Sea-urchin crumpets? Grouper-head terrine? Here, they’re a thing. Chef Josh Niland is a pioneer of “fin-to-scale” cooking and will have you eating parts of the fish you barely knew existed. With the help of his fish butchery down the road and an on-site dry-ageing room, he’s doing things with seafood you can’t find anywhere else in Sydney, or in the world.

Dinners at Ester don’t feel like a big occasion, even though Mat Lindsay’s consistently delicious menu is also one of the most inventive in Sydney. The place has an easy, effortless feel that off-duty chefs have fallen hard for. It helps that the set menu includes Ester’s many woodfired hits (classics such as the fermented potato bread and blood sausage sanga recur frequently).

Frat Paz, as its many regulars call it, has been doing its very confident thing since 2001. That is: feeding and watering everyone from nonnas to the city’s A-listers, people who come back regularly for dishes such as calamari Sant’ Andrea and what could possibly be the best tiramisu in the city. This bustling, all-day operation is by the same people who brought us 10 William St.

A Bondi institution that’s kept up with the times. The long-serving staff continues to deliver exemplary service, and chef Sean Moran remains laser-focused on what’s Australian, what’s ripe and how best to prepare and present it in a way that best shows off each ingredient’s natural flavours. Understated but glorious, this is a quintessential Sydney dining experience – even more so than the flashier restaurants on this list.

For beloved chef, restaurateur, author, television presenter and national treasure Kylie Kwong, her food is as much about flavour as it is about expressing her social and cultural beliefs. That’s the driving force behind her 25-seat eatery, which sees Kwong’s signature Australian-Cantonese food served in a casual, canteen-style setting. Bonus: it's open for lunch five days a week.

This elevated vantage of Bondi’s sloshing surf is one of Australia’s great views – one a less conscientious restaurateur might easily lean on. Not Maurice Terzini, who’s been pushing his resplendent Italian diner to greater and greater heights since 2002. Long lunches in this smart aquamarine room have never been better, largely thanks to an insistence on top-quality Australian seafood, which makes the mostly classic menu sing.

The Middle East’s lesser-known cuisines brought to light on a menu informed by ancient recipes and modern techniques. You can also try wines from Syria, Jordan, Morocco and more, in a stunning contemporary space in the former MLC Centre.

Six years after it was announced, Merivale unveiled Mimi’s, a love letter to Sydney’s coastal lifestyle. In the open kitchen, you’ll see custom Josper grills being used to make dishes based on executive chef Jordan Toft’s philosophy of uncomplicated, Mediterranean-style cooking that draws equally from his Australian context. This is the kind of elegant, seaside restaurant only Sydney could produce.

Hubert’s low ceilings, timber-panelled walls and candle-lit tables feel like they’ve been there forever. And yet, this convincing facsimile of a grand European restaurant circa World War II only opened in 2016. Behind this extravagant and ambitious facade there’s reverence for classic hospitality and notably un-classic French food. Sure, the menu includes duck parfait and escargot, but with clever tweaks such as maple syrup jelly and Chinese XO sauce.

Not quite Neapolitan, not quite New Yorker – the pizza at Bella Brutta is a style all of its own. Expect a puffy, blistered crust, a sag-proof base and a raft of creative toppings (a slice of the white clam pie with fermented chilli is a must). From the teams behind LP’s Quality Meats and Porteno.

Get the best Australian produce from both the paddock and the soil, and cook it over an open flame. That’s it. It’s an extremely simple concept, but one few execute with the precision and aplomb of chef Lennox Hastie, who learnt the trade at Spain’s pioneering Asador Extebarri. Sit at the kitchen bar and watch Hastie roast a dry-aged steak, a prawn straight from the tank or a simple potato.

Helmed by genre-bending Sydney chef Mitch Orr, the Ace Hotel’s eighteenth-floor diner is all about native ingredients, fire-based cooking and flavours from across the globe. The space exudes the Ace’s signature cool, with a view that’s primed for the adventurous wine list by P&V’s Mike Bennie.

