winning opener, say. However more impressive is his eye for flavour. Cumin and sumac trick up fried whitebait; roast chicken gains interest from prunes, olives and chestnuts. Floor staff, meanwhile, balance easy charm with big-city credentials then back it up with rare and interesting wines. The warm tone is made all the warmer with a comforting rice pudding and feijoa ice-cream for dessert. Small town? Sure. But the talent, and heart, are expansive.

Shop 4, 41 Wason Street, Milton, smalltownmilton.com.au

L Fri-Sat D Wed-Sat $$

South on Albany

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Small in size but big on fresh, seasonal fare

Berry’s backyard vegie gardens and orchards are so bountiful that locals often leave gifts of fresh goodies at South on Albany’s door. Shoe boxes filled with finger limes, bags bursting with rainbow chard, bundles of berries. This cosy, family-run restaurant off the main street seats no more than 12 at a time, which suits the neighbourly vibe. Chef John Evans plays a lone hand in the kitchen, producing colourful dishes such as roasted Kangaroo Valley baby carrots with shredded cabbage, sauteed chorizo, marinated feta and sweet vincotto dressing. Pinkroasted lamb rump with cauliflower puree, sauteed Brussels sprouts and super crunchy kipflers is classic country fare. Later, baked vanilla cheesecake with caramelised mandarin, orange syrup and praline is beautifully balanced by tart dollops of lemon curd –the lemons courtesy of a local fruit grower, of course.

Shop 3, 65 Queen Street, Berry, southonalbany.com.au

L Sun (twice a month)

Above left: Restaurant Santino’s New York diner vibe. Above right: heirloom tomatoes, anchovy, egg and bottarga at Small Town. Below: South on Albany’s berry tomato tart with Persian feta, zucchini, olives and basil oil.

Far South Coast

Banksia Restaurant

CONTEMPORARY

Convivial dining in

heritage bank

a

Charming place, this, where reservations can only be made over the phone because husband-and-wife owners Huw and Renee Jones like to know who’s eating in their house. That personal touch permeates the dining experience, where host Renee moves from table to table in the cosy timberpanelled room (once upon a time the old Pambula bank) and makes you feel like you’ve been invited to a dinner party with the family. Huw’s cooking is generous and his threecourse set menu changes every week, with perhaps a silky chicken and truffle agnolotti to begin, then rich and lip-sticking roast lamb, followed by cannoli with pistachio ice-cream. The wine list features many agreeable drops, and with a vibe akin to an oldworld inn as much as a restaurant, to be a guest at Banksia is nourishing in more ways than one.

22 Quondola Street, Pambula, banksiarestaurant.com.au L

Quarterdeck

CONTEMPORARY

Tiki-bar vibes and tacos on the water

Staff are in jeans, tees and loose linen, their stylish, beachy look matching the easy-going family-

Above: grab a daiquiri at Quarterdeck’s cocktail bar. Right: at Valentina the oysters and other seafood come from nearby sources.

friendly atmosphere at Merivale’s tiki-flavoured bar and restaurant overlooking Wagonga Inlet. The menu leans on bold Mexican flavours, local seafood and tacos, plus bar staples such as a towering double cheeseburger and smoky chicken wings with chipotle dipping sauce; avocado and lime make regular appearances. Grilled street corn buzzes with chilli salt and queso fresco, snapper ceviche zings with citrusy tiger’s milk, and a tuna tostada punches with toasted cumin and tender fish. Ciderpopped mussels are accompanied by honest-to-goodness skin-on fries and grilled swordfish is saltysweet with its lemon and oregano salsa and a canopy of watercress. Add a cocktail or two – perhaps a Zombie with three types of rum, brandy, passionfruit and pineapple –and the world is your freshly shucked Wagonga oyster.

13 Riverside Drive, Narooma, merivale.com/venues/ quarterdeck-narooma

L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Queen

Chow Narooma

CANTONESE 15/20

Dim sum classics alongside superb local catch

The Sapphire Coast is home to some of the finest seafood in Australia, so it makes sense this outpost of Merivale hospitality group’s Queen Chow brand leans a little more toward the ocean than its Sydneybased cousins. Local pippies and tuna play a starring role, joining classics such as sweet-and-sour pork and a rich fried rice laced with char siu and juicy prawns. Wagonga rock oysters burst with umami, and you can leave happy and full with just the bivalves and assorted (excellent) dim sum. But it’s also hard to turn down fresh-as-fresh Narooma rock lobster, whether it’s steamed with white soy, ginger and shallots, or wok-fried with garlic butter. Bonus points for the kitschy-cool dining room, nifty riesling selection and

warm service. Switched-on staff are always happy to share their favourite beach or coffee spot with holidaymakers, too.

102 Wagonga Street, Narooma, merivale.com/venues/ queen-chow-narooma D Wed-Sat $$

Valentina

CONTEMPORARY 15/20

Smart-casual dining for martini-fuelled lunches

Val’s, as it’s known, occupies an enviable spot on the Merimbula promenade overlooking oyster beds, bobbing boats and the odd passing squadron of pelicans. This is not a restaurant trading on its view, however, with a beautiful, muted and curvaceous room providing the setting for excellent food. Incredibly fresh snapper tartare is weaponised with wasabi cream, while lightly pickled mussels escabeche is covered with crunchy, smoky ’nduja – a dish in itself worth the visit. Much of the menu is seasonally sourced from the surrounding cold, clear waters, so briny oysters come from a farm five minutes’ drive away and surf clams are teamed with sage butter and Narooma blue-eye trevalla. The Sapphire Coast is a bounty of raw material and inspiration and Val’s makes the most of all of it. The cocktails and naturalleaning wine list are also bloody good.

Upstairs, 2 Market Street, Merimbula, valentinamerimbula.com

L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Aru

Enter through sliding doors, past the flames of the open kitchen, and take your seat at this new benchmark for Melbourne dining. There are mustorders for anyone whose “phone eats first”: the Bunnings-inspired ducksausage sanga on sticky bao-like bread, and the banh mi en croute, a kaleidoscope of Vietnamese flavours prepared in traditional French style. But really, every dish on the menu is a classic in the making.

268 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, aru.net.au

Caretaker’s Cottage

Cocktail collective Fancy Free (Rob Libecans, Ryan Noreiks and Matt Stirling, all ex-Black Pearl) have turned a century-old church building into a raucous 50-person party palace with decks behind the bar, a pro-dog policy and an ever-changing drinks list. Past cameos include a rich Penicillin Milk Punch with a Talisker float, and a first-rate Rob Roy with house vermouth and seasonal bitters. 139-141 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, caretakerscottage.bar

Carlton Wine Room

Carlton Wine Room is a warm and approachable venue for a quick sip and snack, a proper meal, or a lovely lavish occasion in one of numerous private rooms. The European food is elegant and balanced, designed to parry with wine. Not a buff? Welltrained staff can lead you through the expressive, enthusiastic collection.

