Eat Street Sydney: What to eat on George St and the CBD
THE heart of any modern city offers an array of eating options, from casual to formal. Sydney is no different.
Eat Street
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THE heart of any modern city offers an array of eating options, from casual to formal. Sydney is no different.
Take a tour of the area’s best eateries right here with The Sunday Telegraph’s Eat Street. Are you hungry for more inspiration? Follow us on Instagram
INDU
TO EXPERIENCE the flavours of rural Sri Lanka you could embark on an adventure of buses, taxis and tuktuks or for a less arduous experience, head into the CBD for dishes inspired by the hospitality and fresh fare of a South Asian village.
INDU owner Sam Prince has embraced his mother’s Sri Lankan heritage, and with head chef James Wallis at the helm, has taken elements of traditional homestyle foods, such as dosa, a type of crisp crepe made from lentil, often rolled and filled with vegetables, and reinvented it with smoked goat’s leg, zucchini ribbon raita, pomegranate and chilli & bacon jam.
James has applied his flare to other traditional meals such as lamb raan (leg), which at INDU is marinated and slow roasted for 48 hours, which like all the dishes that come out of the kitchen, is complimented by the artistic presentation.
— 350 George St
VIVO CAFE
IT’S well known that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and co-owners, Angela Vithoulkas and her brother Con know that to be true in more ways than one.
With a reputation for friendly and efficient service, tasty breakfasts (and lunch) and great coffee all at their central location, it’s an obvious spot for a friendly catch-ups over delicious eggs benedict, morning meetings powered by Vittoria coffee, fresh juice and muffins, and herbal tea for those nerve wracking interviews.
“We take a corporate breakfast approach,” Angela says.
“Get good food out fast so they can relax or get on with their business.”
Considering they have been at this location for 15 years — as well as Angela being named the 2007 Telstra Business Women’s Owner of the Year — you can see how Angela and Con and have become the champions of breakfast … and lunch.
— 388 George St
STEEL BAR & GRILL
LOOK no further, as once you walk inside and take note of the curved booths, mid-century chandeliers and wall of glass wine cabinets, your vagabond shoes will be longing to stay in this New York Industrial chic restaurant with its expansive outdoor terrace.
An open kitchen offers a peek at the woodfire grill where head chef Paul Lee fires the likes of Rangers Valley F1 wagyu Sirloin or Tey’s YG Eye Fillet over ironbark timber.
While the menu can be considered an elegant take on Modern Australian with artistically plated dishes such as pork tenderloin and the coveted Glacier 51 Tooth Fish, Paul admits dishes — such as the poached salmon with green curry, or the market fish with Thai basil — have an Asian twist noting though that “after all, isn’t that the essence of Modern Australian cuisine?”.
- 60 Carrington St
GRAIN BAR
MATCHING a wine to your meal opens you up to an onslaught of advice and opinions,
yet when the same is asked about cocktails, there’s barely a peep.
To Roderick Boerma, bar manager at Grain, he feels his may be because people often think of cocktails as being loaded with syrups and flavourings, when in fact a quality spirit should be able to stand on its own.
He explains in both food and cocktails, you build on the base such as the flavour of the meat patty in the humble hamburger.
With their Grain Burger the cocktail needs something dark for the meat but because of the maple bacon needs corn rye to cut the sweetness.
For that, Roderick recommends a concoction from their new autumn cocktail list — Ryeders On The Storm — Ironbark white corn rye, lime juice and ginger bee. Even the dark chocolate bar and salted caramel sauce dessert the can be paired with the Choc O’Clock — El Jimador, crème de cacao, cinnamon syrup, chocolate and mint bitters.
The upcoming autumn menu will move away from typical bar food and instead, focus on foraging and natural ingredients. Expect the same to show up in Roderick’s cocktails.
— Four Seasons Hotel, 199 George St
AVENUE ON GEORGE
KNOWING the names and coffee orders of your regular customers is the gold standard for baristas, but when you start naming drinks and menu items after those customers, that takes you up to platinum status.
For Stephen Barbaro, co-owner of Avenue on George, that’s where he aims to sit.
“We’ve had customers want certain ingredients in a pasta or main dish; the next day’s special is then created and named after that customer,” he says.
The existing breakfast and lunch menus though are already a good balance of dishes such as scrambled eggs with asparagus, tomatoes and ricotta or the French toast for breakfast, then wild mushroom risotto or a cured trout salad for lunch.
That same personable approach, albeit in a much more casual manner, is applied at their downstairs sister venue, Alleyway, a small laneway bar where bartenders will accommodate your cocktail orders as if you were a friend just popping in for a drink or in Stephen’s case, a spiced rum negroni the staff named “Steve Made Me Do It”.
- 200 George St
MUST TRY
ROOK LOBSTER ROLL
YOU’LL have to do a little hunting to locate this quirky and casual bar, but like the popular rooftop bars in New York, once you’re there, it’s all open air.
The look is akin to an old New England seaside shanty with food to match, including the Rook lobster roll made with potato, pea & corn salad, crispy bacon, and herb aioli alongside truffle fries.
Pop in for Mussel Mondays — only $20 for 1kg and three sauces.
— The Rook, Level 7, 56-58 York St
SEAFOOD LAKSA
ANYWHERE else, the seafood laksa you see on the board is what you get, but here, co-owner Le Ding cooks hers to order so you can have a choice of egg, rice, flat or vermicelli noodles.
“Different cultures have different preferences,” Le says.
“Whatever food suits you is good food.”
- Lee’s Malaysian, 1A Hunter St
CRAB SPAGHETTINI
TUCKED away amid laneways, this sun-drenched space with high white ceilings and darks woods has an old school charm but with a perfecto modern menu.
It’s a popular spot for coffee, salads and steaks, but the big draw card is the twirled pasta with a generous portion of blue swimmer crab meat.
— The Lane, Curtin Pl and Hamilton St
MI GORENG TOASTIE
THE toastie options, such as pastrami & sauerkraut; cheese & mushroom; and Mexican beef, salsa & sour cream change daily, but there’d be a total meltdown if the Mi Goreng toastie ever left the board.
Made with seasoned ramen noodles and a fried egg, it’s developed a cult following bigger than Beanie Babies.
Try it with their Coffee Tonic — cold coffee on ice with tonic and lime. Or if you’re after the hard stuff, there are also espresso martinis and coffee old fashions.
— Dutch Smuggler; 200 George St (lower courtyard)
HEIRLOOM TOMATO DISH
EACH dish that comes from the kitchen has the elegance befitting this fine-dining institution.
With an emphasis on seasonal produce, the early autumn tasting menu features heirloom tomatoes, plums buffalo curd, jamon and smoked almonds presented as a work of art.
— est., 252 George St