North Sydney’s hot and new restaurants right now
With a host of new culinary offerings, Sydney’s north shore is well on its way to becoming a fine dining destination. See our full list of top eateries.
Mosman
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North Sydney’s position in the city’s dining landscape has barely stretched beyond fast food chains that service the office workers of Sydney’s secondary CBD. But all that is changing.
With a huge amount of development, both residential and business, and a new metro, smart operators are getting in early.
A slew of restaurants opened in 2022, with more to come this year and next.
The new Victoria Cross station below Miller St is due to open in 2024 and will easily connect North Sydney to other parts of the city. You’ll be able to get to Barangaroo in three minutes, Martin Place in five and Central Station in nine.
With this influx of people comes a new wave of dining options.
Opening a finer-dining restaurant in the middle of North Sydney may have sounded like a risky move a few years ago, but it’s paid off for Applejack Hospitality.
The group behind other northside venues including The Botanist in Kirribilli and SoCal in Neutral Bay had an instant hit with Rafi. It opened in late September and scored a coveted chef hat in November’s Good Food Guide.
Co-founder Ben Carroll is from the north shore and says the area was crying out for it.
He says 60 per cent of diners are local, travelling from the surrounding area, including Mosman, Lane Cove and Manly.
“The big appeal is they don’t have to go over the bridge. It’s funny, the bridge takes two minutes to cross but it has become a great divide of Sydney,” Carroll says.
“The convenience of having one of Sydney’s best restaurants at your doorstep is pretty exciting for people on the north shore.”
Applejack also has venues in the eastern suburbs, but it feels different opening northside.
“Locals have been coming out in droves, they’re real cheerleaders and want you to succeed. In the east, sometimes it’s not as warm a welcome,” Carroll says.
“I hope a lot more high-level restaurants come into the area. Glorietta is across from us and, with the amount of development and the new metro, North Sydney is going to become a real destination for Sydney. There’s a lot of buzz in the air and it’s exciting to be there from the very beginning.”
The group behind the popular Loulou Bistro in Milsons Point, Etymon Projects, has two ambitious new venues planned for North Sydney.
A high-end grill at 1 Denison St is due to open in August. The all-day dining contemporary steak and seafood grill will have a cocktail bar with multiple outdoor terraces.
The offering at the new Aura complex in Walker St will be even grander, with an LA-inspired all-day diner, bakery, cafe and wine bar, plus a modern Japanese restaurant and a providore. The project is tentatively slated for completion in May 2024.
Petermen, the highly anticipated seafood restaurant by Josh and Julie Niland of Saint Peter fame, will open on February 23 in St Leonards and is already taking bookings.
The award-winning couple’s sixth restaurant will be their first northside venue.
Expect Niland’s fish-to-fin ethos, but in a more relaxed setting than the flagship Paddington restaurant.
You could dine on raw South West Rocks line-caught bonito and its bone soy, preserved Corner Inlet King George whiting in olive brine or grilled sweet and sour Ulladulla blue mackerel.
While St Leonards isn’t known for its dining scene, Josh said it was the obvious location for Petermen.
“Living locally on the lower north shore, Julie and I know how deprived the area is of restaurant options,” he says.
“We also love the space positioned on the corner of Chandos and Darvall Streets with its floor-to-ceiling glass windows and open kitchen.”
Petermen will be positioned between the high-end offering of Saint Peter and the takeaway vibe of Charcoal Fish.
“It allows us to showcase a broader spectrum of Australian seafood that goes beyond the very focused offering of Saint Peter and the primarily casual offering of Charcoal Fish.
“Also, this space is far bigger than Saint Peter which allows us the freedom to cook larger cuts of fish that are more conducive to sharing,” Niland says.
As well as a larger space, the 60-seat restaurant is also going to be doing Sunday brunch.
Fans of the original incarnation of Saint Peter will be pleased to hear the St. Helens long spine sea urchin crumpet is making a comeback.
Other brunch dishes include a Ballina spanner crab croissant and Manjimup marron scrambled eggs.
“I think there’s at least one customer every week at Saint Peter that mentions the crumpet!” Niland says.
“Sydney loves brunch and we are excited to reintroduce Sydney to our very favourite dishes that helped Saint Peter in its early days.”