172-174 Faraday Street, Carlton, thecarltonwineroom.com.au

Di Stasio Citta

Nothing says “restaurant as theatre” like this mercurial marvel, where the light from video art projections ripples over the waiters’ crisp

white jackets and the colossal marble bar. It’s a place for dates, mates and handing over estates. The larger the occasion, the more monumental the room will feel. But at heart, it’s also a simple Italian restaurant where classic dishes are served with ceremony. 45 Spring Street, Melbourne, distasiocitta.com.au

hospitality and chef Rosheen Kaul’s menu, which combines inspiration from her varied heritage and modern Australian sensibilities.

60 Lygon Street, Brunswick East, ettadining.com.au

France-Soir

With a touch of Gallic insouciance, France-Soir’s website proudly proclaims that it’s noisy and bustling, with close-set tables and a carte crammed with bistro classics that’s changed little in three decades.

Diners know exactly what to expect, from the theatrical French-speaking waiters to the 4000-bottle wine list.

And therein lies the charm of this Melbourne institution, which is full most evenings.

11-13 Toorak Road, South Yarra, france-soir.com.au

Gimlet at Cavendish House

Embla

Embla helped kick-start the city’s wine-bar renaissance and, seven years on, this seductive, dimly lit grotto is still serving some of Melbourne’s best food, matched with equally spot-on, interesting wines. Chef Dave Verheul’s food philosophy mirrors co-owner Christian McCabe’s approach to the wine: take well-handled, top-quality produce and don’t mess with it much. 122 Russell Street, Melbourne, embla.com.au

Etta

This intimate and energetic space is both a neighbourhood restaurant and a destination, making Etta a poster child for Melbourne dining, thanks

How could you visit Andrew McConnell’s all-day beauty – the only Australian restaurant named on the latest World’s 50 Best long list – and not treat yourself to its namesake cocktail, a chilly coupe of gin, moscato, citrus and Geraldton wax? Despite a menu that goes long on indulgence (caviar, lobster, 900-gram T-bones), you can also drop into the bar for snacks, soaking up the glittering atmosphere.

33 Russell Street, Melbourne, gimlet.melbourne

Grill Americano

Americano is an unapologetically big-spending, big-city, big-flavoured American-style grill. It’s gorgeous in its royal blue upholstery, glossy terrazzo floor and white marble bar and confident in its delivery of precise cocktails and skilfully cooked food, from meticulously sourced steaks to hand-made pasta tossed with exquisite ingredients. Start with cichetti and oysters shucked to order. Live a little.

112 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, grillamericano.com

Above: cacao negroni at Gimlet. Below: Aru’s banh mi en croute.

The latest, greatest and not-to-bemissed bars and restaurants in Victoria, from fried rice to multi-course set-menus

Jeow

Jeow isn’t so much a Laotian restaurant as a Laotian-inspired Australian restaurant, which gives it the freedom to be exactly what it wants to be. It’s the kind of neighbourhood restaurant you might visit every week for a bowl of khao piak sen, a deeply comforting cockerel and tapioca noodle soup prepared by one of Melbourne’s most exciting chefs, Thi Le.

338 Bridge Road, Richmond, jeow.net.au

Lagoon Dining

Fun, energetic, flexible and fresh with white tiles and whitewashed brick walls, Lagoon embraces the broad flavours of Asia with gusto. A spot at the bar with a snack and something refreshing in hand – new-wave riesling, say – is just as appealing as rolling up with a group and overloading the table.

263 Lygon Street, Carlton, lagoondining.com

Manze

Nagesh Seethiah’s Mauritianinfluenced natural wine bar Manze was one of the hottest openings of 2021 and, for many, a long-overdue introduction to the legion of worldly influences present in Mauritian cooking, Indian and East African among them. You’ll taste char from open coals, a veritable festival of sustainable fish, and an arsenal of house-made condiments.

Shop 2, 1-5 Errol Street, North Melbourne, manze.com.au

Neighbourhood Wine

The old building has a colourful history – if the walls could talk! – but its present life is of happy drinking, talking and eating. The kitchen is open from noon until late, with a relaxed Euro-leaning menu. Expect silky coral-trout crudo and grass-fed tri-tip steak. And there’s a world of wine in this neighbourhood.

1 Reid Street, Fitzroy North, neighbourhoodwine.com

Napier Quarter

This bluestone cafe-wine bar in the Fitzroy backblocks doesn’t want for a hook but it’s the anchovy and boiled egg toast – surely Melbourne’s most photographed brunch dish – that hogs the limelight. Arrive after 5pm, however, and watch Napier Quarter shift into night mode, serving pork chops topped with ribbons of kohlrabi and pouring wines from a diverse list. 359 Napier Street, Fitzroy, napierquarter.com.au

Navi

A new adjoining bar is a less costly way to enjoy owner-chef Julian Hills’ cooking at Navi, but his greatest achievement remains the degustation. Booking a table or the chef’s counter in the small, sleek dining room isn’t easy, but those who do will be rewarded with more than 20 dishes, mind-boggling in their complexity yet exquisitely balanced.

83B Gamon Street, Yarraville, restaurantnavi.com.au

Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca

The people who conceived this place clearly set out to create somewhere they’d want to hang out, cook food they’d want to eat, and inject their own rollicking personalities into it. The charmingly retro trattoria serves its signature meatball subs by day and house-made salumi, vitello tonnato and handmade pasta by night.

15 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, roccosbologna.com

Above: video art works are projected on to the walls at Di Stasio Citta.

Serai

Tucked down a city laneway, Serai’s bustling dining room has an airy, industrial appeal. Chef Ross Magnaye’s ambition to marry modern Australian with the food of his Filipino heritage is profoundly personal, forging new paths for contemporary cooking. His bold spins on classic dishes are matched by clever cocktails and well-chosen wines.

7 Racing Club Lane, Melbourne, seraikitchen.com.au

Soi 38

Soi 38 began as a pop-up specialising in boat noodles, the dark, aromatic soup originally sold from boats along Bangkok’s canals. Now it’s a fully fledged Thai diner in a most unexpected setting: wedged between a car-rental office and a bank of elevators in a CBD carpark. Even more unexpectedly, the owners have installed a tiny bottle shop specialising in natural wines in the ticket booth opposite. If that’s not peak Melbourne, we don’t know what is.

