The Best Things We Ate in Sydney in 2024

It’s been another year of excellent eating in Sydney. The big theme to all the openings and dishes in 2024 seemed to be the fact that there wasn’t one. Unlike in past years, where we had the post-Covid nostalgic comfort food boom or the Martini and sandwich crazes of 2023, this year was a bit of absolutely everything. And we couldn’t be happier about it.

All Broadsheet’s staff, writers and photographers do is talk about food. Non-stop. In fact, we should probably round out our personalities, and get some non-eating hobbies. But we’ll cross that bridge in 2025. For now, these were some of our favourite things – by newcomers and golden oldies alike – that we ate this year.

Pistakkio gelato, Gaia Gelato

In my air-conditioning-less car on a summer scorcher at the start of the year, I had perhaps the best Splice of my life. The fluoro pine-lime treat was a sweet salvation as I drove home after an afternoon at the beach. But I’m putting its excellence down to the time and temperature – making way for the real number one: a spectacularly creamy-crunchy scoop of pistakkio gelato at my new local, Gaia Gelato. The nuts arrive direct from the Mediterranean, and are then roasted and churned into a viridescent paste before becoming gelato housed in a silver tin. It’s everything you want it to be: slightly caramelised, smunchy (that’s a smooth-crunchy blend) and not too sweet.

Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Beef noodle soup, Ama

To me, there’s nothing more thrilling (or healing) than a big bowl of noodles bathing in broth. I’ve tried plenty of Sydney’s heavyweight bowls – from Malay-Chinese Takeaway’s inimitable laksa to Ryo’s clean and mean Tokyo ramen. But a contender recently entered the arena: Ama’s Thai beef noodles. The dish, commonly found in Chinatowns around Thailand, was near impossible to find in Sydney until sisters Rowena and Kate Chansiri came along. I’d certainly never tried it, but when I slurped up a tangle of chewy egg noodles slicked in punchy, aromatic beef broth, I was instantly hooked. What’s remarkable about Ama’s soup is that the sisters re-created their grandmother’s recipe based on their mother’s memories of eating it. That’s how unforgettable Ama’s soup is.

Dan Cunningham, acting features editor (food & drink)

Ham and cheese croissant, La Renaissance

As a proud Westie, I’m not usually in the city, but on a recent public holiday, my fiancé and I were in The Rocks, and the only place open for coffee was La Renaissance. We couldn’t leave without a croissant, and I’m so glad we went for the ham and cheese one. It’s flaky, cheesy and filled with béchamel sauce and shredded ham, topped with even more cheese. Honestly, it’s the best pastry I’ve ever had in my life.

Ivana Brkic, social media performance executive

Ricotta de la casa, Fontana

Feeling a little stuck in my ways here, but I must not tell lies. The ricotta della casa at Fontana arrives as a slab swimming in olive oil. It’s delightfully light, creamy and made fresh on the daily... what's not to love? Have it with your other plates, or the volcanic garlic bread. Or don't: true fans shovel it down solo.

Declan Blackall, photographer

Fried potato mochi with everything bagel sprinkles, Ante

I don’t have too much to say about this, other than that it was one of the yummiest bites of my life. It was slightly crisp on the outside, and mooshy in the middle, with everything bagel seasoning on the outside. A perfect blend of salty, sweet and umami. Paired with some sake and that sound-system? The perfect night.

Camille Repellin, senior sales and partnerships manager

Breakfast plate, Noon,

The flavour of the house-cured trout was exceptionally good and impressive. It paired perfectly when placed atop the hemp seed loaf along with Turkish tzatziki. It's great to see a nice cafe open up on Whistler Street – it's the street I lived during many of my formative years, from 19 to 26 years old.

Yusuke Oba, photographer

Lamb dumplings with saltbush, chilli and yoghurt, Jane

This year’s best for me would have to be Jane’s lamb dumplings with saltbush, chilli and yoghurt. Go there for the happy hour, and definitely order an Australiano Spritz when you do.

