The Best Seafood Restaurants in Sydney
It’s no surprise that our harbour city does seafood incredibly well. A world-class fish market means we’re spoilt for choice with Med-inspired diners, elevated fish’n’chippers, and a booming omakase scene that’s wholly deserving of its own list. It's also partly why Sydney has the distinction of being home to Saint Peter, arguably the most important seafood restaurant in the world.
Since we aren’t exactly lacking in the seafood department, angling for a platter of ruby-red prawns or a fillet of sustainably-caught fish can be a daunting prospect. Here, we’ve reeled in the best to make those decisions a little easier.
Restaurant
Saint Peter at the Grand National Hotel
A pioneering “fin-to-scale” eatery by Josh and Julie Niland. In the large open kitchen, the chefs utilise all parts of the fish to create a menu of wildly inventive dishes. A meal here is thrilling, educational, and enhanced by an impressive selection of Australian wine and Japanese sake.
Restaurant
Ormeggio at The Spit
There’s nowhere else quite like chef-restaurateur Alessandro Pavoni’s waterside institution. While the trifecta of seafood, crisp Italian wines and house-made gelato mostly succeeds in capturing the essence of a coastal Italian diner, those Middle Harbour views from Ormeggio’s breezy dining room make for a quintessential Sydney experience.
Restaurant
Longshore
The Hartsyard team have turned the old Automata space into a coastal-inspired diner, where it’s all about the repeat visit. Your first visit might involve à la carte hits like sand whiting bathed in XO pipi butter. The next? An experimental 10-course snack flight.
Restaurant
Clam Bar
The best of New York inspires the Pellegrino 2000 team's seafood grill and steakhouse. As ever, it’s all about irreverently executed classics and cocktails riffing on the “daggy drinks” of the ’80s.
Restaurant
Flying Fish
This Sydney fine dining seafood institution has revitalised the tarnished reputation of the seafood platter and is cooking the best the ocean has to offer over a wood fire.
Bar
The Rover
This moody double-decker spot has long been one of the best places to drink cocktails in Surry Hills. But it’s also one of the best places to dine – with a refined bistro menu spanning European classics and a cult Sydney burger.
Restaurant
The Gantry
Enjoy artful, seafood-forward plates at this sophisticated diner at the heritage Pier One wharf. Inside it's all about sleek dark timbers – but it's the outdoor experience that truly shines. A table by Walsh Bay water is the ideal setting for a long lunch or elegant dinner.
Restaurant
Fich
Another addition to Sydney’s oeuvre of fancy fish’n’chippers. This one is by two former Bennelong chefs, and they’ve split the business in half: a takeaway counter on one side doing upmarket renditions of fish shop classics, and a cosy restaurant on the other with an expanded dine-in menu and Grifter beer on tap. It's also a lure for some of the city's best chefs.
Restaurant
XOPP
The sister restaurant to Golden Century, and named after that institutional restaurant’s most famous dish. It’s also one of the best places in the city to eat Cantonese-style seafood, served in a super-contemporary space in the Darling Square dining precinct.
Restaurant
Bert’s
Caviar, champagne, tanks of live lobsters – there’s a certain swagger to this high-end restaurant in a relaxed waterside locale.
Restaurant
North Bondi Fish
There’s something about the fish’n’chip format that top chefs love. Matt Moran’s North Bondi Fish – located under the North Bondi RSL – is one of many examples on this list. But none other enjoys a spectacular ocean view quite like this. It’s the perfect complement to Moran’s tight, seafood-focussed menu.
Restaurant
Fish Shop
An elevated fish'n'chipper from the team behind Fishbowl. Pull up a chair in the light-filled dining room for Mediterranean-inspired bar snacks, or settle on a picnic rug in the neighbouring park with takeaway boxes.
Restaurant
love.fish Barangaroo
Alpine salmon “pastrami” served with rye bread and house pickles. Salt-and-pepper calamari with chorizo powder and wasabi mayo. Seafood with style is what love.fish in Barangaroo does best. It’s worth a visit just to see what they can do with the humble fish ’n’ chips.
Restaurant
Morrison’s
This heritage corner site has lived many lives – but its most recent one is arguably its best. Come for freshly shucked oysters from the cabinet, premium Australian steaks and a focus on local and French wine varieties.
Shop
Sydney Fish Markets
Crustacean and fish fans will tell you that there’s nothing on God’s Earth quite like a fish market in the morning. If you want to take that to the next level, book a behind-the-scenes tour of Sydney’s Fish Markets, where you’ll get to experience everything the seafood Mecca has to offer, including its infamous auction floor. Make sure to book this one in advance.
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