On Oxford Street, the second Mapo shopfront serves house-made, natural and artisanal gelato in flavours ranging from classic to creative.

The “inner city sando committee” is in session. Come for next-level versions of the classic Japanese konbini snack, plus specialty coffee by a cult Sydney micro roaster.

By day, head to the light-filled cafe for viral hotcakes and dinner for brunch (like meatball pasta). Then, on the right nights, unwind with a glass of vino, share plates and good company (read: house-made tiramisu).

Japanese homewares and specialty coffee are a match made in heaven at this peaceful cafe by Artificer and Provider Store.

Three Messina chefs have gone all-out with their bakery debut. It’s where French and very nostalgic Aussie influences collide in treats like a Vegemite and avocado scroll, and a fancy take on an old-school custard tart.

Set within a historic former church, this social impact cafe empowers at-risk women through hospitality training and a sense of community. It also collaborates with top Australian chefs to curate monthly specials, events and more.

A shop that sells inventive sourdough-brioche doughnuts by a classically trained pastry chef. Traditional flavours are playfully twisted here – there’s a Vegemite-spiked salted butterscotch and another filled with Basque cheesecake.

This takeaway-focused, old-school sandwich shop makes some of Sydney’s best (and biggest) sangas. But you don’t need to take our word for it – the lengthy queues that form outside it every single weekday at lunchtime should tell you how good these beauties are.

Enter this extravagant cafe in a corner art deco building – featuring a striking Keeley Baird (from Something More Design) fit-out and a mural by artist Andrew Dennis – for truffles, caviar and a toastie that has to be seen to be believed.

A buzzing cafe doing riffs on Japan’s most famous convenience store item: the katsu sando. The one here is staked with cabbage, pickled carrots, American cheese and more. And considering the size, it’s bang for your buck. Expect katsu salad bowls, smoothies and Single O coffee, too.

Expect rainbow-coloured brunches and a showcase of NSW produce.

A small, easy-to-miss cafe serving incredible Brazilian cakes and home-style meals.

An industrial car-park cafe.

At one time, the breakfasts at Bill Granger’s sun-drenched cafe were the yardstick by which all the city’s cafes were measured. This blonde-wood institution still hits with avo on Iggy’s bread, poached eggs with elevated sides and ricotta hotcakes.

A busy hole-in-the-wall cafe.

A carefully considered hole-in-the-wall cafe.

Like Tiffany's for chocolate

This friendly neighbourhood Italian restaurant occupies the space that once housed the beloved Bar Vincent. But if anyone can fill those impossibly large shoes, it’s the owners of Bessie’s and Bar Copains.

Grab a seat at the curved bar or at the window looking out towards Taylor Square and order house-made pastas, focaccia, and crispy snapper tail.

This 80-seat spot serves all the Fabbrica favourites, from spaghetti cacio e pepe to cotoletta alla Milanese served with the bone. As ever, the wine list goes big on Italian and Australian drops from the minimal-intervention realm.

The elegant sequel to Sydney's legendary Hunanese restaurant. The signature smoked pork – a dish that counts Neil Perry and Matt Moran among its fans – is on the menu here.

Tiny Takam serves one of the city’s most ambitious Filipino menus, incorporating native Australian ingredients into traditional recipes. The lemongrass chicken inasal – cooked over coals on the hibachi – is a must order.

This tiny two-storey diner punches above its weight with a former Sokyo chef in the kitchen and a top mixologist behind the bar. Expect Japanese dishes reimagined with native Australian ingredients, fruity highballs and a warm neighbourhood vibe.

The Milano-inspired joint emphasises good times and communal eats, serving up pizzas, house-made pasta, and an Italian-leaning wine and cocktail list. Go for its white-base mushroom pizza with truffles or the crowd-favourite vodka pasta.

Tequila, tacos and shareable woodfired dishes make for a seriously good time at this Mexican- and South American-inspired spot. Sip one of 10 different Margaritas in the breezy courtyard out back, or go for the lively interior for plenty of bar action.

A bar and bottle shop styled after the enotecas of Italy. And a colourful upstairs restaurant with pasta and panache. Paski is a three-part stunner by wine importers Giorgio de Maria and Mattia Dicati, and chef Enrico Tomelleri.

Dimitri’s first started as a lo-fi little pizzeria on Crown street; in 2019, it moved up to Oxford Street. The new digs feature an Italian-made woodfire oven, a bigger dining room, plus a dedicated small bar upstairs. The toppings here are a riff on Dimitri’s flavour-over-tradition approach.

These huge, tasty soups sold here are unlike anything else in Sydney. And they’re guided by a sustainable ethos.

Hoppers, curry, sambol, wine and a slick design.

A four-level extravaganza with a retro cocktail bar with views over Hyde Park, stone-baked pizzas, and a Japanese menu by an ex-Sake chef.

Home to the best crispy pork-belly roll in Sydney. And it’s available past midnight.

An innovative European-Thai restaurant marrying molecular gastronomy with traditional Thai cooking.

The chefs behind this exacting neighbourhood diner serve what they call “Australian kaiseki”, where local ingredients are transformed into artful Japanese dishes with French touches. On the menu? Sashimi, plates of Wagyu and sushi, a signature duck yuzu ramen, and more.

Visit this flavour-punching Thai-ish diner and see why Joe Kitsana might be the hardest-working man in Sydney hospitality. The Hanoi-style spring rolls and dumplings swimming in chilli, ginger and soy sauce are both must-orders.

Are you game to take on T-Bone's Doom Juice, made with Carolina Reaper chillies?

