The opening of nine new Metro train stations in August has made cafes, bars and restaurants throughout Sydney more accessible than ever.

With trains travelling at up to 100 km/h, the commute between Sydenham and Chatswood has been reduced to just 22 minutes.

Unsure of where to head first? Check out these recommendations from Good Food Guide editors and reviewers, rounding up the best dining destinations within a 10-minute walk of five new Metro stations: Chatswood, Crows Nest, Gadigal, Waterloo and Sydenham.

Chatswood

Caffeine hit

Tea Journal
One-minute walk from the station

Considering Sydney’s coffee obsession, it’s surprising that its interest in tea hasn’t kept pace. Sunny Huang, who runs Tea Journal, is determined to change that. Shelves display neat packages of China’s finest – West Lake dragon well tea, charcoal-roasted red tea – plus teaware and ceremonial sets, while drink-in cups come with the offer of airy chiffon cake.

Chatswood Interchange, 44/436 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, teajournal.com.au

Speciality Grocer

Yangga Korean Deli
Seven-minute walk from the station

Gone are the days when generic, bulk-produced banchan cuts it. Just ask the Yang family, who stock the fridges here with all manner of handmade Korean side dishes. Yes, there’s cabbage kimchi, but also one made with young summer radish, plus Korean potato salad, soy eggs and more. Grab a kimbap (Korean sushi) to go, then check in on Vic’s Meat while you’re at it.

B002, Chatswood Chase, 365 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, instagram.com/yanggafoods

On the run

East West Gourmet
Three-minute walk from the station

This Mandarin Centre food court favourite, run by Helena Hung, has been a lunchtime staple for locals since it first opened in 2000. The backlit menu lists plenty of hits, from chilli-flecked fish soup to fiery laksa, but it’s the fragrant Hainanese chicken rice that steals the show – just get in early before the thigh sells out.

Mandarin Centre Food Court, Level 2, 65 Albert Street, Chatswood, instagram.com/east.west.gourmet

Casual lunch

Amah
One-minute walk from the station

The food court above Chatswood station, known as District Dining, is rammed with options – Ippudo, Spicy Joint, Memory Tongue – but something about Amah (sister restaurant to Ho Jiak) still makes it the headline act. Dinner’s the time to get to grips with the depth of the Malaysian menu, but come lunch, it’s har mee dumplings and scorchy char kway teow noodles all the way.

Kiosk 1 and 2, The District, 436 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, hojiak.com.au/amah

Celebratory dinner

Hanasuki
Four-minute walk from the station

What better way to come together with friends or family than over a warm cauldron of shabu shabu, Japan’s famed hotpot? And where better than Hanasuki, Sydney’s first upscale shabu shabu specialist? Choose your base (kombu and bonito dashi are classic), pick your meats (Kurobuta pork belly, say), add an artfully arranged platter of vegetables, then dip and swish to your heart’s content.

1/18-26 Anderson Street, Chatswood, hanasuki.com.au

—David Matthews

Crows Nest

Caffeine hit

Ratio Coffee
Two-minute walk from the station

Taiwanese-born Hung-Chi Wu is incredibly precise and passionate about the coffee he sources, roasts and pours at this minimalist hole-in-the-wall coffee bar. A quick takeaway latte using his specialist Dark Knight blend (refined over several years for an upcoming competition) is great, but it’s worth pausing for a pour-over to get the full experience.

Shop 2/473 Pacific Highway, Crows Nest, coffeeratio.com.au

Casual lunch

Double Cross Dining Room
Five-minute walk from the station

A sunlit spot for a relaxed, Asian-inspired meal – whether that’s “unusual eggs on toast” (peanut butter, stracciatella, fried eggs and lao gan ma chilli sauce on Fiore bread) from their all-day brekkie menu, or mentaiko pasta (marinated fish roe with poached egg, taramasalata and tobiko) from the lunch offering. Try a strawberry iced matcha, or order a sneaky lunchtime wine.

Shop 1/31 Albany Street, Crows Nest, instagram.com/doublecrossdiningroom

A little treat

Moon Phase
Two-minute walk from the station

With an always innovative selection of pastries and a house-roasted coffee blend, this could be one of Sydney’s best bakeries. It’s a tranquil, all-white venue hidden down Clarke Lane, with precisely layered and laminated viennoiserie shaped into striped chocolate bars or folded into cubes around salted egg yolk (inspired by traditional mooncakes), among others.

