These Five Dishes Showcase Woodcut’s Technique-Driven Cooking Best

Sydney may have plenty of harbourfront restaurants, but few come close to the hospitality at Woodcut. One of the jewels in Barangaroo’s dining scene, this fine diner – from co-owner and chef Ross Lusted – isn’t your everyday steakhouse; it’s a love letter to mastering the techniques behind the perfect dish.

“Most restaurants focus on the idea of having the entree, main course and dessert,” says Lusted. “But I was actually more interested in the different methods of cooking.”

So came the idea to focus on four styles of cooking: fire, steam, smoke and ice. “The essence of Woodcut is the cooking methods. Then, we really consider where do these ingredients perform at their best?”

While quality produce is the top priority for Lusted, he says there’s increasing interest in “the idea of seeing how it all happens”. Luckily, the open-kitchen concept gives diners front-row access to the process.

Want to see it for yourself? Broadsheet and NAB have partnered up for Bookings With Benefits, a dining program that takes $50 off your bill when you spend $250 or more on your NAB credit and debit card at participating restaurants – like Woodcut – across the country.

Here are Lusted’s top menu picks for your next meal at Woodcut.

Paspaley pearl meat, white soy, sunrise lime, ginger, sea succulents

“There’s not many countries in the world where you can eat pearl meat,” says Lusted. This “delicate and sweet” pearl meat, which bears some resemblance to oysters and mussels, comes from prestigious Australian jeweller Paspaley, and is on the menu at the restaurant’s raw bar. Served inside a polished pearl shell, the pearl meat is balanced with a tangy white soy sauce and adorned with local garnishes that change seasonally. The crisp textures from accompaniments like sunrise lime, ginger and sea succulents create the perfect bite when paired with the delicate pearl meat. “It’s one of those unique, textural meats, which, if you’re in Australia, you should definitely try.”

“Brick” chicken, fragrant lime, barberries, grapes

Chicken wasn’t going to be on the menu when Lusted first planned it. “I didn’t see a place for it … until I went back through my travels and remembered the best chicken I ever ate in my life while in Siena in Italy,” he says. Taking cues from that memory, Lusted cooks the chicken over charcoal under a custom-made weight, which acts like a brick, keeping the meat flat so it can crisp up. It’s then finished with barberries and grapes for sweet contrast and brought to the table in a cast iron skillet. “Opening the lid of a dish at the table really excites me … it’s about creating those experiences that transport you to another place.”

Halloumi, Malfroy’s honey, thyme, figs

This starter is all about showcasing the stories of the producers behind Woodcut. The Aphrodite halloumi is handmade by an all-female cooperative in Cyprus and roasted in the wood oven until it’s golden on the outside but still moist and fluffy on the inside. The saltiness is cut through with the sweetness of seasonal fruit, like figs or apricots depending on the month, and the acidity of the verjus. The “real star of the show”, according to Lusted, is the final ingredient: local beekeeper Tim Malfroy’s one-of-a-kind wild honey.

Native live pippies, vadouvan, roasted chickpeas, curry leaves

“Pippies are one of those indigenous seafoods that are quite unique to this country,” says Lusted, and he’s balancing it here with flavours from Asia, France and North Africa. The freshness of the pippies is combined with aromatic vadouvan, a French spin on curry powder. “It’s the closest I could get to Asian flavours while using Moroccan kinds of spices,” he says. Chickpeas cooked two ways – deep-fried and softened – and curry leaves are also stirred through for added layers of texture. The dish’s aromas meld together while braising in the steam kettle, which was custom made for Woodcut and imported from Vancouver.

Chauvel purebred citrus fed 7+ Wagyu rib eye

Quality steak grilled over ironbark embers is at the heart of Woodcut’s fire-led ethos. The point of difference for this dry-aged Chauvel Wagyu rib eye is its lower melting point, which gives the meat a certain richness and an incredibly tender texture when it’s grilled over the embers. It’s a main dish best shared between two to three people, with a couple of sides like the skin-on chips or the baked ancient grain macaroni with taleggio.

The Broadsheet Dining Program Special Offer of a $50 discount when you spend $250 or more is available when you dine at a Participating Restaurant between 13 January 2026 and 16 December 2026. To be eligible for the Discount Offer, you must make a booking via the NAB Exclusive Booking Link for the Participating Restaurant which is found on the Broadsheet Booking page and spend a minimum of $250 on your NAB credit card. Between 2 June 2026 and 16 December 2026, the Discount Offer will also be available on NAB debit card payments at select venues. The Discount Offer will apply at the Restaurant when you pay the final bill amount including GST and service fees and charges (if any) with your NAB credit card (includes a digital NAB credit card) or NAB debit card (includes a digital NAB debit card) at select venues. The Discount Offer is only valid once per booking and will not apply to any split bills and cannot be used in conjunctions with any other offers. For the full Terms and Conditions of this Offer, please click here. 

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with NAB.