Kings Cross is one of those areas with a reputation so wild and rich in history, it almost precedes itself. At the height of its potency, this patch of the inner-east existed in a sort of vacuum from the rest of the city. A thriving red light district that rolled out the red carpet for misfits and miscreants fixing to lose themselves. A place where the party stopped only when the money ran out.

From the first topless bars in the 1950s, the all-night bars and drag reviews of the ’60s, through to the live music scene of the ‘80s and the club scene of the ’90s, a consistent ebb and flow of restaurants, bars and cafes has serviced all those in-between moments. It’s that malleability that’s always made Kings Cross and the top part of Potts Point so intoxicating. Nowhere else in Sydney could you eat so well and drink so well, with the potential of things going very south, very quickly, if you wandered down the wrong street.

Things really changed between the 2014 lockout laws and the lifting of said laws in 2021. The Golden Mile became better known for all-night gyms than all-night parties. Prestige real estate offices, and designer dogs and the ripped quads of the people walking them became a mainstay. The end of the Empire and Bourbon hotels heralded more of the same.

Despite the changes (or perhaps because of them), the place is rippling with life. It just looks a little different. Roslyn Gardens and Ward Avenue feel more energised than they have in years. Today, you’re more likely to see someone armed with a cold brew and jambon baguette than a revolver and a anged-up head. Who knows what it’ll be tomorrow?

Such is the densely packed nature of the place, there are still flashes of the old Cross – the few remaining stripclubs, hock shops and late-licence pubs are a reminder that it’s definitely no Woollahra, and that it never will be. What really keeps the blood flowing is the very thing that’s always been servicing the area – hospitality. Here’s a suggested itinerary to navigate the precinct over nine snack stops.

Plat du jour at Paradise

This brand new wine bar is brought to you by Gio and Enrique Paradiso, the brothers behind Potts Point’s favourite Italian, Fratelli Paradiso. Built in a former EzyMart and renovated to resemble a European wine bar down to the mirrored sconces, blackboard menu and stained glass signage, you’ll find a modest snack menu that’s designed mainly as a support act for the wine.

Start with a round of light, puffy gougeres and a glass of juicy pinot gris. Settle in with a plat du jour (perhaps white bean dip, braised bitter greens, pickled mushrooms and hunks of fresh mozzarella) and a side of fresh-baked bread and they might pour you a slender, slightly oily Jean Bouteille arneis. You could easily linger at the table with star Victorian sommelier Andy Ainsworth’s very own Vini Merenda, lovingly described as “an afternoon wine”, or an icy negroni with no food at all.

Though that might mean missing meatballs on a bed of polenta, and the deep-fried clams. It’s already quite a scene here – it’s a full house by 6.30pm on a Friday. Need a plan B? Piccolo Bar is right next door, ready to welcome you with cocktails and hotdogs.

6C/11 Ward Avenue

Espresso at Primary Coffee Roasters

Make owner-barista Dan Kim’s pared back coffee bar your go-to for a morning caffeine hit. Everything here is a minimalist’s dream. Beans are roasted on-site, opening hours are tight (they close at 2pm most days, except Mondays, when they close at noon), and seating is limited to a few stools out the front. If you’ve mistimed your visit and found yourself standing outside a closed cafe, never fear – northern beaches transplants Barrel One are around the corner and serving bagels and double espresso until 3pm.

9 Ward Avenue, primarycoffeeroasters.com

Breakfast muffin at Ken’s Continental

This Euro-style deli and cafe from the gang behind nearby restaurant Farmhouse offers a smart breakfast menu including a toasted English muffin filled with a sausage patty, melted cheese and omelette; grilled mortadella and fried eggs, and, if you’re after something a little more gentle, avo on toast. Dropping by for lunch? There’s a whole menu of filled baguettes (hello, jamon, persimmon and mozzarella).

3/40 Bayswater Road. kenscontinental.com

Eight cheese toastie at Penny’s Cheese Shop

It’s a beautiful thing, seeing Potts Point open back up and embrace tiny specialty stores. Teta’s deli is a relative newbie, focused on Lebanese deli goods. And, of course, there’s this cheese oasis, specialising in hard-to-find local and international rinds. Penny’s also serves outrageous toasted cheese sandwiches, which always include smoked scamorza, Oaxaca and raclette, but they may also stray into whatever other cheese nubs they have lying around and feeling like loading between bread. It’s also an essential sandwich for Nigella Lawson whenever she’s in town. “[Penny’s] incredible toastie is sort of gooey in the middle, and then somehow there’s a sort of shell of cheese on the outside of the bread. So that is a must,” she told Good Food in June.

6/127-139 Macleay Street, pennyscheeseshop.com.au

Sourdough pancake with bacon at Pina

Llankelly Place has long been drawing in breakfast and brunch fans with Andrew Hardjasudarma’s recently renovated cafe Room 10 and its excellent breakfast wraps, bowls and coffee. And just because one cafe in one bougie laneway is never enough, he also owns Pina, just across the path. Both menus are by his wife, head chef Yuvi Tu. Make a beeline for Pina’s massive, puffy sourdough pancake served with either berries and maple syrup or a side of crisp bacon.

4/29 Orwell Street, order.pinapottspoint.com.au

Miso caramel soft serve at Cho Cho San

This light, bright contemporary izakaya is part of the same gang as The Apollo (modern Greek, same street) and Olympus Dining (modern Mediterranean, a car ride away in Redfern). Here, the space is ruled by a communal dining table stretching the length of the room – the perfect amount of elbow room for beer-and-sake-friendly snacks, such as crunchy pork katsu steamed buns, chicken gyoza and eggplant miso sticks. Feeling particularly luscious? Go for the silky king crab scrambled eggs with Japanese curry sauce. Oh, and swirls of soft serve finished with squiggles of nutty, salty-sweet miso caramel.

73 Macleay Street, chochosan.com.au

Spicy dumplings at TBC by Grape Garden

Fans of the OG Grape Garden in Chatswood, a little shopfront in the mall that sold shallot pancakes, dumplings and dan dan noodle soup, were overjoyed to hear the family-run business reopened in Kings Cross two years ago. Yes, you can get those huge bowls of soup filled with hand-pulled noodles that were such a draw at the original, and you can also order plates of boiled or pan-fried dumplings filled with pork and chives, beef and celery, and lamb and zucchini.

2/14 Bayswater Road, instagram.com/grapegardenbeijingcuisine

A Sunday roast at Jangling Jack’s

Here’s to Sunday and all who celebrate it. If that looks like roast pork with golden crackling, minted peas, roast pumpkin and hasselback potatoes accompanied by a crisp Reschs, you’re in luck. This little bar, which has been delighting dwellers of the 2011 postcode for close to a decade, offers an ever-changing Sunday roast and drinks specials ($12 negronis!) between 4pm and 6pm every Sunday. Head in any other day of the week for steak frites, Trinidad sours and an excellent playlist.

175 Victoria Street, instagram.com/jangling.jacks

Polenta crisps at Yellow

Don’t call the food at this fine diner plant-based. Longtime head chef and brand new owner Sander Nooij wants you to think of it as ‘botanical gastronomy’. What does that mean for dinner, exactly? Expect a tasting menu with snacks to start, followed by six courses of vegetable and vegetable-adjacent dishes from polenta crisps with tomatillo salsa to eggplant parcels with hemp ricotta and chilli.

57-59 Macleay Street, yellowsydney.com.au