Sydney’s most popular restaurants with a lengthy wait list
With lockdown finally over Sydney’s most popular restaurants are in high demand. Find out which ones have the longest wait lists.
Confidential
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Looking to splash out for dinner for Christmas at a top Sydney eatery? You might be too late!
Since lockdown has ended, the city’s most popular restaurants have been in high demand and now, as the weather warms up and Christmas edges closer, the demand has increased.
MARGARET
Neil Perry’s Margaret is one of the most talked about restaurants in the city. Inspired by his late mother, Perry was due to open his $5 million Double Bay diner the day lockdown was announced and it seems the wait has only intensified the public’s appetite for his food. It’s not helped by the fact Perry doesn’t trade on Monday or Tuesday nights either.
As it stands, the next time two people can get into Margaret for dinner is late December. But your options even then aren’t exhaustive.
TOTTI’S
Since its launch in 2018, the Merivale owned Italian restaurant inside The Royal has become a Bondi institution. The celeb haunt (Abbie Chatfield and Anna Heinrich are among those who have dined recently) is so hard to get into, one cheeky local put a joke post on Facebook saying he would sell his reservation for $600. But he had to take the post down because people took it seriously and were willing to pay that price!
If you fancy some of Totti’s famous flatbread for Christmas than you are too late! How about celebrate Australia Day there instead?
The next time two people can get a booking for dinner is at the end of January.
FIREDOOR
Blame Netflix! If the Surry Hills restaurant run by Lennox Hastie, wasn’t already immensely popular before, after it featured on Netflix’s series Chef’s Table, demand was set alight. You can’t get into Firedoor now till March 2022. And even then, reservations for the restaurant, which cooks seasonal cuisine over wood coals, will be released on a month basis, three months in advance.
NOBU
Internationally renowned Chef Nobu Matuhisa’s restaurant in Crown Sydney is a frequent celebrity hang (when in town Chris Hemsworth is a guest) and it’s booked out for dinner on the weekend until the end of there year. However, if you’re not fussy, there are some limited bookings available from Monday to Wednesday.
THE BLUE DOOR
Dylan Cashman’s The Blue Door has only been opened for a month but already Sydneysiders are responding to his sustainable degustation menu.
To start with the restaurant was always going to be hard to get into as it only sits 24 diners. However, Cashman’s food ethics have also increased the demand. Currently, there are only a few sporadic weeknight bookings left in December. However you can join a waitlist for any day that is fully booked.
CAFE SYDNEY
Nothing says Summer in Sydney like sipping a glass of wine on the outdoor terrace of Cafe Sydney, located on the top floor of Customs House in the city. But at the rate reservations are going, you might have to plan to sip that wine in winter. The restaurant is currently booked out until the last week of December.
BENNELONG
Another restaurant with stunning views, stunning food and a stunningly long waitlist. The restaurant at the Opera House is currently booked out until the end of the year.
SAINT PETER
Anther petite restaurant that comes with huge culinary creditals and awards means it’s going to be tricky getting a booking. The Paddington restaurant is run by Chef Josh Niland, who has pioneered fin-to-scale cooking and has garnered a reputation for doing revolutionary things with seafood. The restaurant is booked basically right up to the end of January, with only a few sporadic weeknight bookings currently available.
HUBERTS
The basement French restaurant and bar claims to be the place for “people who love restaurants’ and indeed that’s true. Reservations are booked out for this CBD hot spot for the end of the year, with a only a few 9.30pm weeknight sittings available.
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