Five To Try: The Latest Hot List Additions

The Hot List is the definitive guide to Sydney’s most essential food and drink experiences, updated weekly. Learn more.

Sydney’s hospitality scene has served up a seemingly endless line of excellent new venues this year. It can be tricky to keep track of what’s going on, but we’ve done the work for you. These new Hot Listed spots stand out among a stacked line-up of 2026 openings so far – add them to your hit list.

Arthur, Surry Hills

The name. The address. The commitment to Aussie produce. That’s what you’ll recognise when you step inside Arthur. But the Surry Hills corner restaurant has had a recent renovation of its fit-out and core concept, so some things have changed. The set menu has made way for a more relaxed à la carte approach, the interior feels a little more homey and capacity has grown from 40 to 60 seats.

Chef Tristan Rosier and his partner and co-owner Bec Fanning have reimagined Arthur without losing what made it great in the first place. On the menu you’ll still find plates such as braised kangaroo tail with warrigal greens; mussels with a native curry sauce and kohlrabi; or raw bluefin tuna served with pickled cumquat and a kale paste. It all feels a little more laid-back and accessible now.

Ashe, CBD

If Khan Nguyen is running the kitchen, you know you’re getting plates that are considered and cooked with precision. At the Bentley Group’s latest restaurant, Ashe, Nguyen’s experience from his Melbourne restaurants Sunda and Aru is distilled into something leaner, more assured and unmistakably his own. It feels personal, and it is.

Plates are influenced by Nguyen’s travels across Vietnam. But rather than leaning into strict authenticity, the menu here uses Southeast Asian flavours as a framework, weaving in native Australian ingredients to showcase flavours and techniques Nguyen has picked up on his travels. Fried dumplings riff on the crisp shell of banh goi. Shellfish plates are inspired by Vietnam’s oc restaurants. A caramelised Barnsley lamb chop is marinated in Nguyen’s mum’s seasoning. Ashe is unabashedly honest and personal – qualities a lot of restaurants strive towards for years.

Ca Phe Mai, Double Bay

Co-owner couple Cindy Mai and Ed Loveday’s back-alley space in Double Bay is a mashup of Vietnamese and Australian flavours, taking you from early morning cafe to low-lit wine bar. From morning until mid-afternoon, you’ll find brunch classics with a Vietnamese twist, such as a bacon and egg banh mi, or a lemongrass pork sausage and egg muffin. In the evening, Ca Phe Mai shifts into wine bar mode.

And this isn’t one of those notional wine bars where the drinks are an add-on – at Ca Phe Mai, they’re central to the experience. The wine list features 22 drops by the glass and more than 70 by the bottle, ranging greatly in varietal and occasion. Plus, there’s 11 Vietnamese-leaning cocktails that change regularly and an eclectic selection of spirits and non-alc options to complement. A hybrid concept can be tough to pull-off, but Ca Phe Mai does it with grace. It’s a big call to say something is a first, but we’re confident Sydney hasn’t had a venue like it.

Mecca Coffee, Darlinghurst

Mecca Coffee’s new Foley Street space feels concurrently ancient and futuristic, like discovering a spaceship abandoned by a lost alien race. Anchoring the room is a red marble bar quarried from a single block of dolomitic stone from the Pilbara in Western Australia. The earthy material palette of red brick, sandstone and river clay was inspired by the region, home to one of the oldest landscapes and some of the oldest continuous cultures on Earth. Recessed into the ceiling is a striking, custom-made acrylic dome light that shifts colours throughout service, which, along with sharp lines along the ceiling and wall finishes, adds to the room’s atmosphere.

Excellent design aside, Mecca’s coffee is out of this world. Enjoy outstanding blends, producer-series single origins and a spiced cold brew in the diminutive 20-seat space, or spill out onto the pedestrian walkway. In any case, it’s a venue worthy of Mecca’s status as one of Sydney’s most influential coffee roasters.

Super 44, Newtown

If the bright red facade and crowded entrance on Enmore Road doesn’t draw you in, the matching tiled floor and bar top, ceiling doilies and bolo-tie-wearing staff will. Super 44 commands your attention and it demands one thing: drink a Margarita. The neighbourhood sibling from the Bar Planet team serves frozen, spicy and other special riffs on the classic cocktail. And the variations change regularly.

You’ll need multiple visits to try each, but any excuse is a good one. Super 44 is an instant hit – it runs like it knows exactly what Enmore Road wants and has for a long time. Come for as many Margs as you dare to try, the long tequila list and, of course, bags of Tajin-inspired spiced popcorn.

The Hot List is proudly sponsored by Square.

Additional reporting by Grace MacKenzie, Dan Cunningham and Lucy Bell Bird.