OK. Two things. First, yes, the hospitality industry has seen better days for business. The rising cost of living means consumer spending is down, while the rising cost of running a restaurant, bar or cafe means profit margins are tighter than ever. But this doesn’t mean it’s the end of days for Sydney’s food and booze scene. People are still going out. Many restaurants are still pumping.

Good luck getting a weekend booking at Surry Hills’ Bar Copains, say, or any table at Bistecca in the CBD. Spicy Joint in Haymarket heaves. The line for Self Raised Snack Shoppe in Bexley North can be intimidating. I was at Restaurant Hubert last Monday, and the dining room was in full swing, three-piece jazz band and all. This is still a dynamic city to eat, drink and party.

We’ll have a full wrap-up of 2024 in December (expect sauce Diane and tomato-leaf martinis to feature), but in the meantime, here’s a half-year report on some of the Good Food team’s favourite openings of the past six months. Each one has been selected for the wider trend it boosts and builds on. Winter doesn’t have to mean locking yourself indoors with spag bol leftovers.

The ‘let’s do one thing really, really well’

Taste of Canton

139 Broadway, Ultimo, instagram.com/tasteofcanton

Professional kitchens specialising in one kind of dish have existed since professional kitchens were invented. London’s jellied eel stalls. Fukuoka’s tonkotsu ramen shops. The smashburgers at Rob’s in Rozelle. Sydney has seen more specialty restaurants open in recent years, however, partly because of the lower business costs that may come with offering a condensed menu, but also because migrants keep making the city more vital and diverse. When Lingqi Yang found it hard to track down the same style of cheung fun (rippled, silky steamed rice noodle rolls) she grew up with in Guangzhou, China, she opened Taste of Canton next to a Zetland car wash last year. The cheung fun – made by steaming a rice flour mixture in a wobble-board-sized pan – were so popular that Yang recently set up shop near Broadway, too. Dumplings and (pretty good) congee bulk up the menu, but it’s all about the single-serve plates of noodle rolls, with your choice of egg, prawn, pork or brisket.

See also: Omu, Ultimo; Banh Cuon Kim Thanh, Bankstown; Alfie’s, CBD.

The hot and smoky one

Firepop

137 Enmore Road, Enmore, firepop.com.au

If I don’t receive a media release every second week about a new restaurant “cooking over fire”, it certainly feels like it. More often than not, there will also be a quote from the chef, talking about their new menu like they’re the first person to discover steak tastes better grilled with charcoal. Anyway, there’s none of that bravado at Firepop, run by eternally gracious couple Raymond Hou and Alina Van. The husband-and-wife team opened their brick-and-mortar store on Enmore Road in March, after barbecuing in their mobile kitchen across markets, breweries and Easter Shows since 2018. Flame-licked David Blackmore wagyu skewers melt like butter; New England lamb whacks you around the nostrils with sesame and cumin dukkah; and bouncy chicken hearts are enhanced with garlic oil. Speaking of David Blackmore, we’re also expecting more first-rate seafood, vegetable and wagyu grilling from Corey Costelloe – the former Rockpool Bar & Grill executive chef who opened 20 Chapel in Marrickville late last week.

See also: Firedoor, Surry Hills; Yakitori Yurippi, Crows Nest; Chaco Bar, Potts Point.

The good time, all the time, party room

Good Luck Restaurant Lounge

11 Bridge Street, Sydney, merivale.com/venues/good-luck

Say what you will about Merivale and Justin Hemmes, but the bloke sure knows how to throw a party. With Totti’s chef Mike Eggert in charge of the kitchen, Good Luck bills itself as capturing “the spirit of the 1970s underground scene by way of Brooklyn, Tokyo or Hong Kong”. Chief Herald restaurant critic Terry Durack calls it a high-energy rabbit warren with flaming grills, fish tanks, glittering chandeliers and colourful cocktails. Who’s for king crab and waffles? It’s immensely popular, and shows plenty of people at the top end of town are still looking to spend big, especially if the joint has plenty of personality and opportunities for a blowout.

See also: Funda, CBD; Chin Chin, Surry Hills; Mimi’s, Coogee.

The modern suburban Italian

Fior

756 Kingsway, Gymea, fiorrestaurant.com.au

Ever met a person who didn’t like pasta? Me neither. Small wonder that many operators looking to open an ambitious restaurant in the suburbs (particularly suburbs where $48 main courses are met with raised eyebrows) tend to gravitate towards the safe space of Italian. Brought to the Sutherland Shire by the team behind Surry Hills’ Jane and Arthur, Fior launched in Gymea in March, and the 120-seat restaurant is finding success with aperitivo snacks (crumbed scallops) approachable pastas (pappardelle with pork sausage ragu) and hefty, family-friendly mains (roast chicken, currants and braised greens). Meanwhile, Bar Infinita has started rocking spaghetti vongole and ironbark-grilled bistecca in Gordon, and Nico is intent on bringing Amalfi sunshine to Cammeray through winter.