38 Mcilwraith Place, Melbourne, soi38.com

Tedesca Osteria

The challenge with this regional dining star, apart from booking in, is to resist the urge to make your escape to the country permanent.

Luxe farmhouse dining is a beguiling fantasy, kept grounded by Brigitte Hafner’s wood-fired oven and grill that adds a lick of flame and smoke across the ever-changing set menu.

1175 Mornington-Flinders Road, Red Hill, tedesca.com.au

Tipo 00

Hoping to snare a walk-in spot at the marble bar? Be early because the bar stools and bentwood chairs in this room are some of the city’s most keenly sought. She who hesitates may face a long wait for al dente spaghetti topped with near-translucent scampi, or pillowy gnocchi tossed with porcini and braised duck meat.

361 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, tipo00.com.au

Above: Agnes is home to one of Brisbane’s best bars.

Below: Murray cod with green tomatoes at Gerard’s Bistro.

Agnes

There’s more to Agnes than meets the eye – a leafy hidden rooftop terrace and one of Brisbane’s best bars, for starters. But wherever you’re seated, expect complexity in every bite. Beef tartare with smoky arabushi flakes might arrive with pepper jam and sourdough toasts, while cod in potato dashi gets a boost from burnt-olive crumbs and smoked tomatoes.

22 Agnes Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, agnesrestaurant.com.au

Blume Restaurant

This 20-seater is a showcase for Scenic Rim produce. That’s thanks to owner-chef Jack Stuart (ex-Congress, Melbourne), a dab hand with ferments, pickles and smoke. The setprice menu might deliver Brisbane Valley quail, juicy from the grill, with pickled black walnut sauce; or brittle spelt cannoli filled with bitter onions and rich pecorino custard.

5 Church Street, Boonah, blumerestaurant.com.au

Essa

Essa’s long slender digs sit just off buzzy James Street. And whether you opt for a set menu or freewheel, you’ll find finesse and fire-power equally in evidence at this tightly focused, produce-led venture. House ’nduja could arrive honey-sweetened, with herbal notes from river mint, to swipe over grilled sourdough. And rich XO sauce, crafted from charcuterie off-cuts, amps up an heirloom tomato salad.

181 Robertson Street, Fortitude Valley, essa.restaurant

Exhibition

It takes grit to open a sequel to a venue as critically acclaimed as Joy, the diminutive deg restaurant Tim Scott co-founded with ex-partner chef Sarah Baldwin back in 2019.

Omakase-inspired Exhibition is proof a gamble can pay off. The team at

this subterranean 24-seater will keep you enthused from the deft kick-off featuring nine intricate snacks right through to “no waste” petit fours. 109 Edward Street, Brisbane, exhibitionrestaurant.com

haul? This versatile Greek is one of Australia’s best. Even better? The Calile Hotel’s recently opened Sushi Room and the team’s upscale spin on the New York grill, SK Steak & Oyster, are only a stroll away.

Level 1, The Calile Hotel, 48 James Street, Fortitude Valley, hellenika.com.au

Restaurant Dan Arnold

Gerard’s Bistro

Tasty reinventions of Middle Eastern dishes are the name of the game at this ever-evolving Brisbane stayer. Medieval condiment murri, for example, could be a surprise boost to wagyu kibbeh nayeh served on a crisp sunflower base; and wood-fired bagels arrive with banadurah harrah, a Lebanese salsa topped with zaatar as a spicy dipper.

Gerard’s Lane, 14/15 James Street, Fortitude Valley, gerardsbistro.com.au

GOMA Restaurant

GOMA Restaurant’s gallerylike surrounds provide a perfect backdrop for Matt Blackwell’s visually arresting share plates. Smoked-eel mousse might emerge topped with salt-and-vinegar potato straws, tinted dramatic charcoal with squid ink; while silvery saltbush leaves and orange mussels contrast prettily with the crisped skin of kingfish fillet in an onion beurre blanc.

Gallery of Modern Art, Stanley Place, South Brisbane, qagoma.qld.gov.au

Hellenika

Breakfast by the pool? Maybe eggs with eggs with eggs – a cracking combo of boiled eggs with bottarga on taramasalata toasts? Or maybe you’re here for a blowout set menu, or to trawl the daily-changing fish

The degustation-only menu may not be as big a steal as when the restaurant first opened – the word is out about the level of dining delivered by owner-chef Dan Arnold (ex-Serge Vieira, a two-star Michelin). But it’s still a bargain when you consider the artistry involved – a cascade of opening snacks, perfect breads and house butters, pre-desserts, petit fours and attentive service.

959 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley, restaurantdanarnold.com

Restaurant Labart

This assured Euro-style bistro delivers notable, flavour-forward dishes built on the abundance harvested from the Gold Coast hinterland and ocean – think grilled king prawns in molten garlic prawn butter with tiny capers, or wagyu carpaccio with rapini and a tonnato sauce. Sister wine bar Paloma has opened nearby, serving simpler food and the same nature-friendly wines.

Shop 2A, 8 West Street, Burleigh Heads, restaurantlabart.com; shop 1, 12 James Street, Burleigh Heads, palomawinebar.com

Rothwell’s Bar & Grill

When wine importer and restaurateur Dan Clark (1889 Enoteca) teamed up with Aria Brisbane’s former head chef Ben Russell, diner expectations soared. Fortunately, the pair’s homage to old-school dining delivers all that you’d expect – from giant glittering chandeliers and slippy green leather banquettes to shiny silverware, wellmade icy martinis, seafood platters and beef Wellington with red-wine sauce to share. Frock up.

235 Edward Street, Brisbane, rothwellsbrisbane.com.au

South Australia

Arkhe

Adelaide’s hottest new spot – from former Burnt Ends head chef Jake Kellie – lit up the scene last year with its flame-licked menu, off-piste wines, and stunning design. Try hash browns ferrying creme fraiche and caviar before digging into ocean-jacket cheeks and lardo on sourdough, and a showstopping duck liver tartlet.

127 The Parade, Norwood, arkhe.com.au

Leigh Street Wine Room

This gorgeous wine den has been through some changes (including ownership) since it charged on to the scene in 2019. But it’s still a trusty spot for natural wines and great food – these days by chef Peter Orr, who made his mark at Parisian wine bar Au Passage before returning home. Park at the terrazzo bar for gnocchi fritti with wagyu bresaola, blueswimmer-crab risotto or pork chop with barbecue sauce and slaw.

