Cafes and restaurants opening in Parramatta in 2022
A celebrated chef and an iconic Aussie band are heading to Parramatta for a long lunch to celebrate Sydney's world-class hospitality scene. Find out how you can savour the moment.
Parramatta
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Chef Matt Moran’s celebrated cooking career started in the humble kitchen of Parramatta RSL Club and now he is returning to town to wow tastebuds with an Open For Lunch soiree featuring much-loved Aussie icons Human Nature at CommBank Stadium.
As part of a series of long, lazy lunches which the state government is rolling out to embrace Sydney’s hospitality scene, Moran will curate the three-course lunch at the stadium’s Cumberland Lounge Terrace on Friday, December 2.
The “once-in-a-lifetime culinary experience’’ highlights the best produce NSW has to offer while maintaining Moran’s famous paddock-to-plate philosophy.
On arrival guests will be treated to an array of food stations that will showcase the best food and drink from some of Parramatta’s neighbouring restaurants including Misc. Parramatta, helmed by Gogglebox star Jad Nehmetallah.
Guests will then be seated at a long table and treated to a carefully-curated two course menu.
Dessert will then be served while roaming performers and Human Nature take to the stage to perform an intimate show of their Motown Greatest Hits.
Lunch runs from noon to 4pm. Tickets cost $65 and are now on sale at openforlunch.com.au.
The long lunch caps off another year of culinary highlights getting foodies excited. A host of cafes and restaurants are have opened across Parramatta in 2022, from casual cafes to well-established franchises.
Al Aseel
Al Aseel restaurant at Parramatta opened in November and we’re embracing the lemon garlic chicken and kibbeh. And the fattoush salad and mezze.
Locals' appetites have grown even hungrier for the restaurant, which was initially slated to open on July 1 but will made its public debut on Thursday November 10, a day after the invitation-only grand event.
The established Lebanese restaurant started in Greenacre in 2000 and earned a reputation for authentic Middle Eastern cuisine not shy on hospitality.
The Parramatta branch, at the corner of Victoria Rd and Macarthur St, seats about 200 guests with two dining rooms — one seating 20 guests and the other hosts 60 diners.
It will also be the first Al Aseel to offer a sit-at dining bar.
As well as Greenacre, the chain already operates at Alexandria, Penrith, Wollongong and Castle Hill.
Misc
There’s been multiple setbacks (thanks Covid) but Gogglebox star Jad Nehmetallah’s latest hospitality venture, the chic 300-seat Misc restaurant, has finally opened at Parramatta Park.
Stylish and flooded with natural light, venue on the banks of Little Coogee has been hotly anticipated well before Nehmetallah revealed plans in early 2021.
There have been rumours of what would rise from the ashes since a fire gutted the Parramatta Park Cafe on Boxing Day 2016.
Christened Misc for offering “a bit of this, a bit of that”, plates are designed for sharing and all-day dining is available indoors.
Alfresco is also available in the courtyard and terrace with vistas to the UNESCO-listed park.
“We want you to come in, embrace the surroundings, listen, eat, drink, share, pour, break (flat) bread — it’s what Misc. is all about,” Nehmetallah said.
Nehmetallah has spruiked Misc for offering an “unmatched dining experience” with a wine cocktail list “never seen before in the western suburbs”.
Curated products beckon for those wanting to purchase gourmet goodies for their pantries with products from local and international providores, or to muster some ingredients for a picnic in the park or bottomless brunch.
“We’re sophisticated, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously,’’ Nehmetallah, who helmed The Picnic at Burwood, said.
“The focus is on the food and what it means to different people. It’s in my blood to bring people together; to create family, fun and full stomachs. Now I’m doing it on a larger scale.”
Executive chef Sebastian Geray promises a mesmerising menu, alongside Joel Bennetts who produces traditional and “approachable’’ Mediterranean food.
“With the majority of the menu designed to be shared, you can get a taste for a bit of this and a bit of that, before coming back for more,’’ Geray said.
