Randwick, Kingsford and Kensington form one of Sydney’s most densely packed and diverse food corridors, stretching along Anzac Parade and anchored by local hubs like The Spot and the surrounds of UNSW.
The area is shaped by its student population, hospital precincts and long-standing migrant communities, which has led to a strong concentration of Italian as well as Asian restaurants (you'll find particularly excellent Indonesian eats) alongside cafés, pubs and casual neighbourhood eateries.
Take a tour of our editors' favourite restaurants in the area – from cheap and quick eats to buzzing restaurants that make the perfect spot for a meal or a cocktail before a film at The Ritz cinema. Happy eating!
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.
Del Punto brings a slice of Barcelona to Randwick, pairing tapas with a lively cocktail bar atmosphere in the heart of The Spot. Gather a group and work your way through share plates of croquettes, chorizo and grilled seafood before moving on to the restaurant’s signature paella. Opposite the historic Ritz Cinema, it’s a popular choice for date nights and pre-movie dinners.
Mammas and Papas Ristorante and Pizzeria has been serving classic Italian comfort food to Randwick locals for years. The family-run restaurant specialises in crowd-pleasing favourites including woodfired pizzas, hearty pasta dishes, seafood and traditional meat mains, all delivered with the warm hospitality that keeps regulars coming back. Whether you're settling in for a leisurely dinner before a movie or sharing pizzas and pasta with friends, it’s the kind of neighbourhood Italian that feels equally suited to special occasions and easy weeknight meals.
Owned by Sardinian-born Fabio Dore, this wine bar restaurant in the Newmarket area of Randwick is full of family warmth and carefully-crafted Italian flavours. They also serve an extensive range of excellent Italian, French, Argentinian, and (of course) Australian drops.
Penyet is an Indonesian word that means something has been smashed, usually with a pestle. The classic example of this is the restaurant’s namesake, ayam penyet: fried chicken walloped in a mortar and pestle and served with rice, a particularly fiery sambal, and a dusting of kremes (tiny bits of spiced fried crumbs). Then there’s udang kremes, the same thing with prawns, or terong penyet, the same again but with eggplant. Other possibilities include tempeh, eggs and beef ribs. The idea to bring this tradition from Indonesia to Australia first started in South Melbourne in 1998 with the original Ayam Penyet Ria. The same family now have several restaurants, including this Randwick outlet.
This Hungarian institution has been serving paprika-laced food for more than 40 years – but more recently it reopened with a fresh lease on life (and a literal new lease), thanks to the team behind Marrickville’s Baba’s Place and Sixpenny. When they joined forces to take over the keys of Corner 75, they called it a preservation project, wanting to pay homage to the neighbourhood icon and Australian migrant culture. Corner 75’s menu features starters, soups, mains, sides and desserts – all Hungarian classics.
For more than 40 years, Java Restaurant has been serving flavours from across Indonesia – making it one of this city's oldest Indonesian restaurants. The menu covers everything from Javanese fried chicken, satay, beef rendang and and Balinese-style grilled chicken. Better yet, it's BYO.
Clovelly Road’s feel-good Cut Lunch Deli is always a good idea – if you can score a table, that is. The small, summery spot specialises in generously sized, freshly made sandwiches (also available on GF bread), as well as toasties, coffee and a handful of sweet treats. The schnitz is a local favourite: a whopping big sesame panko-crumbed chicken schnitzel with sweet zucchini mayo, pickled onions for zing and shredded ’berg for freshness – all on a soft bun. Hit the beach, then come here for lunch, or stop in after your next coastal walk.
A favourite among Randwick locals, Ummarin Thai serves up vibrant, home-style Thai cooking. The menu spans fragrant curries, punchy stir-fries and spicy salads, with dishes that balance sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavours in classic Thai fashion. Whether you're digging into a rich massaman curry, a fiery basil stir-fry or a plate of perfectly cooked pad see ew, the focus is on generous portions and authentic flavours. Unassuming from the outside but consistently busy, it’s the kind of neighbourhood restaurant that keeps diners coming back. It's licensed but you can also BYO.
This pasta restaurant and shop refers to itself as a "pasta lab". Come for a bowl of freshly made pasta with bolognese or boscaiola sauce – or take home some housemade pasta or gnocchi to cook yourself. Come at lunchtime on weekdays, when you can get a bowl of the good stuff for $15. Or between 4-6pm when they offer happy-hour drink prices. While the pasta is the focus, their antipasti selection (including these crispy, cheesy arancini with scamorza and truffle mayo) are also very good.
Tucked near the Ritz Cinema at The Spot, The Spanish Fly has been bringing Mediterranean-inspired tapas, cocktails and lively atmosphere to Randwick for many years. The menu is built for sharing, with classic Spanish-style small plates, seafood dishes and chargrilled meats designed to be paired with a glass of wine or one of the bar’s signature cocktails.
22 Grams is an underrated bakery and specialty coffee roaster known for its meticulous approach to coffee – each espresso is crafted using exactly 22 grams of beans per basket. (Yes, they actually measure it for each shot.) They take just as much care baking their sourdough – it's a 36-hour process from starter to fermentation to hand-shaped loaf. And then they have sweet and savoury pastries, ready for snacking on.