9 Leigh Street, Adelaide, leighstreetwineroom.com

Muni

There’s no shortage of first-class restaurants in regional SA but we suggest you beeline to this newcomer – a 50-minute drive from the city in historic Willunga. Taiwanese expats Mug Chen and Chia Wu are serving carefully considered delights such as daikon cake with squid garum and shrimp XO and southern calamari with lap cheong ’nduja alongside an impressive list of lo-fi wines and (off-menu) sake.

Shop 2, 3 High Street, Willunga, munirestaurant.com

Parwana Afghan Kitchen

A pillar of the local dining scene, this Adelaide institution serves pillowy mantu dumplings, lamb kofta and its signature saucy eggplant drizzled with garlicky yogurt. The Ayubi family recently shut the restaurant’s CBD sibling, so this is your only chance to try their nationally acclaimed food. Remember to BYO drinks (corkage fees help the homeless).

124B Henley Beach Road, Torrensville, parwana.com.au

Press Food & Wine

It’s all change at this CBD institution, which reopened in April with new owners, a new chef and a new direction. The addition of a curvaceous marble bar has created a more intimate setting in the ground-floor dining room, where Tom Tilbury (ex-Gather at Coriole) is plating up choux au craquelin filled with silky chicken-liver parfait, and blushing strips of grass-fed beef in oyster sauce alongside an impressive 500-strong wine list.

butter, kangaroo barely cooked over binchotan charcoal, and parsnip and macadamia damper.

Plane Tree Drive, Adelaide, restaurantbotanic.com.au

The Scenic Hotel

A short Uber ride out of the city in Norton Summit, this reinvigorated pub sits atop a hill with cracking views. Claim a seat in the busy courtyard to watch the sun dip while you sip low-intervention wines and creative takes on pub classics – think roo schnitzel, roast chook with bread sauce and a playful steak tartare served in a Smith’s chips packet.

Old Norton Summit Road, Norton Summit, Adelaide Hills, thescenichotel.com.au

Soi 38

Named after the Bangkok streetfood market, this Thai diner plates up elegant, lesser-known regional dishes. Chef Terry Intarakhamhaeng sources produce locally and ethically, so you’re likely to see locally caught octopus grilled with salsa and nam jim talay or crab with rice noodles, prawns and coconut cream alongside kangaroo tail in a red curry.

74 Pirie Street, Adelaide, soi38.com.au

The Summertown Aristologist

Top right: a dish from Restaurant Botanic’s peerless dining experience.

Above: The Summertown Aristologist has a plant-forward ethos.

Lucia’s Pizza & Spaghetti Bar

This 65-year-old institution, which purportedly introduced pizza to Adelaide, can be found at the Central Market. It’s near impossible to score a table but if you do, you’ll be treated to spaghetti vongole with Goolwa pipis or plump ravioli in napoli sauce.

Shop 1-2 Western Mall, Adelaide Central Market, Adelaide, lucias.com.au

40 Waymouth Street, Adelaide, pressfoodandwine.com.au

Restaurant Botanic Chef Justin James (ex-Vue de Monde) uses Adelaide’s lush botanic garden as both a pantry and playground in which to create a peerless dining experience. Set aside at least four hours to journey through the 20 dishes, such as Murray cod steamed in paper-bark with garum

Informed by its nearby farm and backed by sustainable seafood and ethically reared meats, the evolving, plant-forward menu at this house of natural wine and mindful food continues to hit the mark. Add to that organic and biodynamic wines and a bucolic setting just 25 minutes’ drive from the CBD and this is a must-stop. But plan ahead – it’s only open Friday to Sunday.

1097 Greenhill Road, Summertown, thesummertownaristologist.com

Top: hakurei turnips with gochujang butter at Institut Polaire. Right: oyster at modern South-East Asian restaurant Dana Eating House.

Bar Wa Izakaya

This Tokyo-meets-Tassie eatery cooks until 11pm every day –practically unheard of in Hobart. Local ingredients inform the menu: Cape Grim tataki, say, or crispy fried wallaby in plum, shiso and fresh wasabi. Ramen stars at lunchtime, oysters are half price from 4pm to 6pm, and the dining room oozes character: sake bottles hang from the ceiling, booths are leather-clad and the neon is hot pink.

216-218 Elizabeth Street, Hobart, barwaizakaya.com

Dana Eating House

It’s part South-East Asian restaurant, part social enterprise, and a whole lot of fun. Since opening in August 2020, almost $40,000 from customer donations and the restaurant’s slim profits has gone to local charities.

Ben Hay (ex-Fico) leads the kitchen with a menu that runs from radish cakes to roti and rendang. In summer, the courtyard comes alive with fire pits, cocktails and good times.

131 Murray Street, Hobart, danaeatinghouse.com.au

Dier Makr

While natural wine bar Lucinda is all Frenchie bar snacks, verbal by-theglass list and walk-ins, its sibling venue Dier Makr runs just five sittings a week, dedicated to organic and wildcaught produce. On its degustation menu, you might find confit gummy shark on lion’s mane mushrooms, or rare-seared duck on a savoury porridge made from whisky grain.

123 Collins Street, Hobart, diermakr.com

Fico

Competition for bookings at this 40-seat mod Italian-Tasmanian restaurant runs hot. The 12-course degustation is strong on carbs and proteins: think venison tortellone or cacio e pepe risotto. If there’s a better way to spend $150 on a meal in Hobart, we’re yet to hear of it.

151 Macquarie Street, Hobart, ficofico.net

Institut Polaire

Institut Polaire is not strictly a seafood restaurant, but it’s the place to go if you want to sample the best of the Southern Ocean. Co-owner Louise Radman, who also runs Sud Polaire spirits and Domaine Simha winery with partner Nav Singh, is a pescatarian, so she gets it. Batons of brioche are topped with whipped bottarga, spaghetti is tossed with spanner crab and poached hapuka is doused in beurre blanc.

Shop 1, 7 Murray Street, Hobart, institutpolaire.com.au

Moonah Hotel

Moonah has quietly overtaken North Hobart as the city’s restaurant strip, particularly now it has a reputable watering hole. There’s an on-site wine store, dog-friendly beer garden and a list of elevated pub classics such as ’nduja scotch eggs, salt-and-pepper tofu with jalapeno salsa and the best steak and chips in town.

99 Main Road, Moonah, moonahhotel.com.au

Whole Bakers

If you’ve eaten a slice of toast in Hobart, there’s a good chance you’ve already had Pigeon Whole’s superb bread. The bakery’s Argyle Street store has reopened for diners after a two-year COVID-related hiatus.