This is the godfather of Italian dining in Sydney. Beppi’s has been ticking-over with the same consistency, fit-out and leather-bound menus – hand-carved by the late Beppi Polese himself – since 1956. Immortal dishes include clams and mussels with garlic, olive oil, white vino and tomato; and zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta, basil and mushrooms.

Not to be confused with poke bowls.

A handsome cafe and wine bar from the owner of Tatler, right downstairs.

Burgers, ceviche, fried chicken and English baps with the spices and flavours of India.

A takeaway burger joint by the duo behind Bar Luca.

A cafe serving classic American burgers with a hip-hop backdrop and a Breaking Bad theme.

Sagra is one of Darlo's quiet achievers. It's laidback, it's wallet-friendly, and there's something on the menu for just about everyone. The pastas, most of which come in at under $25 a bowl, are particularly worth your time.

The club’s signature cacio e pepe is served hot inside a hollowed-out wheel of Pecorino Romano, imported once a month from Sardinia, Italy. That’s how serious this slick diner is about cheese. Score a seat at the communal table with some quality European booze and get down to business.

Curbside dining, Sopranos-style, since 1965. The buzzy dining room upstairs is a good alternative though, where you’ll find generous bowls of pasta and super-sized schnitzels with cheese and veg. Hair-raisingly robust espresso from 6am until midnight.

Sushi that won't break the bank.

Every location of this innovative bakery is different, but this is the most different of them all – it serves dinner. Grab your usual morning pastries, then return for wines by the glass, creative snacks and house-made pastas.

On a sunny Darlo corner, this double-decker pub is all about Australiana, weekly-changing cocktails and reimagined pub classics. The highlight? A showstopping burger by Iceberg's executive chef.

There are only a handful of live music venues in Sydney deserving of legendary status. This two-in-one spot below Oxford Street – styled after Andy Warhol’s NYC warehouse in the ’60s – is surely one of them.

A century-old pub is now a handsome three-storey venue with a public bar on the ground floor, 17-room boutique hotel rooms and a sun-soaked rooftop offering Med snacks and skyline views.

This polished sake room is inspired by a popular Japanese manga – hear the story behind each sake as you sip, and don’t hold back on the nostalgic snacks. We can't get over the Kewpie mayo-shaped chopstick rests.

A compact izakaya like you’d find down a Tokyo alleyway, with hot towels and all. Inside there are more than 20 sakes, plus sake-friendly snacks including yakitori, miso-marinated cream cheese, and scallops in the half shell.

Hidden behind a tiny takeaway sandwich shop, this rowdy little tequila bar and taqueria is one of the best spots in Sydney to snag a Margarita. There are more than 15 versions of the classic drink to choose from, plus a neat menu of tacos going for half price on Tuesdays.

An alfresco bar from the owner of Tuxedo and Kansas City Shuffle.

A world-class beer bar. Enough said.

A refurbished live-music favourite, with pizzas and pool tables.

After a makeover inspired by New York’s dive bars, this late-night icon is open till 4am seven nights a week. Head in for after-work drinks and topnotch hot dogs, or party till the wee hours to five-hour sets by local and international DJs.

Inventive cocktails served fast.

An upmarket, three-storey pub from the Goodtimes Hospitality Group.

The gin flows freely at this Darlinghurst venue that tips its hat to Old Havana.

A cocktail-only establishment offering a three-course drink experience.

A pumping hip-hop nightclub from the team behind Cantina OK. A weekly line-up of DJs spins the best of the genre till super late on Friday and Saturday. This place also has a killer cocktail game, with signature drinks going for a steal before 9pm.

A terrific corner pub.

A taxidermy-filled den that's equally about well-made cocktails and straight spirits, bourbon particularly.

It’s all about “taps, tunes and Chinese” at this legendary 130-year-old pub. Head in for 17 local beers matched with Shandong-style chicken and prawn wontons from a Hong Kong chef. Don't miss the breezy open-air terrace on top.

Sydney’s OG wine bar still hits after all these years. Come for a hefty list of mainly lo-fi wines, excellent snacks and sly laneway seating unlike anything else in the city.

No sign, no fancy cocktails, but lots of locals at this Oxford Street hideaway.

Trade your clothes and accessories for cash or in-store credit at this chic, second-hand retailer. You won’t find fast fashion on the racks – just pre-loved, sustainably sourced vintage threads.

This colourful store sits on the CBD end of Oxford street, with enough variety to give designers, artists and literary types plenty of inspiration (or procrastination).

An essential part of Sydney’s LGBTQI history. Visit for a comprehensive range of literature, magazines, DVDs, erotica and some very sexy calendars.

Browse obscure international labels in person, or through the online store.

Wine selected by an industry legend.

Textile guru Rouse Phillips has a showroom, complete with carpets, homewares and rolls of its signature fabrics.

A lovingly curated DVD rental store in Darlinghurst.

A petite, eclectic boutique curated with a sense of fun.

When Rivareno's Darlinghurst location opened, it was the first non-European outpost for this renowned Italian gelati chain. And though it's since spread across Sydney, we think that this one's still the best.

Wall-to-wall books on design make this one of Sydney’s true specialists of the genre. You can find back issues of high-end mags such as Monocle and Creative Review, but that’s not all – there’s also a raft of merchandise for sale by witty design crew, Good Fucking Design Advice.

One-off antiques for all.

With locations all over the country (and one in Hong Kong), Sydney-born Messina is the definition of a runaway success story. Despite the scale; the flavours, the quality of ingredients and the exacting attention to detail have, if anything, improved over the years. It even uses milk from its own dedicated jersey farm in rural Victoria.

A pop-up shop and gallery space in Darlinghurst is showcasing the work of local artisans.