Just try to walk past the pretty Dolce Fiori shopfront (covered in greenery) without wanting to stop by for an Aperol Spritz – either outside under one of the bright-orange umbrellas, or inside the elegant dining room that transports you to Italy. The menu features all the classics – from antipasti to pasta and pizza – and they have an extensive cocktail list, which heroes Italian drinks.
Owners Vince Lombardo and Stefano Catino serve up a couple of dozen different pizzas using their signature 72-hour rested dough. Order up a diavola with fior de latte, hot salami, capsicum and onion; or try a white mozarella base topped with potatoes, Italian sausage and rosemary. Out the back you'll find a courtyard cocktail bar, where you can sip on Italian mixed drinks.
As with its Redfern outlet, RaRa Ramen Randwick brings its modern, neon-lit take on ramen to Barker Street, with a focus on rich tonkotsu broths and firm, straight noodles made to hold up in every slurp. If you're keen for a heart feed or bowl of comfort, this is the spot.
Soul Burger serves up some of the best vegan hamburgers we've had in Sydney. This burger bar venture – with outlets in Newtown, Glebe and Randwick – was set up by Amit Tewari, a medical doctor and member of New Harvest, an organisation developing alternatives to traditionally produced meat. The patties taste so meaty it’s actually a bit scary. The sweet potato fries are also excellent – crisp outside, sweet and fudgy within. Tewari didn't want to appeal only to veggos, but to “medium rare steak eaters”, too. Well, you’ve got one right here bro, and consider me persuaded.
After having great success with their first store in Mosman, the Four Frogs team opened up a second venue in Randwick – and now they have four restaurants across Sydney. They serve a large range of galettes (savoury crepes) as well as sweet crepes. Flavours range from the classics, such as butter, sugar and lemon, to more creative creations like the "La Tartiflette" with bacon, swiss and raclette cheese, potatoes and slow-cooked onions in cider. Yum.
Yes, there is nasi goreng on the menu. And yes, there is beef rendang as well. But let’s face it – you, and everybody else, are here for the chicken. You will have to make choices: thigh or breast; grilled over charcoal, deep-fried, or deep-fried and coated in a sweetish glaze, Javanese style. Whatever you decide, the result will be a tender, succulent and seasoned to the high heavens thanks to a hearty marinade of turmeric, garlic, ginger and galangal, among other ingredients. It epitomises the ‘hole-in-the-wall’ trope in the very best of ways, almost always pack to the rafters with expats and uni students, and a true champion in the value-for-money stakes.
In the middle of Anzac Parade’s long stretch of Asian dining, Kingsford Peking Restaurant is a classic neighbourhood Chinese restaurant known for its broad, traditional menu and signature northern Chinese dishes. The standout is the Peking duck, served with thin pancakes and hoisin-style condiments, alongside a familiar line-up of other Chinese crowd-pleasers. Reliable, generous and fairly priced, it’s the kind of local institution that’s been popular among Kingsford diners for years.
Manpuku has been able to set up ramen restaurants in suburbs across Sydney – Kingsford, Chatswood, Mascot, Rosebery and Neutral Bay – because they know their ramen. They've been slow-cooking broth and crafting noodles in house since 2013.
Niji Sushi Bar has an impressively large menu of sashimi and sushi, yet their izakaya-style menu also includes plenty of other snacks, bowls and sets. They might be right on busy Anzac Parade, but once you step inside, it's quite an elegant dining room. They offer good-value $15.90 lunch specials.
In Padang, Sumatra, the traditional style of restaurant service is to pre-make all the food, serve it on plates to your table and have you pick what you want. It’s generally coconut-heavy, spicy and revolves around rice and a wide variety of curries. Pondok Buyung is the Sydney version of that. There’s not much in terms of a menu, just prices based on how many things you want with rice, so let loose, pay less than a 20 and pick away from the 15-odd dishes in the bains-marie.
This cafe perched on a sunny corner in a suburban street of Kensington serves up simple fare: panini, wraps, breakfasts, salads and, of course, coffees. We enjoyed a simple lunch of porchetta on ciabatta with friarielli and mayo. With a wrap-around verandah and classy Italian-style decor, it's a peaceful place for a catch-up or solo coffee.
It might be tucked away within the University of New South Wales, but you bet it's worth a trip onto campus for a moreish bowl of laksa. Our favourite order? The barbecue pork laksa with added wontons. The laksa soup is rich and fragrant, the pork is smoky, the wontons are juicy and the noodles are just the right amount of chewy. An excellent fast and cheap lunch.
Khao Thai Kitchen is a casual Thai eatery on Anzac Parade in Kensington, serving a Thai favourites in a no-fuss setting. Expect the classics done well – from Thai entrees to pad Thai, green curry, tom yum soup and basil stir-fries. The focus here is on fresh, made-to-order cooking with bold, balanced flavours rather than reinvention, making it a reliable stop for an easy weeknight dinner or affordable takeaway in the Kensington-Kingsford strip.
Looking for a big (all-day) breakfast? Cafe Jack's is Sydney's home of the Irish breakfast. Their Irish fry-up includes fried eggs, black and white pudding, pork sausages, bacon, beans, fried potato and homemade soda bread – all for just $24 (no Bondi prices here). If that sounds a bit OTT for you, they also more dainty brekkies and lunches. They're open from 5am every morning except Sunday, when you'll have to wait an extra hour.
Discover Time Out original video