All the better to enjoy Hobart’s best chicken sandwich: warm ciabatta, a whole-roasted chicken thigh, mayo and seasonal green salsa.

32 Argyle Street, Hobart, pigeonwholebakers.com.au

Templo

Templo hasn’t missed a beat since it changed hands in 2019. The 25-seater moved to a chef’s menu-only model in mid-2021, but the dishes tread a familiar path. Ryan Watson’s food leans Italian with dishes such as chargrilled octopus doused in ’nduja, or ricotta and agnolotti with raisins and pine nuts, and the wine list is exclusively minimal-intervention.

98 Patrick Street, Hobart, templo.com.au

Peppina

Massimo Mele has poured his heart and heritage into Peppina at The Tasman, Hobart’s newest luxury hotel. The Tassie-born, Naples-raised chef grows much of the greenery and the menu is a roll call of the state’s best small producers. Hand-filled pastas are a standout, especially when bursting with Tongola goat’s cheese or local mushrooms. Save room for dessert – Mele’s tiramisu is so boozy it could require ID.

2B Salamanca Place, Hobart, peppinarestaurant.com

Tom McHugo’s Hobart Hotel

When Whitney Ball and Tom Westcott left Franklin in 2016 to set up Tom McHugo’s, they took their fine-dining-meets-sustainability ethos with them. That means no steak or off-season seafood, and produce so small-batch that Westcott tweaks the menu twice a day. That said, it’s still a pub. Chase a deep-fried haggis bao with a gravy-soaked pastrami roll then wash it down with a craft beer from the exclusively Tasmanian taps.

87 Macquarie Street, Hobart

Western Australia

Arimia

Margaret River has no shortage of winery lunch options, but no other property makes the most of its hometown advantage quite like Arimia. Working with estate honey, pork, trout and veg as well as produce from like-minded friends, Evan Hayter creates thrilling tasting menus that capture the taste and time of a special, unspoiled part of Australia. 242 Quininup Road, Wilyabrup, arimia.com.au

Bar Rogue

This wine and cocktail stronghold from the crew behind inner-city bistro Le Rebelle promotes mischief of a higher order. Like the far-reaching drinks list, emerging talent Sofika Boulton draws influence from all over, whether she’s slinging scotch duck eggs made with merguez-spiced lamb, dreaming up spiced tofu curry puffs, or remixing nostalgic food memories such as Zinger burgers. 515 Beaufort Street, Highgate, barrogue.com.au

Casa

Octopus al pastor toast! Squid ink chitarra with sea urchin butter! Flank steak with a pitch-perfect sauce au poivre! Europe meets Mexico meets Japan meets a fastidious commitment to organic winemaking – Casa boasts seven temperature-specific fridges – at the cousin of Beaufort Street’s rollicking Si Paradiso. Factor in an active guest chef program and you’re talking a party everyone wants in on. 399 Oxford Street, Mount Hawthorn, casa-casa-casa.com

The Corner Dairy

with technique and deliciousness, from beef tartare toast spiked with a smoky coal-infused mayo to lush house-made ricotta played off against sweet pickles made in the style of San Francisco’s Cafe Zuni. 260 Woodside Street, Doubleview, thecornerdairy.com.au

Lulu La Delizia

In six short years, Ivana and Joel Valvasori-Pereza’s lively osteria has established itself as one of Perth’s essential dining experiences. Come for the heady spice and robust flavours of Italy’s north-east (housemade bigoli with anchovies and sweet onions, perhaps); stay for the dining room’s electric atmosphere and a potent drinks menu studded with temptation.

Shop 5, 97 Rokeby Road, Subiaco, lululadelizia.com.au

Madalena’s

Since opening, this breezy neighbourhood hangout offering deftly handled seafood (we’re looking at you, amaebi prawn ceviche with avocado and longan) and lo-fi wines has thrilled guests. Following the arrival of new head chef Oscar Holgado (ex-Coombeshead Farm in the UK) and the opening of the upstairs bar, it’s safe to assume the legend of Madalena’s will only grow. 406 South Terrace, South Fremantle, madalenasbar.com.au

Millbrook

Top: grilled sambal octopus at Will Street. Right: Madalena’s breezy outdoor dining area.

Don’t be deterred by the bar’s noise or coastal surfer vibe. The Corner Dairy is home to one of WA’s most promising cooking talents. James Cole Bowen’s time in high-powered Perth and Melbourne kitchens informs a tight menu brimming

You can’t see Millbrook’s kitchen garden from the dining room, but its influence is clear on the plate. This cellar-door restaurant in the Perth Hills is one of the west’s leading proponents of farm-to-table eating, with estate fruit and veg starring in everything from quail with fermented plum sauce to parfait teamed with a zippy calamansi granita.

Old Chestnut Lane, Jarrahdale, millbrook.wine

Old Young’s Kitchen

Who’d have thought the best place to eat in the Swan Valley would be at a distillery restaurant? Old Young’s Kitchen is full of surprises, not least the assured way Rohan Park deploys native flavours in his food. Kangaroo tartare is finished with cured emu yolk; finger lime and pepperberry sharpen cured kingfish; and house spirits shine in imaginative cocktails.

10581 West Swan Road, Henley Brook, oldyoungskitchen.com.au

Will Street

High-profile Balinese restaurateur Will Meyrick, of Mamasan and Sarong fame, transplants his highdefinition Asian cooking to Perth with pleasing results. The nihari goat curry is wonderfully tender, char siustyle pork hock has flavour for days, and the cocktails and wines have been chosen to play nice with spice. 228 Carr Place, Leederville, willstreetperth.com

Wines of While

The argument: wine bars boast some of WA’s most vital cooking. The proof: the earthy plates served at this pioneering natural wine hotspot. Those legendary white beans are still here but they’re now joined by compositions such as devilled duck livers with fresh horseradish, sheaths of witlof cradling brawn, and oxtail and bone marrow pie.

458 William Street, Perth, winesofwhile.com

Top: dine banquet-style at Charlie’s of Darwin. Right: seafood hot off the barbecue at Little Miss Korea.

The 1995

Darwin’s Air Raid Arcade has a new contender for best caffeine hit with Padre beans, V60 pour-overs, batch brews and espressos powered by the NT’s only Slayer machine. Owners Melani Hermanus and Reed Alanes plan to expand the sweet bakedgoods offering to introduce food such as a beef rendang bagel and crispypork lechon bowl, which embraces their Indonesian and Filipino roots.