Claire Booth, national sales and partnerships director

San Xian wontons in chilli oil, TBC by Grape Garden

A dish that takes you over so completely that it brings you back every single week, rain hail or shine. I’ve been consistently lurking around for a table at Grape Garden every Friday night all year since eating this (the team there will back that up). It’s always the dish that the rest of the order revolves around: my beloved, numbing, complex, irresistible San Xian wontons. A slippery, house-made and perfect wonton wrapper gets filled with pork, prawn and Chinese chives, then goes for a swim in a brothy oil hybrid of Szechuan pepper, hand-ground chillies and a neutral master stock. The heat level zings your mouth for a few moments (or more) and leaves you yearning for it again, maybe every week, forever.

Ashley Scott, writer

Fried fish collar, Clam Bar

And since Clam Bar's Hot Collars it weren't on the menu when I went last year, I had to have it on my return visit. The gnarly, deep-fried thing arrived on a paper doily with a pot of creamy ranch on the side. The salt-flecked exterior surpassed a KFC level of crunch, and gave way to hot white flesh. Kingfish, apparently. More like a red herring. Did we order chicken? Nope. We ordered hot collars, baby. Only this crew could make a throwaway cut of fish sound sexy.

Dan Cunningham, acting features editor (food & drink)

Strawberry watermelon cake, Black Star Pastry

Is it a cliché? Maybe. Do I care? Nope. I first got this for my birthday over five years ago, and it’s been a fave ever since. The watermelon is the biggest selling point for me – especially now that the weather’s heating up.

Rashmi Mohotti, social media coordinator

Moreton Bay bug pasta, Ursula’s

This Moreton Bay bug pasta with crustacean butter is probably the best thing I've eaten this year. It’s the epitome of umami. Twirls of silky pasta are topped with a tender piece of charred bug, drenched in a rich, oozy sauce so tasty it takes all willpower not to lick the plate. Epic.

Lucy Brewer, contributor

Sirloin steak, Alfie’s

I didn’t think a steak would – or could – be one of my favourite meals of the year, but I guess you don’t know whether something’s going to be a standout memory until you start remembering it. And I remember Alfie’s sirloin steak often. I think it’s because I’m absolutely tickled by the idea of a steak restaurant that isn’t fitted out in the usual all-timber, brassy burnished steakhouse-core style. And I’m enthused by the steak: a 220-gram Riverine sirloin, which is fired over ironbark and charcoal. At $39, it’s also very cheap for what you’re getting. Split your steak with a partner, couple it with a handful of sides and a nice bottle of something, and you’ll be in for one of the rarest things in Sydney dining: a great meal in the CBD that doesn’t make you wince when the bill arrives.

Callum McDermott, acting Sydney food and drink editor

Lamb and cumin spring roll, Spice Temple

I wasn’t hungover when I had the spring rolls at Spice Temple – but I wish I had been. One bite was all I needed to realise that this was the perfect cure for any ailment. Grease, crispy pastry, rich and spicy lamb: this is the kind of dish that I would pay someone $100 to deliver to my house if I had a raging hangover. I ate six of them. I could have eaten 60.

Lucy Bell Bird, national assistant editor

Prawn miso ramen, Ramen Auru

When our features editor Dan recommended I line up at Ramen Auru half an hour before the restaurant opened, I thought he was having a laugh. He was not. After queuing and placing my order through the ticket machine, my friend and I took a counter seat and then slurped some of the most interesting ramen I’ve had in Sydney. The prawn miso ramen was full of depth, umami, warmth and what I think was butter – or pure fat. It was worth the wait.

Monique Foy, writer

Diavolo bianca pizza, City Oltra

I have dreams about the thin, crisp spikes of caramelised cheese on this deep square-cut pizza at City Oltra. I’ve been known to pile the family in the car 15 minutes before it closes just to grab a slice to eat in the park. It’s a sweet and spicy bite with ’nduja, creamy ricotta and mozzarella all melted together. The sweetness comes from a kick of Quinby’s hot honey, with shaved white onion and greenery thrown in for extra measure. I’d devour the whole 42-inch pizza if there was ever that much left at closing time. Good news for me: owners Ben Fester and Drew Huston have plans to open a Marrickville spot (closer to me) real soon.

Emma Joyce, features editor