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Bar

Good Food hat15.5/20

This country spot is the ‘pub’ every town wishes it had on the corner

If you can’t find an old pub, make one. That’s the approach the You Beauty team has taken to create this award-winning community-led venue.

  • David Matthews
Mixed Business.
14/20

The family-run bar our critic would be stoked to have on his own street

From the fried chicken sandwich on good-on-ya-mum white bread to the puffy salt-and-vinegar potato scallops, Mixed Business Enmore is nostalgia made manifest.

  • Callan Boys
Bar Selecta bar director Joey Tai (left) and co-owner Masaki Hisaike.

Bar Selecta

A Tokyo-style listening bar in a suburban laneway.

  • Kosa Monteith
Hay St Market.
10/20

Haymarket’s revamped Paddy’s Markets vowed to be a first-rate food hub. It didn’t deliver

It might serve a very good martini and excellent chips, but Callan Boys chalks it up as another entry on Sydney’s board of missed opportunities.

  • Callan Boys
The signature green, yellow and red negronis.

Herbs Taverne

Like its sibling venues Bar Planet and Cantina OK, this new Campari-hued cocktail bar does one thing exceptionally well.

  • Erina Starkey
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Falafel with tahini, pickles and zhoug.
14/20

One of Melbourne’s favourite falafel crosses the river to get to this southside bar

It’s worth coming to cocktail bar Nobody’s Baby for the crunchy-fluffy falafel alone.

  • Dani Valent
Chicken katsu with Japanese gravy.
Critics' Pick

This inner-city terrace serves outrageously juicy katsu and boss-level drinking food

Craft beer hangout Benchwarmer breaks the mould with its brash and bold Japanese snacks.

  • Emma Breheny
The exterior.

The Shop & Wine Bar

This cafe is a finalist in the best all-rounder category in Good Food’s Essential Sydney Cafes and Bakeries of 2025.

Good Measure’s signature mont blanc.

Good Measure

This venue is a finalist in the best matcha and specialty drinks category in Good Food’s Essential Melbourne Cafes and Bakeries of 2025.

Cocktails at Indian diner Chapati’s moody upstairs cocktail bar, Daaru.

Daaru

For Indian-inspired cocktails and bar snacks.

  • Tomas Telegramma

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/topic/bar-6gzv