St Siandra is also opening later this month, bringing a slice of the Amalfi Coast to Mosman. The multi-level beachfront restaurant and bar at The Spit is set on a private beach overlooking Middle Harbour.
Head chef Sam McCallum, formerly of Nomad, is serving up a coastal Mediterranean menu, including seven spice Moreton Bay bugs, Pacific oysters with ajo blanco and en brochette skewers of Clarence River baby octopus and Skull Island tiger prawns.
You can pop in for a quick drink and a bite, or a long lunch that stretches into the evening.
They will also be serving breakfast on weekends and a hole-in-the-wall cabinet will do coffee and takeaway food seven days a week.
McCallum wants to utilise the space and idyllic location, with the potential of having cabanas on the beach.
“There’s already a real community down here and that’s important to us,” he says.
“We want to create something that’s inviting and exciting to locals and through that become a destination restaurant.
“I don’t think Mosman is lacking in venues, we want to add to the excitement and bring people to the area.
“Mosman and a lot of the other suburbs in the north here have such amazing waterfront spaces and we’re just looking to maximise that.
“At the high tide mark, almost two thirds of the restaurant floorspace sits over the water. It’s really quite something.”
NEW TO THE NORTHSIDE MENU
The Alma crew in Avalon opened its sister venue, St Alma, in Freshwater early last year. Expect coastal Mexican fare with a focus on seafood, such as hard shell sashimi tacos, amberjack tiraditos and prawn aguachile.
20 Albert St, Freshwater
Inspired by the Mexican seaside town of Sayulita, this January opening is also doing a seafood- heavy menu. The cameron tartare is a mix of tiger prawns, diced cucumber, Spanish onion, coriander, micro herbs, olive, jalapeno, avocado mousse and tortilla.
The Canopy, 2 Rosenthal Ave, Lane Cove
This modern Australian restaurant with Middle Eastern flair moved from Cromer to St Leonards in September. Chef Ashraf Saleh (pictured) plates up a degustation menu that combines Australian produce with the flavours he grew up with and his technical fine dining French training.
Shop 2/567 Pacific Highway, St Leonards
This March opening is serving beloved classic street food flavours. As well as tacos, there are more substantial dishes such as their take on a popular Mexican comfort dish, octopus and chorizo alambre – pan-fried octopus and chorizo, poblano chilli, onion, Oaxacan cheese, salsa roja and pico de gallo, served with warm tortillas.
Shop 1, Cammeray Square, 450-476 Miller St, Cammeray
It may bill itself as a neighbourhood bistro, but this restaurant from chef Sam Young is serving up more than just steak frites. It opened in May and quickly made a name for itself with luxury menu items such as caviar bumps, wagyu steaks and lobster pasta.
79 Edinburgh Rd, Castlecrag
Cremorne welcomed an Irish pub in June. The Dubliner is the place to go for Guinness on tap, whiskeys, warming food such as cheesy toasties and hot soups, plus the most important ingredient in an Irish pub – good craic.
350 Military Rd, Cremorne
This seafood restaurant chain opened its 13th outpost in Crows Nest in October. It’s the kind of place you need to wear a bib – in the best possible way. Bags of mixed seafood in Kajun-style spice mix are poured on to the table and you get stuck in with your hands. Go with a group. And wear black.
49 Willoughby Rd, Crows Nest
Sake-En
Neutral Bay’s new sake bar opened in November. It’s a chance to try craft sake from the Wakayama Prefecture. Chef Tamaki makes a selection of sushi and sashimi to complement the sake.
79 Cheal Lane, Neutral Bay (above Tama Sushi Restaurant)
Marilyn Nohra opened her small, family-friendly bistro in November, serving the Lebanese meze her parents cook. They’re clearly on to something, she says one of the most popular dishes is dad’s hummus with chilli and garlic.
15 Hayes St, Neutral Bay
At the Coffee Shop x Sou Ramen Lab
This is the place to go if you fancy ramen for breakfast. It opened late last year, with Gumshara founding chef Takeshi Sekigawa dishing up a menu that mixes it up every week, from tsukemen (dipping noodles) to chicken-based broths and even vegetarian ramen.
Shop 5/141 Walker St, North Sydney
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