Shop 2, 35 Cavenagh Street, Darwin City

Charlie’s of Darwin

NT’s first gin bar has gone from strength to strength, releasing its first in-house gin in 2021, flavoured with Territory-esque botanicals of Kakadu plum and paperbark. Dishes such as crocodile dumplings and confit octopus with pickled jicama, coupled with an excellent rooftop bar, make this a solid all-rounder.

56 Smith Street, Darwin City, charliesofdarwin.com.au

Chow

Fresh-fruit daiquiris and spice-laced stir-fries personify this kitsch Asianthemed favourite. Diners can dive into laksa or rich seafood claypots under a canopy of fairy lights. Chow picked up the 2021 Golden Bowl trophy, considered the Oscars of Darwin’s laksa scene, so you know the flavours are going to hit just right.

Shops D1 & D2, 19 Kitchener Drive, Darwin City, chowdarwin.com.au

Ella by Minoli

MasterChef alum Minoli de Silva’s debut restaurant is one of Darwin’s most talked-about – the modern Sri Lankan diner was scooping up accolades before the paint had even dried on the laneway mural outside. A from-scratch approach means chutneys that update with the seasons, while traditional dishes, like the signature curry leaf fish, get the NT treatment with native finger lime and coconut dressing.

20 West Lane, Darwin City, ellabyminoli.au

Hanky Panky Lounge

This 1920s-inspired newcomer invites patrons on a choose-yourown-cocktail-adventure of spirits, bitters and garnishes. Bartender Anneliese Grazioli is meticulous in her approach. Try the milk punch riff on a Penicillin, featuring a smooth, smoky blend of clarified milk, honey, ginger, lemon and whisky, or the Over and Above, a Manhattan offshoot featuring tequila and housemade mango skin vermouth.

Shop 3, 32 Mitchell Street, Darwin City, hankypankylounge.com

Hanuman

It’s been more than three decades since chef Jimmy Shu brought his style of Asian cuisine to the Territory. Thai, Indian and Nonya dishes make happy bedfellows, underpinned by freshly roasted spice mixes and stunning Darwin produce. The signature oysters team nicely with a lemongrass and ginger dressing, while red duck curry sings with makrut lime, lychee and pineapple. 93 Mitchell Street, Darwin City, hanuman.com.au

Little Miss Korea

This Korean barbecue joint from

can grab a pre-feast cocktail in the adjoining Loading Bay bar before a barbecue set menu with banchan (side dishes) to boot. The a la carte menu honours both the traditional (bibimbap) and the non-traditional (slow-cooked coconut beef cheeks), and Korean fried-chicken devotees aren’t forgotten either.

Austin Lane (graffiti laneway), Darwin City, littlemisskorea.com

Snapper Rocks

Expect a Darwinian devotion to al fresco dining and local produce at this popular waterfront restaurant. Snapper Rocks’ owner and bartender David Robinson has your drinks needs covered with libations such as the green-ant G&T, while chef James Fiske serves up salt-and-pepper croc, wild barramundi and citrus-cured crimson snapper ceviche.

Shop B2, 7 Kitchener Drive, Darwin City, snapper.rocks

SweetBrew & Co

This smooth operator set within a restored mechanics workshop offers single-origin coffees that change according to seasonal releases, and Top End-proofed cold brews served straight or milky. Quirky breakfast signatures such as blue swimmer crab scramble with fermented chilli or savoury breakfast okonomiyaki pancakes border on excellence.

45 Stuart Highway, Stuart Park, Darwin

Tali Wiru

Views don’t get much more iconic than Uluru and Kata Tjuta set against a canvas of scorched oranges and electric pinks. Yep, a sunset for the ages accompanied by champagne and canapes is the prelude to one of the most quintessentially Australian dining experiences, now in its 10th year. The four-course Indigenousinspired menu might include pork belly with green-ant-infused fennel, or beetroot mousse with fermented Davidson plum.

Ayers Rock Resort, 175 Yulara Drive, Yulara, ayersrockresort.com.au

INDEX

10 William St, Paddington, 47 29 Nine 99 Yum Cha and Tea House, Rylstone, 108

A

Aalia, Sydney, 24

Abhi’s Indian Restaurant, North Strathfield, 80

Ain’t Nonna’s, Wollongong, 122

Alberto’s Lounge, Surry Hills, 47

Alpha Restaurant, Sydney, 24 Alphabet St, Cronulla, 76

Amah by Ho Jiak, Chatswood, 94 Amara, Bowen Mountain, 106 a’Mare, Barangaroo, 24

An Restaurant, Bankstown, 76 Annata, Crows Nest, 94 Ante, Newtown, 80

Apandim Uyghur Restaurant, Burwood, 80

The Apollo, Potts Point, 47 Aria, Sydney, 24

Arthur, Surry Hills, 48 Ates, Blackheath, 107

Ayam Bakar 7 Saudara, Penshurst, 76 Ayam Goreng 99, Kingsford, 73

B

Baba’s Place, Marrickville, 80–1

Babyface Kitchen, Wollongong, 122 Baccomatto Osteria, Randwick, 67 Banco, Manly, 98

Bangalay Dining, Shoalhaven Heads, 122

Banh Xeo Bar, Rosebery, 73

Banksia Restaurant, Pambula, 125

Bar Elvina, Avalon Beach, 99

Bar Grazie, Elizabeth Bay, 48

Bar Louise, Enmore, 81

Bar Que Sera, Sawtell, 110

Bar Rochford, Canberra, 117

Bar Vincent, Darlinghurst, 48 Bastardo, Surry Hills, 49

Bathers’ Pavilion Restaurant, Balmoral, 94–5 Bayti, Parramatta, 90

Beach Byron Bay, Byron Bay, 111 Bella Brutta, Newtown, 81

Belongil Beach Italian Food, Byron Bay, 111 Bennelong, Sydney, 25

Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Sydney, 25

Berowra Waters Inn, Berowra Waters, 95

Bert’s Bar and Brasserie, Newport, 99

Bibo Wine Bar, Double Bay, 49 bills, Double Bay, 49

Bistecca, Sydney, 25

Bistro Fitz, Woolloomooloo, 50

Bistro Livi, Murwillumbah, 111

Bistro Molines, Mount View, 103

Bistro Moncur, Woollahra, 50

Bistro Rex, Potts Point, 50

Bistrot 916, Potts Point, 50 Blaq, Blackheath, 107

The Boathouse Rose Bay, Rose Bay, 51

Bones Ramen, Potts Point, 51

Boon Cafe, Haymarket, 26

Boronia Kitchen, Hunters Hill, 95 Buon Ricordo, Paddington, 51

C

Cadeau, Brunswick Heads, 112 Cafe Paci, Newtown, 81

Cairo Takeaway, Enmore, 81–2 Capiche, East Ballina, 112

Catalina, Rose Bay, 51–2

Caysorn, Haymarket, 26 Chaco Bar, Potts Point, 52

Charcoal Fish, Rose Bay, 52 Charles Grand, Sydney, 26

Charred Kitchen & Bar, Orange, 108 Chat Thai, Chatswood, 95 Chatkazz, Harris Park, 90

