Myffy Rigby

A cuisine that lends itself to long, leisurely meals shared with others, Italian usually doesn't stop at just one course. So, do as the Romans do: start with an aperitivo – and an antipasto spread – before a primo course (cue the pasta), secondo (a meat dish), contorno (a side, or three) and of course, something dolce (sweet). The Time Out team have spent years scouring the city for Melbourne's best Italian food, and while restaurants (and writers) may come and go – there are a few spots that consistently deliver. So if you're looking for an Italian feast that'll knock your socks off, look no further – we've rounded up Melbourne's best Italian restaurants for you to try in 2025. Buon appetito! Editor's favourite Italian restaurants in Melbourne: 🥂 Best for a special occasion: Lucia 👠 Best for a hot date night: Marameo 🍴 Best for a long Sunday lunch: Di Stasio Citta 🍝 Best for regional Italian cuisine: Al Dente Enoteca 👯 Best for a friends' catch-up: Studio Amaro If you're after more Italian cuisine, visit our guides to Melbourne's best pizza and gelato.

Spring 2025 update: Spring has sprung so heading out early in the morning for a yum brekkie feels less chilly and more fun. Our current fave picks include sandwich and coffee spot Angus Marrickville, Potts Point's Room Ten, and Parramatta’s Middle Eastern-inspired go-to Circa Espresso (it's the people's fave, too – it took the title of People's Choice Favourite Café in this year's Time Out Sydney Food & Drink Awards). Sydneysiders are café people. We're constantly on the hunt for the city's best coffee and we love nothing more than donning our finest sport-luxe activewear and catching up with mates on a weekend morning over eggs, fritters and crusty artisan sourdough. So, whether it's a reward for tackling one of Sydney's most beautiful walks, an indulgent hangover fix after a night at one of the city's best bars, or a workday coffee stop, these are the best Sydney cafés, according to our in-the-know Time Out Sydney writers, including Editor Avril Treasure. We'll have one B&E roll, please.  Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Is it lunch time? Check out our guide to Sydney's best restaurants right now.

Is there a better way to start the day than a torrent of fluffy pork buns, sea-sweet prawn har gow, chewy siu mai, slippery cheong fun, silken tofu, hearty beef tendon, braised chicken feet, tropical mango pancakes and canary-yellow custard tarts? We don't think so. Time Out Sydney's local food writers, including Editor Avril Treasure, have eaten their fair share of the city's yum cha (and then some). Below, you'll find our list of the best spots in Sydney to relish this morning ritual. So, bring your strongest hangovers, a whole bunch of mates and an appetite for destruction and gallons of tea. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Love Chinese food? Us too. These are the best Chinese restaurants in town. Still hungry? These are the best restaurants in Sydney

Spring 2025 update: Doesn’t this warm weather make everything better? (Though, not car fines – they can still go to hell.) You know what else makes things better? Eating delicious food, sipping chilled wine and laughing with your people. Whatever you’ve got coming up, you’ll find Sydney’s best spots to do exactly that below. Here's our list of Time Out's best restaurants in Sydney right now, from hot newcomers to time-honoured institutions, curated by our expert, on-the-ground editors and food writers who eat and drink their way around Sydney, including Time Out Sydney's Editor, Avril Treasure. How did we narrow it down to the very best? When deciding, we considered fun, flavour, creativity, value for money – and 'wow' factor. So yes, of course, you’ll find a fine diner inside the Sydney Opera House here, but you’ll also find neighbourhood pasta, hole-in-the-wall Thai and venues right by the sea. Happy dining, Sydney. Editor's favourite restaurants in Sydney: 🥂 Best for a special occasion: Bennelong 👠 Best for a vibey date night: Fontana ☀️ Best for a long Sunday lunch: Sean's 🍝 Best for an Italian feast: Neptune’s Grotto 🫒 Best for a friends' catch-up: Olympus Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. RECOMMENDED READ: Still hungry? Check out our guide to the best cheap eats in Sydney.

Sydney has a bewildering range of eateries and cuisines, with almost every style of restaurant and region of the world represented. Many of them are looking to serve you and the people of Sydney for the cheapest price possible, you just need to know where to look. Choosing the best cheap eats is like picking the greatest songs ever made, there are countless options, and everyone will have a different opinion. Compiled by a team of Time Out experts, this list brings together eateries from all regions of Sydney, with each pick being an outstanding option for that cuisine or style of eating. It’s not the cheapest meals in Sydney, but the best affordable options. We’ve tried, as best as possible, to include only venues where you can get a meal for one for under $20. We didn’t include many bakeries or cafés in the list, but you can find more affordable eats in our list of best bakeries in Sydney and best cafés in Sydney. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Want to spend less at the big-ticket players? Check out our cheap fine-dining hacks.