See also: Braci Osteria and Pizzeria, North Willoughby; Bobby’s, Cronulla; Totti’s, Bondi.

The pub that’s not a pub

White Horse

381 Crown Street, Surry Hills, thewhitehorse.com.au

Pubs, traditionally, have been easy to define: anywhere that serves beer and holds a full hotel liquor licence. Done. But over the past couple of years, there has been a string of new venues masquerading as pubs, but are really just small bars with old footy memorabilia, Grifter Pale Ale and recycled yellow tiles. (Nobody does this better than The Magpie in Enmore, and Bud’s Tavern, Huskisson.) Anyway, technicalities be damned. We say that if it looks like a pub, and feels like a pub, it’s a pub. This goes the other way, too, however, and although the revamped White Horse holds a pub licence, and there’s beer on tap, the reclaimed oak tables, soothing soft-textured walls and woven leather chairs say “sit-down bar and restaurant”. Then there are chef Jed Gerrard’s dishes, such as a “mille-feuille” of finely peeled and rolled beetroot lifted with native thyme oil and pickled muntries, which would not be out of place on some tasting menus around town.

See also: The Paddington, Paddington; Bistro George, CBD; The Norfolk Hotel, Redfern.

The banging bar

Centro 86

Basement 86, 88 Pitt Street, Sydney, centro86.com

With the exception of sherry-fuelled Vermuteria in Rushcutters Bay, and the Maybe Sammy Group’s mezcal-drenched El Primo Sanchez in Paddington, for most of 2023, there weren’t too many new bars to get excited about. That all changed in December, when the Le Foote and Hubert crew opened Caterpillar Club near Martin Place, and a queue immediately formed for pina coladas, live jazz, neo-soul and funk. Cocktail genius Evan Stroeve launched The Waratah just before Christmas too, treating Darlinghurst to the most original drinks in Sydney, and the Cantina OK! mates amped up their tequila offering in CBD with the arrival of Centro 86 in February. Centro’s watermelon and sumac margarita is the cocktail you never knew you wanted this winter.

See also: Tio’s Cerveceria, Surry Hills; Double Deuce Lounge, CBD; PS40, CBD.

The quick service star

Self Raised Snack Shoppe

Shop 4, 8-20 Sarsfield Circuit, Bexley North, selfraised.com.au

More Sydneysiders working from home post-pandemic, coupled with the rising costs of running a sit-down restaurant, means there’s never been a better time for food on the go. See, the hulking sandwiches at Kosta’s in Rockdale; takeaway pithiviers at Lode Pies, Surry Hills; deeply flavoured brisket at On a Roll in Crows Nest; Ommi Don’s bowls of rice and Taiwanese comfort cooking at Broadway (and a brand-new store in Redfern); and Domo 39’s onigiri and Japanese convenience-store riffs near St Peters station. Few places are quite as popular as Self Raised Snack Shoppe in Bexley North, though, opened by the top folk from My Mother’s Cousin pizzeria in February. There are focaccia sandwiches the size of a toddler’s head. There are prawn rolls and chicken-salt fries. There are pistachio and raspberry doughnuts, savoury scrolls, lamingtons and custard tarts. All this nostalgia-tinged snacking may also mean there’s a considerable line.

See also: Flour, Caringbah South; Happy Alley, Rockdale; Shadow Baking in Darlinghurst

The global sensation

Mensho Tokyo

2 Temperance Lane, Sydney, mensho.com.au

Ramen’s world domination continued with the arrival of Mensho Tokyo, just off George Street, in April. Founded in Japan in 2005, the noodle chain now has stores across China, India, North America and Thailand (not to mention one shop in Melbourne), and the reputation of its signature toripaitan chicken ramen has led to hour-long queues at peak times in Sydney. It’s a terrific broth – layered and creamy – and the lobster bisque soup is causing a small social media storm, too. While Mensho is the latest overseas ramen brand to set up in Australia (a growing trend bolstered by Ippudo and Hakata Gensuke), independent broth and noodle operators are also thriving, such as the new Ramen Auru in Crows Nest, which feels like teleporting back to 1980s Fukuoka.

See also: Hakata Gensuke, CBD; Gumshara, Haymarket; Ryo’s Noodles, Crows Nest.