Chin Chin, Surry Hills, 52

China Doll, Woolloomooloo, 53

Chinese Noodle Restaurant, Haymarket, 26 Chiswick, Woollahra, 53

Cho Cho San, Potts Point, 53–4

Ciao, Mate!, Bangalow, 112

Cirrus, Barangaroo, 27 Civico 47, Paddington, 54

Clareville Kiosk, Clareville Beach, 99 Clove Lane, Randwick, 67

Colombo Social, Enmore, 82 Comeco Foods, Newtown, 82

Continental Deli Bar & Bistro, Newtown, 82 Coogee Pavilion Ground Floor, Coogee, 67 Corella, Braddon, 117

Cottage Point Inn, Cottage Point, 99–100 Cupitt’s Estate, Ulladulla, 122–3

D

Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta, Bondi, 67–8

Dae Jang Kum, Sydney, 27 Darley’s, Katoomba, 107

Dear Saint Eloise, Potts Point, 54 Dining by James Viles, The Rocks, 27

E

Eaton Chinese Restaurant, Ashfield, 83 Ele by Federico & Karl, Pyrmont, 27 Emma’s Snack Bar, Enmore, 83

Enoteca Ponti, Potts Point, 54 éRemo, Pokolbin, 103 Eschalot, Berrima, 121 Esteban, Sydney, 28 Ester, Chippendale, 28 EXP. Restaurant, Pokolbin, 103

F

Farmhouse Kings Cross, Rushcutters Bay, 54 Felix, Sydney, 28

Firedoor, Surry Hills, 55

Fish Butchery, Waterloo, 73 Fish Shop, Bondi, 68 Flotilla, Wickham, 105

Flyover Fritterie, Redfern, 73–4

The Fold, Dulwich Hill, 83 Fontana, Redfern, 74

Franca Brasserie, Potts Point, 55

Franco Pizza Bar, Thirroul, 123

Fratelli Paradiso, Potts Point, 55 Fred’s, Paddington, 55–6 Frida’s Field, Nashua, 113

G

Gaku Robata Grill Omakase, Darlinghurst, 56

The Gidley, Sydney, 29 Gigi Pizzeria, Newtown, 83 Gildas, Surry Hills, 56 Glass Brasserie, Sydney, 29 Glebe Point Diner, Glebe, 84 Gowings, Sydney, 29 Grana, Sydney, 29 Grazing, Gundaroo, 121 Gursha, Blacktown, 90 Gwylo, Mollymook, 123

H

Haco, Surry Hills, 56

Hai Au Lang Nuong, Canley Vale, 76

Haidilao Hot Pot, Chatswood, 95 Hansang, Strathfield, 84

Happy Chef, Haymarket, 30 Harvest Newrybar, Newrybar, 113

Hello Auntie, Haymarket, 30

Ho Jiak Town Hall, Sydney, 30 Hotel Centennial, Woollahra, 57 Humbug, Newcastle, 105

The Hut Byron Bay, Byron Bay, 113

I

Itacate & Mexican Deli, Redfern, 74 Italian and Sons, Bradden, 117

J

Jane, Surry Hills, 57

Jimmy Joans, Lovedale, 103–4

Jimmy’s Falafel, Sydney, 30

Jonah’s, Whale Beach, 100 Jugemu & Shimbashi, Neutral Bay, 96

K

Kabul Social, Sydney, 31

Karkalla, Byron Bay, 113

Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern, 74

Kiln, Surry Hills, 57

Kindred, Darlington, 84

Kiroran Silk Road Uyghur Restaurant, Haymarket, 31

Kisuke, Potts Point, 58

Kitchen by Mike, Sydney, 31

Kuon Omakase, Haymarket, 32

Kuro Bar & Dining, Sydney, 32

Kwan Noodle Bar, Haymarket, 32

L

La Casita, Brunswick Heads, 114

La Latina, Chatswood, 96

La Salut, Redfern, 74

Lady Chu, Potts Point, 58

Laggan Pantry, Laggan, 121

Lamshed’s Food + Wine, Yarralumla, 118

Lana, Sydney, 33

Lankan Filling Station, Darlinghurst, 58

Lao Village, Fairfield, 90–1

Leura Garage, Leura, 107

Lilymu, Parramatta, 91

Little Lagos, Newtown, 84

Lola Dining, Ballina, 114

Lola’s Level 1, Bondi, 68

Londres 126, Sydney, 33

Long Chim, Sydney, 33

Lotus Dumpling Bar, Summer Hill, 84–5

Loulou Bistro, Milsons Point, 96

The Lucky Bee, Hardys Bay, 102

Lucky Kwong, Eveleigh, 75

Lucky Prawn, Marrickville, 85

Luke’s Kitchen, Sydney, 34

LuMi Dining, Pyrmont, 34

M

Maiz Mexican Street Food, Newtown, 85

Malay Chinese Takeaway, Ashfield, 85

Mamak, Haymarket, 34

Margan Restaurant, Broke, 104

Margaret, Double Bay, 58

Marta, Rushcutters Bay, 59 Maydanoz, Sydney, 34

Menzies Bar & Bistro, Sydney, 35

Metisse, Potts Point, 59

The Milton Hotel, Milton, 123

Mimi’s, Coogee, 68

Miss Van’s, Canberra, 118 Monopole, Sydney, 35

Mother Chu’s Taiwanese Gourmet, Haymarket, 36 Moxhe, Bronte, 69

Mr Wong, Sydney, 35

Mrs Ding, Botany, 75

Ms. G’s, Potts Point, 59

Mu Omakase, Canberra, 118 MuMu, Sydney, 36

Muse Kitchen, Pokolbin, 104 Muse Restaurant, Pokolbin, 104 Myeongdong, Chatswood, 96

N

Naija Jollof, Enmore, 86

Nilgiri’s, Cremorne, 97 No. 35 Kitchen and Bar, Cabarita Beach, 114 No 92, Glebe, 86