“Get comfy, have a laugh, and enjoy a communal and social experience with delectable food as a highlight.’’
Breakfast and lunch offerings are separate. Early risers can expect in-house focaccia or flat bread with a selection of sides. Fast forward to noon and “to-die-for” beef tartare, king prawns and barramundi await the lunchtime crowd.Interior designer Nic Graham, known for his work with the QT hotels, has designed the space.
Misc opens every day from 8am to 4pm.
Criniti's
Eggs with your bruschetta, anyone?
Criniti’s Italian restaurant is returning to Parramatta’s dining strip on Thursday, August 11 and is introducing breakfast to its 300-item menu, which it boasts to being “Australia’s largest”.
The Church St eatery, where the iconic El-Phoenician Lebanese restaurant once graced tables with its opulent cuisine, is being fitted out this week ahead of its invitation-only launch on August 10, when guests including former Eels skipper Tim Mannah and actor Dan Ewing are expected to anoint the venue.
The next day, it will open for breakfast at 8.30am.With a seating capacity of 340, it’s a cavernous but cosy space and has so far been furnished with booth seating and rustic arches, while the trestle tables are expected to be added throughout the week.
Twenty-five staff will serve woodfired pizzas and pasta at Criniti’s, which is now run by Adelaide’s Brunelli Group, after Criniti’s went into administration in 2019 with debts of more than $16.5 million.
However, a last-minute sale of the business’ assets to Brunelli saved six of its 13 restaurants.
Brunelli also has plans to expand at Bondi, Brighton-Le-Sands and Manly along with interstate ventures in Canberra and Perth.Frank Criniti and his now ex-wife Rima debuted Criniti’s on Church St in 2003.
He now runs Frankie B’s on the former Criniti’s site, in the heart of Eat St.
500 Degrees
Parramatta’s track record with meat restaurants isn’t what you would call well done, even with celebrity chefs behind the western Sydney ventures.
But 500 Degrees steakhouse hopes history does not repeat itself in October when it brings its gold leaf Tomahawk to the Marsden St site vacated by Neil Perry’s Burger Project in 2019.
The licensed South African-inspired eatery will join its Kogarah and Cronulla cousins, and will employ 25 staff to serve a huge selection of steak cuts.“Parramatta has always been one of our dream destinations,’’ 500 Degrees director Ari Bhattacharya said.
“Parramatta is becoming the new hub of Sydney and we want to be a part of this exciting community. Also, we have a lot of customers who travel all the way from Parramatta to Kogarah and Cronulla.
“We have been waiting patiently to find the right spot and we're finally very glad to find an amazing space in the middle of Parramatta.’’
Diners can expect to feast on its bestsellers of chargrilled steaks, slow-cooked barbecue ribs and seafood, as well as burgers and salads.
“There is something for everyone but being a steakhouse, our pride is our steaks,’’ Bhattacharya said.
“We have around 20 different cuts of steaks to offer. No other restaurant in Australia has this many steaks on their menu. The gold tomahawk is our show stopper — it’s a 1.2 kg tomahawk wrapped in edible gold leaf.’’
Bhattacharya, who is partial to a pun and promises to not just “meat” expectations but exceed them, says the well-stocked bar will have its own range of beers called Off the Bone, steak-inspired cocktails and the 500 Degrees Shiraz.
Despite the plush fare, Bhattacharya says the steakhouse is casual dining and there is a “stunning’’ children’s menu with barbecue ribs or junior steaks.
Bhattacharya is optimistic the steakhouse will have more success than Burger Project.
“We will be completely different from Burger Project, we have a concept that has been successfully running for the last six years and battled two Covid lockdowns,’’ he said.
The much-hyped Burger Project chain opened its ninth Aussie outlet at Marsden St, Parramatta, in 2017, when it made its western Sydney debut but grass-fed Cape Grim beef stopped sizzling in 2019.
