Top 10 Sydney spots for late-night eating
A NEW era of after-hours dining has arrived in Sydney. Here’s where to go to scratch that late-night food itch, writes Amy Harris.
Sydney Taste
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sydney Taste. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A NEW era of after-hours dining has arrived in Sydney. Here’s where to go to scratch that late-night food itch, writes Amy Harris.
BAR BROSE
IT has serviced Darlinghurst’s late-night crowd for just over a year and Bar Brose — from the same team that brought ACME to Kings Cross — continues to hold firm as Sydney’s most fashionable after-hours diner. A bar that serves great food or a restaurant with great cocktails? The definition is not necessarily as important as, say, simply securing a seat either at a table or at the bar — no easy feat, particularly on weekends. And diners now have extra reason to try their luck with founding chef Analiese Gregory (pictured with sommelier Katrina Birchmeier) set to leave later this month, taking with her signature late-night snack, a toasted sandwich of Christmas ham, comte cheese and creme fraiche. In her place will be Jewish/Hungarian speciality chef Adam Wolfers, formerly of nearby diner Monopole.
SUPERBOWL HAYMARKET
A TRUE example of one of Sydney’s “chef’s secrets”, Superbowl has all the hallmarks of a joint favoured by hospitality staff where all they care about is good, cheap food with no added frills. The decor is unsightly, the service fast and brusque, the food entirely acceptable and the atmosphere completely without pretension. And, of course, most importantly the kitchen stays open until 2am, seven nights a week. Around that time the Dixon St venue is usually crammed with restaurant workers ordering up the signature — a dish of Sampan congee poured into a bowl the size of a small bath tub. A watery rice porridge that is the Chinese version of chicken soup, the congee is a mix of seafood, pork intestines and honeycomb tripe. The other house favourite, the Chiu Chow beef tripe with egg noodles in soup, costs less than $8.
10 WILLIAM STREET
A FINE example of sophisticated late-night dining, 10 William Street has a “no reservations” policy and takes last orders at 11pm, which makes a welcome relief from the surrounding late-night curry and kebab joints. Classic Italian fare from the same brothers behind Fratelli Paradiso in Potts Point, it also offers a world-class European wine list that changes nightly. The food menu, too, is ever evolving. Offerings include calf’s liver with fennel and yuzu and a pork ragu pasta that’s perfect for winter.
12-MICRON
ARMED with one of the best aspects at Barangaroo, 12-Micron is a 230-seater restaurant with a lot going for it, not least of which is its late-night sweets menu helmed by famed dessert maestro Darren Purchese. With bookings allowed up until 11pm and a handy 1am licence, the restaurant serves up Sydney’s most adventurous late-night sweet-tooth fodder such as coconut sago with passionfruit or ginger and mint; dark chocolate mousse with salted caramel, tonka bean and mandarin or a monumental lemon tart served with a blackcurrant sorbet and dusted with yoghurt powder. For the serious sweet lover there’s a three, five or seven-course decadent dessert degustation.
JANG TA BAL
Strathfield is not normally an area associated with late-night dining — or any kind of dining in particular. However, a nondescript Korean BBQ restaurant has helped establish the inner-west pocket as an unlikely culinary destination. Dubbed by fans as one of Sydney’s only “real” South Korean restaurants, Jang Ta Bal attracts queues every night thanks to a vibrant Southeast Asian menu of meats (cooked or cook your own) and authentic side dishes like pickled onion, pickled radish, bok choy, crab marinated in chilli paste, kimchi, pickled cucumber and herb mix and mashed parsnip. Other house favourites such as the chicken marinated in chilli paste and the famous chicken fried rice also feature as perfect, post-party dishes.
BAR MACHIAVELLI
THERE are few Sydney restaurants that match the space and decor of Bar Machiavelli, an offshoot of the CBD favourite Machiavelli, which owner Paola Toppi offloaded last year in favour of the stunning new location in Rushcutters Bay. A large-scale space inside a historical tyre factory, Bar Machiavelli’s centrepiece is its sprawling bar dotted with seating that serves as the perfect spot to spend the evening sipping cocktails and grazing on classic Italian dishes such as prosciutto with burrata cheese, baked figs, caprese salad and duck liver pate served with brioche. There’s a rolling menu of homemade pastas, including Machiavelli’s signature dish of spaghetti with prawns, made on site in a custom glass pasta room that overlooks a dining room that seats 160.
FRANKIE’S PIZZA
BORN from the brains trust behind Shady Pines Saloon and Baxter Inn, underground pizza parlour Frankie’s has defied the curse of the so-called “hipster joints” and only grown in popularity since its doors swung open in 2012. The concept is satisfyingly simple — a big range of local and imported beers coupled with Italian-heavy wines and a simple pizza menu offered whole or by the slice. Throw in some strong cocktails and a row of pinball machines and you’ll find the 3am closing time rolls around surprisingly fast.
CROW BAR
WHILE many late-night venues lean towards snack plates to share over cocktails, one longstanding north shore favourite flies in the complete opposite direction with a heavy-duty menu packed with roasts and American-style dishes of meatballs, nachos and grazing boards. In fact, for just $40 you can order the restaurant’s signature — a late-night lamb shoulder — with the kitchen happy to deliver the glistening feast up until last orders at 11pm. Owner John Cantle, who opened the wine bar and restaurant four years ago, says he wanted to offer a late-night dining option to north shore locals that was “slow” and not “fast”. “Most of the places I have traditionally worked have been late-night venues and I just think it’s a more civilised way to eat,” he says.
HUBERT
THERE’S late-night dining and then there’s late-night dining. And then there’s the game-changing Hubert — a concept fine-dining “supper club” in downtown Sydney that caused mild hysteria when it opened last September and has been collecting praise and plaudits ever since. Another offering from the team behind Frankie’s and Shady Pines Saloon, Hubert is far from the pulsing rock and tap beers of their other venues. Instead, it’s a sophisticated French restaurant serving throwback classics such as duck parfait, crab remoulade, oysters mignonette, chicken fricassee and mushroom au poivre — all served until 1am in a retro setting of candlelight and raw brick. A masterpiece for Sydney dining.
BIG POPPA’S
A RELATIVE newcomer on the Oxford St entertainment strip, Big Poppa’s embodies everything that marks a true late-night venue — loud hip-hop music, a mammoth drinks list and a kitchen that serves excellent food until the bona fide early hours of 3am. But there are two things that set this two-level restaurant apart and it’s not the downstairs bar, which transforms into a dancefloor around 11pm. Or the sensational menu of modern and traditional Italian dishes such as braised pork cheeks. It’s the European cheese menu — all 26 options — which qualifies as one of the city’s best.
‘Beyond a fire sale’: Criniti’s stores sold for staggering price
Despite its whopping $19 million debt, the remaining Criniti’s stores, including Parramatta and Darling Harbour, have sold for a staggeringly low price in what one broker has described as ‘beyond a fire sale’.
‘I like big buns’: Wacky burgers with a difference
Parramatta’s very own Eat Street is as exciting and diverse as the city itself. Take BL Burgers for example, which brought its premium burgers — including the Blame Canada, Blame Indian and Mac Daddy burgers — to western Sydney.