Fratelli Paradiso

Restaurant · Italian · $$$ · potts point

Whether you’re stopping in for that iconic lasagnette bolognaise or just a snack, Frat Paz nails it every time. Its groundbreaking wine list introduced the city to many minimal-intervention styles we're now obsessed with.

12-16 Challis Avenue

Single O Cafe and Sideshow

Cafe · $$$ · surry hills

Killer coffee from a pioneer in the city’s third wave coffee movement. The main event is where you can get a seasonal feed and every detail about your brew in one sitting. Hit the sideshow for a theatrical self-serve coffee bar.

60-64 Reservoir Street

Bistro Grenier

Restaurant · French · $$$ · newtown

Odd Culture is one of Sydney’s essential bars. But last year it got even better with the addition of Bistro Grenier – a sexy upstairs bistro. Come for faithful French cooking, a romantic ambiance, and a varied drinks list.

266 King Street

Eat at Robs

Restaurant · American · $$$ · rozelle

Eat at Robs uses the meat from its on-site butcher, Darling Street Meats, to form its perfect patties. Those are then smashed into smash burgers that people regularly cross town for. Robs is Sydney's current burger king.

621 Darling Street

City Oltra

Restaurant · Pizza · $$$ · haymarket

Two gun pizzaiolos have teamed up with inner-west distillery Poor Toms to create the ultimate inner-city hangout – with not-quite-New York pizzas, chunky square pies, plates of gabagool and a riff on a legendary Perth sandwich.

11 Eddy Avenue

Khanom House

Shop · $$ · chippendale

After two years of market stalls, The Baking Lists has a real home. Hit the cute corner site (formerly Ricos Tacos) for Asian-influenced bakes (like doughnuts filled with pandan custard) where the sugar is purposely dialled back.

15 Meagher Street

Firedoor

Restaurant · $$$$ · surry hills

Lennox Hastie's seminal Surry Hills fine diner helped usher in a wave of fire-focused restaurants around Australia. But the original is tough to beat. The menu has morphed and developed over the years, and feels as vital as ever.

23-33 Mary Street

40 Res

Restaurant · $$$ · surry hills

A wine bar from a chef with a great CV in an area full of them might not be a fresh concept. But when it's the former exec chef of the legendary Tetsuya's and the food's this good, who cares? And the wines are pretty great, too.

40 Reservoir Street

Jane

Restaurant · $$$ · surry hills

A handsome brasserie-style spin-off by the team from Arthur Restaurant. It’s primed for casual afterwork drinks and snacks with a sharing menu focused on zero-waste.

478 Bourke Street

Bills Darlinghurst

Cafe · $$$ · darlinghurst

This Darlinghurst legend created the “Australian cafe” blueprint that’s now imitated worldwide. And Bill Granger’s classic dishes – from corn fritters to ricotta hotcakes – still hit just as hard today.

433 Liverpool Street

Happyfield

Cafe · American · $$$ · haberfield

Walk past this sunny corner any day of the week and there’ll be a crowd of people lined up outside. They’re here for pancakes – fluffy, Instagrammable stacks of them – drenched in 100 per cent Canadian maple syrup.

96 Ramsay Street

PS40

Bar · $$$ · sydney

It's one of Sydney's most inventive cocktail bars – with the sleek genre-defying interiors to match – but in the last few years, PS40's $65 Tuesday night takeover dinners have earned their own devoted following.

40 Skittle Lane

Marrickville Pork Roll

Shop · $$ · marrickville

Picture a line of banh mi addicts wrapping around the block, hankering for Sydney's most famous banh mi. That’s Marickville Pork Roll. It more than lives up to the hype.

236A Illawarra Road

Olympic Meats

Restaurant · Greek · $$ · marrickville

When this cross between a gyradiko and a taverna opened, it kept selling out of everything, every night. We can see why. Stop by for great grilled meats and pita, rotating meze, house-made filo and spanakopita, and a warm vibe.

12 Dudley Street

Sixpenny

Restaurant · $$$$$ · stanmore

This “little restaurant in Stanmore” serves ferment-forward dishes that are inventive, accessible and deeply Australian all at once. It’s a vision brought to life in a tiny historic building on a suburban backstreet.

83 Percival Road

Bennelong

Restaurant · $$$$$ · sydney

The only thing better than dining with a view of Sydney's most famous building is dining inside it – and a meal at Bennelong, chef Peter Gilmore's counterpart to his fine diner Quay, is the best way to do it.

Sydney Opera House

Bistecca

Restaurant · Italian · $$$$ · sydney

Apart from sides, there's only one thing on this menu: T-bone steaks, sold by weight. Plus there's excellent wine and cocktails, set within a transportive subterranean space.

3 Dalley Street

Ayam Goreng 99

Restaurant · Indonesian · $$ · kingsford

Expats, students and food explorers make the pilgrimage to Anzac Parade for the Indonesian fare at this institution. Visit for outrageously tender chicken, street-style satays and nasi goreng.

464 Anzac Parade