Shop entry via Clarke Lane (off Oxley Street, 96-97/545 Pacific Highway, St Leonards, moonphase.au

After work drinks

Knird
Five-minute walk from the station

Wine nerds, head to Knird for your fermentation fix. The walk-in wine bar opened in 2020 and now offers more than 35 wines by the glass (or half bottle). The selection, curated by veteran sommelier and owner Andrew Day, runs the gamut from fun and forward-thinking to French and complex, with Euro-inspired snacks like prosciutto croquettes and beef tartare.

Shop 2/31-33 Albany Street, Crows Nest, knird.com.au

Celebratory dinner

Petermen
Seven-minute walk from the station

This two-hatted restaurant from Good Food Guide’s 2024 Chef of the Year Josh Niland will change how you think about seafood, serving Sydney Rock oysters at a perfect 12 degrees for optimal flavour, steaks of Yellowfin tuna chateaubriand with thin shoestring fries and Saint Peter martinis made with oyster shell gin.

66 Chandos Street, St Leonards, petermen.com.au

—Bianca Hrovat

Gadigal

Casual lunch

Hakata Gensuke

Three-minute walk from the station

Regent Place is deserving of a whole lunch guide unto itself, particularly at the Kent Street level, where you can inhale many-textured bowls of Yunnan-style rice noodle soup at Yunn or go to town on grilled chicken skin skewers at Yakitori Yokocho. Back on George Street, it’s hard to go past the bitey noodles and powerhouse tonkotsu ramen broth at Hakata Gensuke to feel like you’re doing something with your day.

105 Bathurst Street, Sydney, gensuke.com.au

A little treat

La Belle Miette

Seven-minute walk from the station

We should mention that Regent Place is also home to a branch of Uncle Tetsu’s Japanese Cheesecake, and – if you’re unacquainted – the hype for its light, jiggly signature dish is justified. But gosh darn if the macarons at La Belle Miette inside the Queen Victoria Building aren’t one of the most delicious things you can buy from $3 each. Pistachio is the best, followed by Panna Cotta Mandarin, but this is all highly subjective stuff. Find it on the QVB’s ground floor, between Jimmy Choo and Kenzo.

455 George Street, Sydney, labellemiette.com.au

After work drinks

Bar Sumi

Four-minute walk from the station

This is the last time Regent Place will be mentioned, we swear. The door to Bar Sumi is semi-hidden next to an elevator at the shopping centre, but even when you know that it’s still hard to find. Outside is all bright lights and gacha vending machines; inside, it’s a calming, low-lit bolthole where former Maybe Sammy bartender Wen Wang prefers to ask guests what they feel like drinking and build something from there rather than offering a written cocktail list. The drinks are invariably excellent, especially when it’s a martini, but you may need to book through Bar Sumi’s Instagram to guarantee a seat at peak times.

488 Kent Street, Sydney, instagram.com/bar_sumi_sydney

Celebratory dinner

The Chairman

Seven-minute walk from the station

Take a jog straight through Hyde Park to The Chairman where Andrew Bao and Dingjun Li celebrate the full-throttle cooking of China’s Hunan province with an explosion of ferments, cured meats and fresh chilli. Stir-fried abalone is on the carte if you want to really push the boat out, plus a smart little selection of spice-friendly Australian and Old World wines

1/18 College Street, Darlinghurst, thechairmanrestaurant.com.au

—Callan Boys

Caffeine fix

FBR cafe
Four-minute walk from the station

FBR cafe is a 15-seat speciality coffee shop in Chambers Arcade, designed, hand-built and computerised by founder Sebastian Cincotta. It is a clinical, alien-hued space, with deliberately angled seating, bunsen burner brewing equipment and the Orwellian glare of an old, wall-mounted television. Visit for a coffee experience unlike any other in Sydney, such 200ml of siphoned speciality coffee for $30.

Shop 9/370 Pitt Street, Sydney, instagram.com/fbr.cafe

Waterloo

Caffeine hit

Meet Gerard
Four-minute walk from the station

This hole-in-the-wall cafe needs no introduction. Locals have been coming to Meet Gerard for their morning java since 2016 — long before the metro pulled in. Espressos are made with the Single O Collider blend (think dark chocolate and berry notes), or you can pick out a single origin from the list of guest roasters. For hot days, there’s cold brew, iced coffee and a very on-trend strawberry and matcha latte.

