Sydney Eat Street: Best places to eat during delicious. Month Out
With four weeks of dining offers, bespoke culinary experiences, and fabulous foodie events, American Express delicious. Month Out has you covered.
Eat Street
Don't miss out on the headlines from Eat Street. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The American Express delicious. Month Out has returned and there a host of great venues across Sydney with specials to enjoy.
Aria
While dining at Aria is always an experience, the four-course meal that head chef Thomas Gorringe has prepared for each Friday in May ($190pp) is exceptional.
From a cheddar agnolotti, using Bruny Island Cheese Co’s Raw Milk C2, the first raw milk cheese in Australia, through to the simple honey tart with a honey custard, cultured-cream ice cream with figs and honeycomb.
In between is Murray cod and a pasture raised chicken. Everything is impeccably sourced and the ingredients treated with “reverence”, Thomas says.
“It doesn’t end with these four dishes. It’s the whole menu.”
1 Macquarie St, Sydney; ariarestaurant.com.au
Anason
Ten dishes may sound excessive but Turkish custom suggests there should be enough bowls, platters and plate to cover the table. For American Express delicious. Month Out, Somer Sivrioğlu, Anason’s head chef and owner offers a selection that he feels best defines the food of Western Turkey, a region renowned for its seafood and olive oil as opposed to kebabs and halal snack packs.
Included in the 10-dish feast are share plates that reflect Somer’s elevated approach to traditional fare, such as oysters with tarama, and beach succulents on a squid ink cracker; sea urchin crowned with roe, pickled onion, and bronze fennel atop brioche; and a serving bowl of lamb loin with smoked eggplant puree and Meyer lemon.
The menu, together with the sea blue and white Mediterranean-inspired decor, complete Somer’s vision of an upscale local where you can linger for hours, ordering bite size snacks along the way.
With Anason offering a free glass of Turkish wine along with your meal, that’s a nice way to get started. (10-dish feast, $118pp).
5/23 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo; anason.com.au
Chiswick – 10th Birthday
Celebrity chef and restaurateur Matt Moran’s paddock to plate ethos is on full display at Chiswick in Woollahra. Set back off Ocean St the converted stables are fronted with French Doors that open up to the working kitchen garden. This warm and welcoming place pairs form with function, an approach that Matt carries over to the menu – hearty food with flare.
It’s what’s helped Chiswick stay at the forefront of Sydney’s dining scene for the past 10 years, and it’s also the inspiration for their delicious. Month Out offer.
Head chef Taylor Cullen says: “The menu features some of our staff and guests’ favourite dishes from the past decade but updated with new ingredients that are representative of what’s inspiring us now and will continue to play a larger role in our menus into the future – native ingredients, more plant-based options, with an abundance of produce from the kitchen garden as always.” ($90pp, minimum two people through to May 31)
Nanyang Tea Club
The pale palm-frond wallpaper, juxtaposed with dark timber and intricately carved wooden daybeds speak to the British colonial design of the world-famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore, while the gilded bird cage pastry stands, laden with sweet and savoury bites are a clear nod to the hotel’s equally famous high yea. But Nanyang Tea Club also has a spicier side, paying homage to another Singaporean staple – generously-sized mud crabs.
Part of American Express delicious. Month Out, owners Billy Chong (Ipoh Town) and Kaisern Ching (Chef’s Gallery) are inviting diners to indulge in a Lion City favourite, the Singapore Chilli Mud Crab.
Through to the end of May, you can get yourself a 900g to 1.1kg A Grade mud crab prepared in one of six different styles (Singapore chilli, black pepper, Kam-Heong, salt and pepper, ginger and shallot, Golden Fragrance), deep-fried mantaos and a complimentary bottle of wine for $138.
“You can’t beat a dish that is best eaten with your hands, and worth rolling up your sleeves for,” says Billy.
“Eating mud crabs is a go-to dish for celebrations in South-East Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia. Our chilli crab will teleport your tastebuds to the streets of Singapore along the quay. We carefully select each mud crab to make sure they are an A-Grade premium seafood – heavy for their size with legs and claws intact.” Break out the bibs.
Shop 3.11, 1909 Dining Precinct, Market City Shopping Centre, 9-13 Hay St, Haymarket; nanyangteaclub.com.au
AALIA
It’s a history lesson like no other, but then again, AALIA, is a Middle Eastern restaurant like no other.
On Monday, May 23, as part of American Express delicious. Month Out, AALIA will be hosting a dinner that explores Arabian history, specifically as relates to the Middle East’s lesser-known coastlines and regions from a culinary perspective.
The meal will feature dishes reflective of long-forgotten techniques and ingredients along with wines from Bekka Valley in Lebanon, one of the oldest wine regions in the world.
Ibrahim Moubadder, co-founder of ESCA Group (Lilymu, Henrietta, Nour, Cuckoo Callay), says: “Working with such reputable brands as AMEX and Delicious is important for us to get the word out about the newest ESCA venue, AALIA.
“Having special offers, crafting new menus, and hosting events is incentive for Sydneysiders to try something new throughout the month of May and beyond.
“We’ve decided to host a unique event that heroes our executive chef, Paul Farag, and head sommelier, Eleonore Wulf, as a great way to introduce new guests to the experience of dining at AALIA.”