In December 2020, Matt Moran and Solotel Group’s Chophouse closed after just 14 months operating at Macquarie St.
The western Sydney branch could not follow in the success of the CBD restaurant, which is still firing up the steaks.
Before the Chophouse opened, Jamie Oliver Jamie’s Italian occupied the Macquarie St spot but collapsed 11 months before the chain went bust in May 2019.
Hunter and Barrel
All future residents of Parramatta’s tallest residential tower will have to do for a classy meal and beverage is hop in the lift and descend to Hunter and Barrel restaurant, a coal-fired steak restaurant which is due to open under the Meriton apartments at 180 George St.
A development application for the 179-seat licensed venue with 20 staff was lodged with Parramatta Council in April and, if approved, will open from 7am to midnight every day.
Artist’s impressions show the 412sq m space as having a mix of modern and rustic interiors, replete with the sophisticated chain's signature moosehead.
Diners can feast on cuisine from the land and the sea. Perusing the menu shows harissa prawns and honey soy and garlic chicken wings for starters, followed by feasts and mains such as the Portuguese marinated half chicken with peri peri basting and slow braised Wagyu stew in a chicken broth with creamy potato and roasted bone marrow.
The restaurant already has a presence in Melbourne and Perth but has a relatively low profile in Sydney after closing at Cockle Bay Wharf.
Profiterole Patisserie
It’s been a Guildford institution for more than 20 years and when the Yacoub family saw a gap in the Mays Hill market, it was time to expand with an emporium on the Great Western Highway.
Customers will be dazzled with the sprightly cakes, baby bomboniere and decadent slices that are on offer at Guildford but, just like the Strathfield branch, can sit down and relax while indulging their sweet tooth.
The cafe has capacity for 50 and alfresco dining so there’s no reason to rush breakfast or lunch.
The Guildford shop prepares more than 700 profiteroles a day and is the go-to for many customers’ birthday cakes, especially the signature profiterole ice cream-stuffed slabs in the freezers.
Mamak
It may be named after the roadside stalls of Kuala Lumpur, but Mamak’s traditional Indian and Malay dishes are set to spice things up in the heart of Parramatta.
The development proposes to operate on the ground floor of Parramatta Square’s tallest buildings — 6 and 8 — and will have capacity for 114 people and operate between Monday and Sunday from 7am to midnight.
An application has been lodged with Parramatta Council and if it gets the green light, diners can look forward to roti canai (flatbread) with classic egg, butter or with sweet red onions for entrees and graduate to beef and chicken satays or hearty mains such as classic chicken, tangy fish and vegetarian curries.
The restaurant will join Parramatta Square’s original tenants including LilyMu, Ciccia Bella and Ruse, along with a host of casual options lining the underground link.
to open at Bondi, Brighton-Le-Sands, Manly, along with interstate ventures in Canberra and Perth.
Parramatta Square cafes
Suits are slowly returning to the towers of Parramatta’s CBD, from the QBE to Parramatta Square and with corporates comes the demand for coffee.
Cue Gypsy Espresso, which will grace the lobby of Parramatta Square 6 around April after having won over many caffeinated aficionados at its Alexandria and Potts Point businesses.
In the lobby of PS3 (the NAB building), the Lobbyist will cater for creative tastebuds with offerings such as mango lassi, chia and oat bircher muesli served with coconut and kaffir lime sorbet, fresh fruit and a ginger, almond, buckwheat crumble or the white chocolate hotcake with honey and vanilla yoghurt.
And that’s just a taste of head chef Ollie Hughes’ breakfast.
Lunch options include gourmet focaccias including the roast pumpkin with basil pesto and grilled halloumi or the mortadella with fior di latte cheese and balsamic pickled onions.
The cafe, which is helmed by Ibby Moubadder, the man behind LilyMu (also in Parramatta Square) and Nour in Surry Hills, opened in November but shut temporarily and is slated to reopen in April.
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