Henderson Road, Alexandria, meetgerard.com.au

Casual lunch

Good Ways Deli
Eight-minute walk from the station

A country bakery in the heart of the city. Owners Jordan McKenzie and Tom Pye plate up tuckshop classics with a twist, from curried kangaroo sausage rolls to CWA-inspired lamingtons spread with tangy Davidson plum jam. Sandwiches are made to order and include Aussie essentials like beetroot, grated carrot and alfalfa sprouts.

81 Buckland Street, Alexandria, goodwaysdeli.com.au

Knock-off drinks

BrewDog South Eveleigh
Nine-minute walk from the station

Fetch yourself an after-work beer at this oversized tap room and beer garden in South Eveleigh’s heritage-listed Locomotive Workshops. Hopheads will be in heaven with 40 brews to choose from, including lagers, bitters, stouts and sours — all made in BrewDog’s solar-powered Murarrie brewery. With space for 900 inside and out, there’s always somewhere to sit, and that goes for your pup, too.

Bay 1 Locomotive Workshops South, Eveleigh, drink.brewdog.com/au/south-eveleigh

Fast meal

Flyover Fritterie
Seven-minute walk from the station

Fly by this Indian street food-inspired eatery for fast fritters and proper cardamom-steeped chai. The namesake pakora is packed with shredded onion and purple cabbage, or snaffle a paneer jaffle served with mint and tamarind chutney for dipping. Don’t have time to stop and chaat? Everything is available to take away.

88 Regent Street, Redfern, flyoverfritterie.com.au

A little treat

Ciccone & Sons
Four-minute walk from the station

If you haven’t plotted your journey home via Ciccone & Sons, you need to recalculate your route. Gelato aficionados come for the all-natural scoops made from full-fat Jersey milk, flavoured with whole nuts and fresh fruits. Get a maraschino cherry cup for now and a one-litre tiramisu tub for later.

195 Regent Street, Redfern, cicconeandsons.com.au

—Erina Starkey

Sydenham

Caffeine hit

Algorithm
Six-minute walk from the station

A bright and brutalist cafe with some of Sydney’s best iced matcha, made from organic Japanese powder and available with a creamy layer of raspberry foam. Prefer coffee? The barista uses beans from local roasters like Mecca and BRUT, pouring shots over seasonal Mapo gelato, or into the signature iced coffee with orange-zest vanilla cream.

109 Marrickville Road, Marrickville, instagram.com/algorithmsydney

On-the-run

Chebbo’s
10-minute walk from the station

Could this be Sydney’s answer to the American hit burger chain In’n’Out? It’s the new fast food outlet from TikTok star Ali Chebbani, serving his signature smash burgers with loaded fries and house-made sodas until 11pm most nights. Burgers start at $12, and they’re pretty damn good with rich, charred patties, and a creamy, tangy burger sauce.

308 Victoria Road, Marrickville, chebbos.com

A little treat

Tokyo Lamington & The Bakery
Six-minute walk from the station

Yes, traditional lamingtons are great. But have you tried them filled with citrusy yuzu cream and coated in toasted meringue? It’s one of several innovative flavours at Tokyo Lamington’s second Sydney cafe. It’s a lovely sunlit spot to settle into a mid-century velvet sofa with your dog by your feet as gentle jazz plays.

140 Marrickville Road, Marrickville, tokyolamington.com

After-work drinks

The Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre
Nine-minute walk from the station

Use the ’80s-themed Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre as your starting point to explore the many independent craft breweries and distilleries in Marrickville. With a happy hour schooner (available 4–6pm weekdays) and steamed BBQ pork buns under your belt, you can carry on to neighbouring Batch, Philter, and Unexpected Guest, all within 15 minutes of the Metro.

8-12 Sydney Street, Marrickville, hawkesbrewing.com

Celebratory dinner

Baba’s Place
Seven-minute walk from the station

Ex-Sixpennychef Michael Lo Presti leads the kitchen at Baba’s Place, a restaurant that is somewhere between a warehouse party and the home of your elderly Eastern European neighbours. Down a round of rakija shots before feasting on plates of taramasalata toast, charcoal chicken with chips and pickles, and charred sugarloaf cabbage. This one comes with the Nigella Lawson tick of approval.

20 Sloane Street, Marrickville, babasplace.com.au

—BH