Nobu, Barangaroo, 36 Nomad, Surry Hills, 60 Nour, Surry Hills, 60

O

Odd Culture Newtown, Newtown, 86

Omu, Ultimo, 37

Oncore by Clare Smyth, Barangaroo, 37

One Penny Red, Summer Hill, 86

Onzieme, Kingston, 118

Ormeggio at The Spit, Mosman, 97

Osteria di Russo & Russo, Enmore, 86–7

Osteria Fiume, Bellingen, 110

Osteria Il Coccia, Ettalong Beach, 102 Otto Ristorante, Woolloomooloo, 60

P

Pameer Restaurant, Blacktown, 91

Paper Daisy, Cabarita Beach, 115 Parlar, Potts Point, 61

Paski Sopra, Darlinghurst, 61 Pasta Emilia, Surry Hills, 61 Paste Australia, Mittagong, 121 Pavilion Dining, Pialligo, 119 Pellegrino 2000, Surry Hills, 62 Pepito’s, Marrickville, 87 Peranakan Place, Auburn, 91 Phu Quoc, Cabramatta, 77 Pilot, Ainslie, 119 Pilu at Freshwater, Freshwater, 100

The Pines, Cronulla, 77 Pino’s Vino e Cucina, Alexandria, 75 Pipit, Pottsville, 115 Ploos, The Rocks, 37 Poly, Surry Hills, 62 Porcine, Paddington, 62 Porkfat, Haymarket, 37 Porteno, Surry Hills, 63 Printhie Wines, Nashdale, 108

Q

Quarterdeck, Narooma, 125 Quay, The Rocks, 38 Queen Chow, Enmore, 87 Queen Chow, Narooma, 125 Queen Margherita of Savoy, Cronulla, 77

R

Raes Dining Room, Byron Bay, 115 RAFI, North Sydney, 97 Ragazzi, Sydney, 38 Raku, Canberra, 119 Ramox Cafe, Illaroo, 123 Rebel Rebel, Canberra, 119 Red Lantern, Darlinghurst, 63 Refettorio OzHarvest, Surry Hills, 63

Ren Ishii, Ramsgate, 77–8 Restaurant Hubert, Sydney, 38 Restaurant Leo, Sydney, 39 The Restaurant Pendolino, Sydney, 39 Restaurant Santino, Wollongong, 124 Rick Stein at Bannisters, Soldiers Point, 105–6

Ricos Tacos, Chippendale, 39

Rising Sun Workshop, Newtown, 87 Rizla, Braddon, 119–20

Rockpool Bar & Grill, Sydney, 40 Roco Ramen, Brunswick Heads, 115 Ruse Bar and Brasserie, Parramatta, 91–2 Ryo’s Noodles, Crows Nest, 97

S

Sagra, Darlinghurst, 63 Saint Peter, Paddington, 64

Sang by Mabasa, Surry Hills, 64

The Schoolhouse Restaurant, Orange, 109 Scottie’s, Newcastle East, 105 Sean’s, Bondi, 69

Senpai Ramen, Chatswood, 98 Seta, Sydney, 40

Shanghai Night, Ashfield, 88

Shell House Dining Room & Terrace, Sydney, 40 Shelter, Lennox Head, 116 Silks, Barangaroo, 41

Sister’s Rock Restaurant, Orange, 109 Sixpenny, Stanmore, 88

Small Town Food + Wine, Milton, 124 S’more, Castlecrag, 98

Sokyo, Pyrmont, 41

Song Fang Khong, Fairfield, 92

Soul Dining, Surry Hills, 64

South on Albany, Berry, 124 Spice I Am, Surry Hills, 65 Spice Temple, Sydney, 41 St. Alma, Freshwater, 100

The Stunned Mullet, Port Macquarie, 110 Subo, Newcastle West, 106

Sun Ming, Hurstville, 78

Sun’s Burmese Kitchen, Blacktown, 92 Sushi e, Sydney, 41–2 Sushi Oe, Cammeray, 98 Sydney Cebu Lechon, Newtown, 88

T

Tan Viet Noodle House, Cabramatta, 78 Temasek, Parramatta, 92

TenTo, Surry Hills, 65

Terra, Canberra, 120

Tetsuya’s, Sydney, 42

Three Blue Ducks, Ewingsdale, 116

Tothy Brothers Deli, Wheeler Heights, 100

Totti’s Rozelle, Rozelle, 88

Traditional Cantonese Taste, Eastwood, 92 Tuong Lai, Cabramatta, 78

U

Uccello, Sydney, 42 Una Mas, Coogee, 69 Ursula’s, Paddington, 65

V

Valentina, Merimbula, 125 Viand, Woolloomooloo, 66 VN Street Foods, Marrickville, 89

W

Westwood Pizza, Newtown, 89 Whalebridge, Sydney, 42 Wilma, Canberra, 120 Woodcut, Barangaroo, 43

Woy Woy Fishermen’s Wharf, Woy Woy, 102 Wyno x Bodega, Surry Hills, 66

X

XO, Narrabundah, 120 XOPP, Haymarket, 43

Y

Yan, Wolli Creek, 75

Yang’s Dumpling Restaurant, Burwood, 89

Yellow Billy, Pokolbin, 104

Yellow, Potts Point, 66

Yoshii’s Omakase, Barangaroo, 43

You Beauty, Bangalow, 116

Yulli’s, Surry Hills, 66

Z

The Zin House, Mudgee, 109

Congratulations to our award-winning customers

Oncore

by Clare Smyth, Barangaroo

Bentley Restaurant + Bar, Sydney

Berowra Waters Inn, Berowra Waters

Bert’s Bar & Brasserie, Newport

Fred’s, Paddington

Mimi’s, Coogee

Monopole, Sydney

A’Mare, Barangaroo

Catalina, Rose Bay China Doll, Woolloomooloo

Cirrus Dining, Barangaroo

Da Orazio, Bondi Felix, Sydney

Glass Brasserie, Sydney

Ms. G’s, Potts Point

MuMu, Sydney

Special Awards

Vittoria Coffee Legend Award

Eric & Linda Wong, Golden Century

Oceania Cruises Wine List of the Year

Shell House Dining Room & Terrace

Food For Good Award

Refettorio OzHarvest

Mr. Wong, Sydney Muse Restaurant, Pokolbin

Porteño, Surry Hills Shell House Dining Room & Terrace, Sydney Yellow, Potts Point

Nobu, Barangaroo

Onzieme, Kingston Queen Chow, Enmore

Queen Chow at The Whale Inn, Narooma Sokyo, Pyrmont Sushi e, Sydney

The Stunned Mullet, Port Macquarie Uccello, Sydney Una Más, Coogee