NewsBite

Glamorous Brasserie 1930 serves modern classics highlighting small-batch farmers and growers

Collection

Hush hour: 30 of the best Sydney restaurants for quiet conversations (and great food)

Shhh ... we’re eating. Here’s where to enjoy a refined, relaxing meal without the clamour and commotion of the city’s busy party palaces.

30 stories
The plush dining room at Nobu Sydney has back harbour views and rich textures.
13/20

Request a seat by the window in Nobu Sydney’s luxurious main dining room

  • Terry Durack
Glamorous Brasserie 1930 serves modern classics highlighting small-batch farmers and growers
Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

Bentley duo’s majestic two-hatted Brasserie 1930 hits the heights of luxury and quality

  • Terry Durack
The iconic confit ocean trout.

Tetsuya’s has no background music, and views to the Japanese garden provide all the relaxing vibes you need

  • Callan Boys
Yoshii’s Omakase at Crown Sydney.
Good Food hatGood Food hat17/20

‘Hellishly expensive’ Yoshii’s Omakase takes raw fish to ceremonial heights (if you can get a booking, that is)

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Spanakopita-filled manti with dill, yoghurt and burnt butter.
14.5/20

Greek restaurant Ploos’ quiet cobblestoned terrace boasts views of the Opera House

  • Terry Durack
The dining room backdropped by the Sydney Opera House.
Good Food hat15/20

Dining by James Viles at Park Hyatt Sydney has well-spaced tables, and harbour views (at a price)

  • Terry Durack
Advertisement
Oncore at Barangaroo. Potato and roe. 16th Dec 2021. Photo: Edwina Pickles / SMH Good Food
Good Food hatGood Food hatGood Food hat18/20

Oncore by Clare Smyth looks and feels like a luxury apartment, with well-spaced tables and deeply cushioned dining chairs

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Smoked pig jowl, fan shell razor clams, shiitake, sea cucumber crackling.
Good Food hatGood Food hatGood Food hat19/20

Fine diner Quay is divided into quiet dining pockets (and its private dining room has the best views in town)

  • Terry Durack
Lauren Eldridge's rhubarb, yoghurt and Davidson plum dessert was the NSW Good Food Guide magazine cover star.
Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

Riverside escape: Lunch at Berowra Waters Inn is one of the most enjoyable ways to spend an afternoon

  • Callan Boys
***EMBARGOED FOR GOOD WEEKEND, JULY 2/22 ISSUE*** Sixpenny in Stanmore. 19th June 2022. Photo: Edwina Pickles / SMH Good weekend food
Good Food hatGood Food hatGood Food hat18/20

‘Quiet grace’: Sixpenny serves up refined comfort in an incongruous Stanmore address

  • Callan Boys
Ravioli with ricotta, burnt leek and black garlic.
Good Food hat15/20

Civico 47 brings a new Italian accent to former Lucio's site in Paddington

  • Terry Durack
Bright new executive chef Thomas Gorringe is taking over from Joel Bickford at Aria.
Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

Aria over-delivers on the conventions of pointy-end dining (and the room has a gentle hum)

  • Terry Durack
Upstairs, downstairs: Ursula's two levels of dining are a fusion of old and new.
Good Food hat15/20

Ursula’s is inviting, neighbourly, interesting and infinitely charming

  • Terry Durack
Irori Kuon is larger than many of its other omakase counterparts.

Irori Kuon brings fire-driven omakase to Darling Square – minus the sushi

  • Scott Bolles
Another smart Italian seafood restaurant by the sea? Go on, then.
Good Food hat15/20

Smart Italian restaurant Sala serves seafood by the sea in Pyrmont

  • Terry Durack
Advertisement
Go-to dish: Lobster mornay frites.
13.5/20

No eavesdropping here - tables are generously spaced at La Riviera in the legal district

  • Terry Durack
Longshore slides into Automata’s former Kensington Street address.

Hartsyard team softens the ex-Automata site and turns it into seafood restaurant Longshore

  • Scott Bolles
Me-Gal in the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga Zoo, Sydney.
14/20

Mosman’s Me-Gal restaurant is a dining room with a zoo (and a view)

  • Terry Durack
Restaurant Ka is a 10-seat degustation diner from a first-time chef-restaurateur.
Good Food hat15/20

Tiny hole-in-the-wall fine-diner Restaurant Ka feels like a hidden secret

  • Terry Durack
New laneway spot Beau Bar is a moody, shadowy space built around a swish black granite island bar.
14.5/20

Skip the laneway and find quiet inside Nomad’s sibling Beau Bar

  • Terry Durack
Lamb neck shawarma with tarator, pickles, chermoula and flatbread.
Good Food hat15.5/20

Ambitious Middle Eastern inside-outside restaurant Aalia has plenty of quiet tables and booths

  • Terry Durack
St Siandra at The Spit.
14/20

Soak up Sydney’s endless summer at St Siandra at The Spit (complete with private beach)

  • Terry Durack
Grilled-and-sliced black angus rib eye topped with tomato butter with a good handful of watercress.
14/20

The cosy and comfortable Double Bay outpost of bills is open for dinner

  • Terry Durack
Lana is on the first floor of Hinchcliff House, an 1870s wool store transformed into a multi-level Italian dining experience.
Good Food hat15/20

Fine diner Lana over-delivers on just about everything

  • Terry Durack
Advertisement
The north shore scales up at Josh and Julie Niland's Petermen in St Leonards.
Good Food hat15.5/20

Josh Niland’s Petermen is a smart Scandi-minimalist fish bistro in St Leonards

  • Terry Durack
Buffalo mozzarella, broad beans, green tomatoes, fennel and lemon.
Good Food hat15/20

Arthur, a small 35-seater in a corner terrace, serves its tasting menu two by two

  • Terry Durack
Omurice with tempura, tomato sauce and melted cheese.

Homely Omu in Ultimo serves home-style Japanese omelettes

  • Lee Tran Lam
Journey to the dark side: Kuro fried chicken, ume, bonito.
14.5/20

Kuro serves futuristic Japanese food in a refined, moodily lit space

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Baked tiger prawns with vermicelli.
Good Food hat15/20

Family-run 30-seater Porkfat is quite possibly Sydney’s best Thai restaurant

  • Callan Boys
Tom yum prawn soup, in delicate dumpling form at Lilymu.

Parramatta’s mod-Asian restaurant Lilymu is largely open to the large square

  • Terry Durack

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/sydney-eating-out/hush-hour-30-of-the-best-sydney-restaurants-for-quiet-conversations-and-great-food-20230626-p5djlk.html