The trophy restaurants

Quay, Circular Quay

If Opera House designer Jørn Utzon was given a chance to design the ultimate viewing platform for his modernist masterpiece, it would doubtless look something like Quay Restaurant. There is no better place to dazzle visitors with the jewellery box of our famous Harbour, the sapphire water, the Opera House pearl and the shimmering silver of the Harbour Bridge. Chef Peter Gilmore’s eight, six or four course menus have a quiet, poised sophistication that can only be acquired by years of experience. The first course is always a jewellery box of another kind: pretty layers of textured seafood, such as tiny, translucent pieces of abalone, scallop and octopus, tempered with sways and dips of perfectly balanced acid and umami.

Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, Bondi Beach

Recently, I sent two American visitors to Icebergs. “Sit in the bar, order one of their insane ‘iceburgers’, gaze out over the beach and love life” I ordered. Happily they followed my instructions and a few hours later I saw one of their Instagram stories. “I think this is the…best burger I’ve ever eaten?” Big call for a couple of guys hailing from the land that invented burgers and I loved to hear it. While the special sauce drips down your chin, admire the view over the Icebergs pool, Bondi Beach and Ben Buckler Point.

Margaret, Double Bay

With the exception of Japan and a handful of others, few countries have the same reverence and respect for vibrant, fresh, sustainably-sourced seafood as Australia. And few Australian chefs handle those fruits of the sea as deftly as Neil Perry - who was recently recognised as a global culinary icon by World’s 50 Best Restaurants. If you leave Sydney without trying his matchless King George whiting at Margaret - dressed with stunning simplicity in little more than olive oil - then we will probably be forced to revoke your visa for next time.

Mid range rippers 

Good Luck Restaurant Lounge, CBD

Neon pink lighting and mint green formica. A menu that borrows as much from Cantonese fine dining as two minute noodles. And a plain old ton of fun. Few people saw this pan-Asian mashup coming before it suddenly sprung into a permanent party in the heart of the CBD in the first half of 2024 but we’re very happy it did. Open from early to late, Good Luck is a great place to show visitors Sydney’s more excitable side. 

Aalia, CBD

From the outside, Martin Place’s Aalia looks all business. On the plates, it’s all a good time. Executive Chef Paul Farag has created a North African and Middle Eastern menu that is home to some of the city’s highest concentrations of deliciousness. As deceptively unassuming as the somewhat unremarkable room, the ummak huriyya cuttlefish with couscous looks like little more than a toasty-brown tangle set to the side of the plate but when you taste the beautiful smoke, harissa and herbs, you’ll soon understand why it has cemented itself as one of Sydney’s great dishes.

A’Mare, Barangaroo

Almost anyone can find good quality Italian food in their hometown but rarely does it come with the sort of theatre that has become a signature of Chef Alessandro Pavoni’s Italian restaurants. At the waterfront A’Mare, at the base of the Crown Sydney complex, pesto genovese is pounded tableside, while paccheri arrabbiata has its spicy sauce finished in front of your eyes. And tiramisu tastes better when it’s spooned - nonna-style - straight to your plate from its original dish.

Lowkey local favourites

Flyover Fritterie, Redfern

It’s not easy finding a vegetarian restaurant that packs so much flavour into vegetables and pulses that you won’t hear a single squeak of complaint from even the most avowed meat-eater. The food at Flyover Fritterie is a rainbow-bright tour of Indian vegetarian cuisine: crunchy cabbage and onion pakora, rich, thick dahls, passion-pops of chutneys, pickles and vinaigrettes. Redfern isn’t traditionally on the tourist trail but nor is it far from the centre of the city, and it’s a great place to visit if you want to rub shoulders with locals (you’ll find even more of them if you pop across the road to Arcadia Liquors for a late-night digestif). 

City Oltra, CBD

“Let’s go get pizza at a train station” said no one ever. Or at least no one ever until plucky little City Oltra switched on its zippy neon red sign under the archways beneath Central Station. Their salami pizza, drizzled with a jug of hot honey and chased with a skinsy SA semillon is a very good reason to miss the 6:25PM to Leppington.

Spice I Am, Surry Hills

In 2024, Spice I Am is celebrating 20 years of serving some of the most exciting, authentic and rocket-hot Thai food anywhere in Sydney. It’s in a rather gritty bit of the city but if you happen to be staying at the ace Ace Hotel it’s about a two minute walk away. The Phuket-style ho mok - a pillowy, curried fish mousse wrapped in banana leaves - is a makrut lime-scented fluffy cloud of happiness.

The coolest of cafes

Bills, Darlinghurst

Is it a stretch to say the late and loved Bill Granger invented modern Australian cafe culture? Maybe? But I’ll say it nonetheless. There are few things as perfectly Sydney as ordering avo toast (with lime and coriander - always) and a flat white in one of the three sunshiney Bills locations: the original in Darlinghurst, Surry Hills or Bondi.

Single O, Surry Hills

The OG Single O in Surry Hills is where Sydney’s creatures of the caffeine go to chat about very nerdy coffee things such as Pacamara and Castillo varietals and the delicate art of carbonic maceration. But it’s also where normies go to order a bloody great short black or latte. The food is no slouch either; I’m coming in with a hard recommend on the focaccia choripan and the banana bread with espresso butter.

Tenacious Bakehouse, Darlinghurst

Fresh from a juicy new interiors makeover, what hasn’t changed at this Korean-ish bakehouse is the demand for their insanely decadent Portuguese tarts with miso glaze. Glossy oblongs of caramelised deliciousness, they’re best scoffed fresh on the premises at Tenacious Bakehouse, and followed by a gooey, egg-yolk-bright mandarin and white chocolate tart.