Ramen, more than any other soup, will divide people. Are you after an opaque tonkotsu or a brighter chicken shoyu broth? Firm hand-cut noodles or soft squiggly noodles? Do you add in some intense black garlic or keep it simple? Would you like your chasu extra fatty or thinly sliced and lean? Each ramen house will have its own distinctive broth, but toppings (mushrooms, eggs, seaweed, bamboo and corn) and seasonings (soy, miso, salt) let you cater to your own tastes. Need a winter challenge? Find your favourite ramen in Sydney the old-fashioned way – try them all. We did, and regret nothing except that we now need to buy bigger jeans. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. RECOMMENDED READS: Still hungry? These are the best restaurants in Sydney right now. Want more? Check out our guide to the best Japanese restaurants in town.

The Greek Islands are heaven on earth, and Athens is one of the world’s greatest cities. But if a holiday in the Mediterranean isn’t on the horizon, Sydney’s top Greek restaurants will help fill the dolmade-shaped hole in your heart. Time Out Sydney’s food writers and editors, including Editor Avril Treasure (who has a Big Fat Crush on Milos), have rounded up the best Greek restaurants in town. So, how did we narrow down the list? Well, below you’ll find everything from Sydney stalwart The Apollo (and its much-loved saganaki and slow-roasted lamb shoulder) to an old-school gyros joint where you can smash grilled Greek pita bread jammed with crisp, fatty pork bits. But they all had two things in common: they’re delicious and sing the flavours of Greece. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. If you're working on a budget try one of the best cheap eats in Sydney.  After Italian? Here's our guide to the tastiest Italian restaurants in Sydney. Keep eating at the absolute best restaurants in Sydney.

Located on a sparkling harbour and fringed by idyllic beaches, Sydney is a true seafood city. We’re home to many cracking waterfront restaurants, and our fish and chips are top-notch. So, where are the best spots for enjoying the ocean’s gifts? Whether it’s a perfect piece of fish with a squeeze of lemon and olive oil at Margaret, Josh Niland’s legendary tuna cheeseburger at Saint Peter’s bar, or a waterfront feast that’s nearly as good as a trip to Italy at Ormeggio at the Spit, we’ve rounded up the best seafood restaurants in Sydney. The only catch? The seafood has got to be fresh-as, bro. Cast your net and dig in. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Want more? Check out our guide to the best Sydney restaurants.

There’s no doubt about it, Sydneysiders can’t get enough of Italian food. And who can blame us? There’s something about a bowl of perfectly al dente pasta paired with a luscious, rich ragu that just hits the spot. And while Italian cuisine differs throughout the 20 incredible regions – broadly speaking, the northern regions eat more rice and polenta, while down south they feast more on seafood – Italians share a love of beautiful, seasonal produce; they choose simplicity rather than overcomplicating dishes and cook with soul. No wonder we love it so much. Luckily, there are plenty of excellent options for Italian dining in Sydney. Time Out’s food writers and editors – including Editor Avril Treasure, who has eaten her way through Sicily, Sorrento, Rome and Florence – have picked our favourite eateries, covering all bases. The only catch? They just need to provide a feel-good environment and dishes you’ll want to come back for. From casual red-sauce joints and classic pizzerias to fine-dining restaurants, you’ll find them all here. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Not in the mood for pasta? Here are our picks of the best spots for Greek and French food in Sydney.

For decades Newtown has been an evolving creature, where creativity abounds and self-expression is paramount. And yes, while we still want to #keepnewtownweird and vegans are still well catered for, there's plenty on the dining scene to keep even the most straight-laced pearl clutchers happy, too.  There's high-end dining to be had in this rainbow neck of the woods, but also a bunch of hyper-focused regional diners dishing up everything from Egyptian street food to killer pizza and fiery Chinese hot pots. Time Out Sydney's local food writers, including Editor Avril Treasure, have eaten their way around King Street and beyond to bring you this guide to Newtown's best restaurants. And if you're thirsty, check out our guide to Newtown's best bars here. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. RECOMMENDED: The best Sydney restaurants for your dining hit list

In Sydney, there’s good Thai and there’s great Thai, and we’re all about the latter. From the best deep-fried snapper to the finest pad Thai outside of Chiang Mai, Time Out Sydney's local food writers, including Editor Avril Treasure (who has spent weeks happily eating her way around Bangkok, Krabi and Phuket), have rounded up our list of the best places to get your Sydney-Samui on in town. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Want more? Check out the Secrets of Thaitown Food Tour here. Craving carbs? Try one of Sydney's best Italian restaurants. RECOMMENDED: The absolute best restaurants in Sydney