The event, a seven-course meal with matching wines is for one night only. ($190pp)
— 25 Martin Place; aaliarestaurant.com
Bennelong
With a packed calendar of events, the Sydney Opera House welcomes world-class performers throughout the year, but while most grace the stage for a few days or weeks at most, there’s one true talent that has taken up residence beneath the sails: Bennelong’s executive chef Peter Gilmore.
Champions of Australian produce and wine, Gilmore and head chef Rob Cockerill’s menu showcases some of the best local, regional and interstate producers and through to the end of May in celebration of American Express delicious. Month Out Bennelong is offering a two-course menu with your choice of entree and main, or main and dessert ($140pp). Available for lunch Saturday-Sunday, and dinner Wednesday-Saturday.
— Sydney Opera House, Sydney; bennelong.com.au
BLACK Bar & Grill
At this chic classic steakhouse, there’s plenty of meat on the menu but it’s the premium cuts that call to true steak lovers, and that song is even sweeter when paired with an equally stellar wine.
Throughout May, as part of American Express delicious. Month Out BLACK Bar & Grill is featuring a Flat Iron steak and wine pairing ($125pp) Prepared on their signature wood-fire grill, The Blackmore Wagyu steak is 600-day, ration fed wagyu with a marble score of 9+, and served with exotic mushrooms, spinach, charred onion, shiraz jus and Eden Valley 2016 Mt. Edelstone Shiraz from Henschke. Available for lunch and dinner through May 31, 2022. Quote offer when booking.
— The Star 80 Pyrmont Rd, Pyrmont; star.com.au
Cucina Porto
There’re two sides to every story and Cucina Porto’s executive chef Martino Pulito is laying both of his culinary tales on the tables for American Express delicious. Month Out and his new home in Sydney) with three limited-edition dishes, each one inspired by his Italian upbringing but featuring native ingredient from his adopted home here in Australia.
They include Moreton Bay bugs – Lemon myrtle infused oyster dressing, verbena, fermented black garlic mayonnaise and smoked caviar ($24), Spaghetti Carbonara – Smoked pork guanciale, seablite, pepperberry goat cheese and porcini cured egg yolk ($35), and Sheep’s Milk Panna Cotta – Rhubarb and rosella flower honey syrup, riberry coulis, and Davidson plum meringue ($18).
Guests can order the dishes ala carte or as part of a degustation menu which includes a complimentary glass of prosecco ($75pp). Available for lunch and dinner through May 31, 2022. Quote offer when booking.
— The Star 80 Pyrmont Rd, Pyrmont; star.com.au
Flying Fish
Executive chef Peter Robertson’s menus quite literally roll with the tides as he selects his seafood based on the ocean’s seasonal nuances.
Throughout May, as part of the American Express delicious. Month Out he has prepared a “Cold Shellfish” platter, with the sea’s Autumn bounty which includes, spanner crab cocktails, Appellation oysters, king prawns, Shark Bay scallops and a selection of sashimi ($115 to share). Available for lunch and dinner through May 31, 2022. Quote offer when booking.
— The Star 80 Pyrmont Rd, Pyrmont; star.com.au
Select Merivale venues
As Sydney’s night-life continues its return, Merivale is helping nudge it along with a round of cocktails for you and your friends. As part of American Express delicious. Month Out, when you dine at select Merivale CBD venues (MuMu, Bar Totti’s, Felix, Ash St Cellar, Mr. Wong, Jimmy’s Falafel and Uccello) after 9.30pm with a group of four or more, they’ll shout you your first round of cocktails from their signature cocktail list. (Mention offer to server when ordering).
Bentley Group (Bentley Restaurant and Bar, Cirrus, Monopole, Yellow, Ria Pizza and Wine)
Accolades abound for the Bentley Group, and the pair that got it all started, chef Brent Savage and sommelier, Nick Hildebrandt.
Both Savage and Hildebrandt have a number of awards to their names but together they’ve proven a formidable team with award-winning restaurants, each as different as the next, known not just in Sydney but worldwide.
Bentley Restaurant and Bar, located in the CBD with an industrial decor, is known for its innovative and inventive dishes with matching boutique wine list. Also in the CBD is Monopole, another champion of innovative food and unique wine, but here the menu blends contemporary French with Modern Australian.
In the “yellow House” in Potts Point is their fine-dining vegan restaurant, appropriately named, Yellow.
In Barangaroo, with a vantage that looks out to the harbour through a curved wall with floor to ceiling windows is Cirrus, a chic restaurant with a menu that is also innovative, but seafood centric.
And because you’ll have a hard time choosing where to start, through to the end of May in celebration of American Express delicious. Month Out they’ve made it easier for you with 30% off your food bill (Offer not valid with any other offer. Drinks not included. Seating based on availability. Two-hour seating).
— cirrusdining.com.au; yellowsydney.com.au; thebentley.com.au; monopolesydney.com.au
Winter warmers to celebrate the season
Everyone is happy to see the sun peeking through the clouds, but winter’s not all bad. Bid farewell to the colder days with one last hurrah of warming fare.
Sniffing out Sydney’s best truffle desserts
Save the best for last. As truffle season comes to a close, be sure to indulge in some sweet treats featuring the annual earthy gem.