Until Lumi and its Miso-strone came along, the idea of a Japanese-Italian restaurant sounded distinctly unappetising. But in the hands of chef Federico Zanellato (ex-Noma, Attica and Ormeggio at the Spit), this fusion not only makes sense – it makes you wonder why more people aren’t doing it. Enjoy multiple courses with matched wines from Michela Boncagni (Lumi’s sommelier and Zanellato’s wife), with serene views of Pyrmont Bay to keep you occupied between acts.

Around 60 styles of sake are pouring at this intimate drinking den, inspired by the vinyl-spinning jazz bars of Japan. Expect rare Japanese gins and whiskies too, plus a Euro-Japanese snack menu by a former Pinbone and Billy Kwong chef.

An institution among Laksa addicts. Today the name has two locations under its banner, but the original, now-closed Hunter Street shop was ladling bowls of piping hot laksa all the way back in 1987 – long before most of the CBD’s other Asian restaurants joined the party.

After leaving the kitchen at influential, now-closed Newtown diner Oscillate Wildly, Dan Puskas always planned to do something similar in the inner west. Sixpenny is his next chapter, where he and head chef Anthony Schifilliti use ingredients from small local suppliers to create a menu that’s inventive, accessible and deeply Australian all at once. It’s a vision brought to life in a tiny, historic building on a quiet suburban backstreet.

This waterside property feels like an opulent hotel. There’s a reception to greet you, it’s luxuriously decorated with period furniture and the bar has a scalloped design that’s almost mesmerising. The menu mixes classical French and Italian dishes and high-end Australian seafood cooked with the precision the prices imply. Despite this, Bert’s is versatile and accessible, just as suitable for dates as for celebrating a boozy long lunch with friends or family.

The Newtown sequel Pasi Petanen’s boundary-pushing Darlinghurst venue is a little more casual now, but the chef's incredible dishes have never been harder to pin down. There’s a lot of Finnish, a little bit of Italian and some inspiration taken from right here in Australia. Vino maestro Giorgio De Maria wine list emphasises drops that are fun, interesting and go exceptionally well with the food.

Restaurants all over Sydney have tried to copy Mr Wong’s refined Cantonese-led menu, its modern fit-out and the quality of its service, but none have been successful. Consequently the large but intimate-seeming space is always packed, even though it’s down a CBD laneway. Inside, a bank of barbequed ducks aren’t just great to look at: they’re plump, juicy and delicious. Likewise the delicate dumplings, which are some of the city’s best. Chef Dan Hong sets a benchmark that has the right amount of Aussie-Cantonese nostalgia.

The food here is very Sri Lankan – there’s a traditional fish curry, hoppers (bowl-shaped crepes made from fermented rice flour), an array of sambols and fluffy dal – but this narrow restaurant is a reflection of chef and owner O Tama Carey. She wanted to bring her experience of the island to Sydney, along with what she likes to drink: Australian-brewed mead, pét-nats, a coconut and coffee slushie, and wine poured from a tap.

A Long Chim alumnus is behind this 30-seat Chinatown restaurant, where you’ll find punchy takes on classic Thai street food and home-style cooking. Think deep-fried barramundi with mango salad, Phuket-style curry with tiger prawns and betel leaves, and a refreshing coconut ice-cream with roasted peanuts and candied pumpkin.

Though the offering at Bar Vincent is ever-changing, you can always count on fresh oysters, complimentary house-baked bread and a razor-sharp wine program. Dishes usually skew Italian, and those intimate, candlelit nooks make for a romantic setting to enjoy them in.

A hidden Marrickville restaurant celebrating the cultural diversity of Sydney's suburbs. Beyond the low-key roller door, it’s plating up citrussy schnitzels; charcoal-grilled octopus with endives and raspberry; and bouillabaisse bolognaise with prawn and bacon XO sauce.

After a fire, a pop-up and a Covid-19 shutdown, Nomad has returned to its original Foster Street home. Enter for inventive charcuterie, charcoal-fired mains and a wine list highlighting Australian producers great and small.