The venues shaping this city’s culinary scene.
Whether you have a strict plants-only philosophy, or just feel like something lighter, these are the best places to visit.
Some of the city's best dining is here, along with a handful of cheap and cheerful options.
Get your dinner on.
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A wood-fired oven, an open-flame hearth and some of the country’s best produce and cocktail bar underneath.
Charcoal-roasted meats and sides, paired with a choice of 300 wines.
Moody jazz, heavy wooden beams and a bank of barbeque ducks in the old Tank nightclub space. A modern Shanghai-style dumpling den from Dan Hong and Merivale.
Tasty, unctuous ramens and izakaya-style snacks.
Italian food and good times galore in a greenery-filled courtyard behind a dive-y ’70s pub.
Keita Abe brings Japanese like you've never seen to Surry Hills with his tempura restaurant. Sit around the centrepiece wraparound counter and order from a constantly-shifting menu.
A moody Mexican laneway diner in an old CBD printing shop. The upstairs restaurant serves tacos al pastor, a one-kilogram Wagyu rib eye and a sweet potato dessert. Downstairs there's a bar with more than 200 mezcals and tequilas.
In the heart of the CBD, Bentley offers dishes that reflect a reputation for innovation.
Rosa Cienfuegos makes some of Sydney's best Mexican food. At this colourful and casual all-day Mexican eatery and deli, she's serving home-style dishes: huevos divorciados, tacos, garnachas and more. Plus, there are hard-to-find Mexican pantry goods to buy.
The pizza bases here are proved for four days so they’re light and easy to digest, then topped with only a couple of ingredients, including buffalo mozzarella imported from Italy.
Reviving French splendour in an old-fashioned setting.
In 2020, this waterside Sydney favourite changed its menu to focus exclusively on seafood. And it's all the better for it. The views out over Middle Harbour, combined with the fantastic seafood, make this one of Sydney's best – and most serene – dining experiences.
Caviar bumps, vintage booze, barbequed abalone – Mimi’s might just be Merivale’s magnum opus.
There’s 250 bottles of mainly low-intervention wine from Italy and Australia, and a rotating menu of pasta that changes daily.
Drinks and snacks reach new heights at this not-restaurant from the team at Ester.
The Newtown takeaway-focused outpost of Western Sydney’s favourite chicken shop offers all of the favourites, plus Southern-style fried chicken
A fun, energetic take on fine dining headed by ex-Momofuku Seiōbo chef Clayton Wells.
Where a wood-fired oven is fed with produce sourced from Sydney and surrounds.
The menu is à la carte, the wines are by Giorgio De Maria, and – as at the original – the food is still groundbreaking.
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.
A ritzy institution on the Customs House rooftop. The menu bounces between Indian and Italian flavours to create an altogether modern Australian vibe that spans surf, turf and vegan dishes. An appropriate focus on seafood works a treat, given the jaw-dropping views of Sydney Harbour. Book ahead for the window seats.
A cosmopolitan Italian diner with enough marble to sink a ship. It’s a spin-off of Matteo’s in Double Bay, and the pizza is just as good. This place has a few of its own moves though – notably, a mozzarella bar which receives a fresh batch of the good stuff each morning.
Come here for a playful, subtly Australian-inflected take on Italian cuisine.
Thai cuisine by David Thompson, the world’s most lauded Thai chef.
High-quality produce cooked over a naked flame, with no sauces to hide behind.
This dazzling fine diner – from the duo behind legendary CBD restaurant The Bridge Room – was worth the wait. Each kitchen of the four kitchens here harness a different element: steam, fire, smoke and ice. From the seafood kitchen, you'll find piles of caviar and roe; and raw kingfish with lychee and grilled ginger. From the woodfire grill? There's swordfish and a 270-day-aged one-kilogram Black Market T-bone.
Descend the stairs into a labyrinthine den of lush velvet booths, flowing booze and a menu that champions Black Angus rib eye.
This Mexican diner's menu is entirely plant-based, and it's all the better for it. If you're a veg-lover and a fan of Mexican flavours, this is the spot for you. When your tortilla's loaded with charred cauliflower, guacamole and pickles, you won't even noticed meat's gone.
This is the long-awaited Sydney outpost for the beloved Japanese dining empire, and it's brought its signature miso cod along for the ride. Dine on salmon-sashimi tacos and evaporate-in-your-mouth nigiri, knock back "sushi cups" and enjoy some aged sake.
This restaurant surrounded by lush gardens is serving a modern-Asian menu inspired by Luke Nguyen’s heritage.
Try its take on tonkotsu.
The menu is ever-changing, but you can always expect to find fresh oysters and pasta at this European eatery. Plus there’s complimentary house-made bread.
Enjoy artful, surprising degustations at this understated diner. Inside, it's all about sleek dark timbers – but it's the outdoor drinking and dining that really shines. A table outside by the water on a warm day is the ideal setting for a long, spritzy lunch.
Forget everything you know about Lebanese food.
At this French bistro above P&V;’s Paddington bottle shop, a 60-kilogram Berkshire pig gets delivered each fortnight. Every part of the beast is used, from the head (which becomes terrine) to the belly (bacon sangers for staff meals).
Exceptional dim sum with glistening, seafood-stuffed dumplings and saucy pork ribs. Completed by a homely RSL vibe, this is the yum cha king of the south-west.
The cuisines of the East Mediterranean from a former Quay chef.
This Surry Hills pub got a shake-up in 2020 – but it’s still one of Sydney’s best all-in-one wine bars, restaurants and boozers.
This is the casual counterpart to Ormeggio at the Spit. The Italian food and service is just as excellent, but the atmosphere and dishes on the menu are far more casual.
An oversized bento box-like Japanese eatery and sake bar.
Authentic Neapolitan street food in a bright, modern setting.
Apart from sides, there's only one thing on this menu: T-bone steaks, sold by weight.
Matt Moran's fine-dining restaurant inside Barangaroo House.
Settle into the handsome dining room to tackle the 180-bottle-strong wine list, or grab some takeaway slushies from the old coffee window. Plus, there's excellent house-made pasta.
Southern Indian spices and village cuisine are at the centre of Sam Prince’s restaurant.
A sharp restaurant and bar from the team at Bulletin Place. Naturally, it serves great cocktails.
An institution among Laksa addicts. The name has several locations under its banner, but the Hunter Street location has been ladling bowls of piping hot laksa since 1987 – it was around long before many of the CBDs other Asian stalwarts joined the party.
This heritage-listed waterfront venue serves up French bistro classics.
The standard-setter for fine dining in Sydney. Executive chef Peter Gilmore is tireless in his pursuit of what’s interesting, new and Australian. His backyard is peppered with test plantations of rare vegetables, he works with local ceramicists on custom crockery and he’s a leading advocate for native produce. The restaurant’s theatrical tasting menus show off all this and more, bolstered by some of the city’s best harbour views.
The team behind Bopp & Tone, The Butler and The Botanist have given this institution a $1.5-million makeover that pays tribute to its past.