You know you've reached peak Sydney when you're sipping a crisp vino over a beautiful meal and outside the windows is the big blue. Perhaps it's three courses of modern Aussie fare from Sean's overlooking North Bondi Beach? Or maybe you prefer the gentler harbour vistas you get at Chiosco or Catalina, or spots that are right on the sand like Bobby's and The Boathouse Shelly Beach? One thing's for sure: eating by the water gives your meal that extra shine, which is why so many Sydneysiders flock to the shores for a special occasion, year-round. For your next extra-special soiree, book a table at one of the best waterfront restaurants Sydney has on the books, rounded up by Time Out Sydney's editors, including Food & Drink Editor and ocean-lover Avril Treasure, who has had her fair share (and then some) of long, boozy lunches by the sea. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Looking for an epic place for a drink? Here's our guide to Sydney's very best bars.

Any bar that’s playing 50 Cent’s 'P.I.M.P.' and serving a drink called the Walking Dead (aged rum, Fernet Branca, pineapple, lime, ginger beer served tall over ice) is more than alright in our books. Super Whatnot is one of Brisbane’s hottest bars offering up a short, sharp list of tasty cocktails (there’s a Tequila Sour in the mix, along with a Bobbie Burns and a Red Hook), great tunes and good vibes. There’s no bouncer out the front, just a girl in knee-high socks watching the numbers (there are only 60 seats at 'Whatnot) through the door. The bar, though it’s smack bang in the city, hosts a mix of indie kids, guys in suits and off-duty bartenders. On Time Out’s visit, it’s Nas and nachos night – pulled pork nachos and a Pisco Sour plus a ‘delicious beer’ for $10 along with $3 gin’n’juice for the Snoop and Dre fans. Super Whatnot is a multi-tiered wonderland of laidback fun with a team of bartenders hell-bent on serving up good times. We’ll buy that for a dollar.  

View bars, up until very recently, have traditionally been the sort of tourist traps where your Mai Tai comes pre-mixed, and the lime in your Margarita comes out of one of those green squeezy bottles. Or worse, out of a bucket. But that's a world away from Cove - the shining star on the new strip of the South Brisbane parklands. Everything is displayed on backlit shelves resembling Art Deco filing cabinets. That everything we're talking about involves a great selection of rums and bourbons and a cocktail list ranging from fun'n'fruity to more serious offerings like their Mai Tai and their riff on the Treacle - that next-day-head-banger, here with grapefruit juice and tequila. Tasty. And if you're after a snack while you're here, you could do worse than try the chilli jam doughnuts - a savoury take on their sweet cousins. Cute. The great thing about this bar is it's basically a cocktail strip, with some outdoor seating, spilling out onto the promenade. That means you can choose to either sit up at the bar with a view of the hooch or at one of the tables spilling out on to the promenade and look out over Brisbane River. Either way, you win.

Two of the city’s most talented bartenders in one place? Yup, you’ve hit the Laneway, where Callum More and Perryn Collier are making drinks and breaking hearts. The bar is hidden behind inner-city brasserie the Euro. Walk straight through the restaurant to the dark bar out the back, which confusingly can’t actually be reached by a laneway. Get 'em to make you something with their house-blended whiskey or go straight off the list. There are two of Time Out’s favourite drinks on the list – the Tipperary (whiskey, green Chartreuse, sweet vermouth) and the Boulevardier (bourbon, Campari, sweet vermouth) – and one of the most impressive beer selections we’ve seen in a good long while. Sure, there are flat screens throughout the bar but rather than footy they’re playing cuts from Charlie Chaplin movies. And OK, something needs to be done about that teenagers-losing-their-virginity music – but when they place a Toronto made with their own house-blended whiskey down in front of you, everything’s just peachy.    

This is about as close as you get to a Steampunk bar in Australia, we reckon. Sure, there's a cocktail list and guys behind the bar who are very happy and more than capable to make you a three-gin Martini or whatever, but what the Press Club is really about is getting in and getting out with beers and simple mixed drinks. Check out the gigantic metal fan in its metal cage, slowly rotating, or the big propeller hung over the bar with a giant eye right in the middle that winks every now and then. It's been a fixture here since 1998. Live'n'local bands often play here and later in the evening you'll find a tantalisingly rumptacular mix of old school hip hop and break beats. So you can see why this isn't really the place to be requesting Trinidad Sours. Because at the heart of it, this is a big, busy bar that is as much about good times as it is quality drinkin'.