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Melon and sorbet dessert at Hubert
Photograph: Anna Kucera

Sydney restaurant and café reviews

Looking for somewhere great to eat in Sydney? Check out the latest reviews from our food critics

Written by
Time Out editors
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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Recommended
I’m sitting at the wooden bench right in front of the chefs at Flotilla, Newcastle’s fine diner located in an industrial-looking area in Wickham. I say fine dining because it technically falls under that category, but there’s not a whiff of pretentiousness in the coastal air. In front of me is a greenish riff on a Margarita recommended by co-owner/restaurant manager Eduardo Molina. It’s fresh thanks to coriander, jalapeno brings heat, and the sweetness is balanced by someone who’s been to a few rodeos. And on this balmy evening, it’s gone in minutes. To my left is a mural by Newcastle-based artist Annie Everingham – all sky blues, bubble-gum pinks and rusts – and the rest of the walls are painted-white brick and plywood. Trickling plants inject greenery, copper fixtures wink to Newy’s past, and local Andrew Bradley is behind the brown leather banquette seating and warm wooden tables with flickering candles. It’s the kind of dining room you can exhale and settle in for a good time. And judging by the packed and lively room, it seems everyone is. Head chef Jake Deluca works with a slight smile, the one you have when you’re enjoying yourself or telling yourself a joke. But what’s coming out of this young gun's kitchen is nothing to laugh about. Deluca changes the set menu at Flotilla every six weeks to keep things fresh and interesting. The use of seasonal produce combined with a razor-sharp eye for innovation and elevation is constant, however. Take the courgette soup, for exa
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Italian
  • Wollongong
  • Recommended
Typically, the beachside town of Wollongong has been characterised by breezy sea-front cafés and kiosks serving up fish and chips and burgers. That said, Wollongong’s food and drinks scene has gradually evolved over the past few years, moving far beyond “typical”. You can still order a cracking takeaway meal overlooking the ocean, but now you can also find critically acclaimed restaurants that are up there with the best eateries in Sydney. I discover that’s definitely the case with Santino, an Italian trattoria in one of the central Wollongong laneways that’s now alive with bars and shops. Santino is by the same mob as Kneading Ruby, one of the most buzzing bars and pizza joints in this coastal town, so I arrive with high expectations. As soon as we enter the chic, low-lit space, it’s easy to forget we’re in the ’Gong. In fact, it’s hard to imagine you’re not in Rome. It’s classy, moody, very unbeachy.  We’re seated at a table looking across at the glowing, bar-framed kitchen and bar, which are the only significant sources of light in the place. Otherwise, it’s all ambient, Art Deco lamps and candles. The floor features big terracotta and cream chequered tiles. There’s a line-up of wine bottles behind the black leather banquette seating. And the walls are packed with black-framed prints that all nod to Italy (photos of Sophia Loren, retro advertisements for tins of Italian pasta sauce, and stylised drawings of Italian towns). There’s cool jazz playing; all setting the mood fo
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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Modern Asian
  • Sydney
  • Recommended
One of the many excellent things about Korea – alongside its neon-karaoke bars and snail serums (they work) – is Korean barbecue. You walk in, sit down, and immediately the action happens: the grill gets fired up, thousands of banchan are placed in front of you, Cass and a couple of bottles of soju are ordered, and you get to work, barbecuing the meat until it’s caramelised and golden, the fat glistening and perfect. Wrap it, eat it, and repeat until you’re about to burst. This experience is replicated beautifully at King Clarence, the latest restaurant from The Bently group (the masterminds behind leading Sydney venues Bentley, Monopole, Yellow, Brasserie 1930 and Cirrus). Though, more specifically, with wood-roasted pork belly ssam. A huge platter arrives holding slices of pork belly – the crackling all bronzed and bubbly – with an assortment of perilla, lettuce, radicchio and witlof leaves, and small bowls of kimchi, confit garlic, creamy oyster sauce and chilli sauce. I pick up a leaf, place some meat in its curve, top it with kimchi, a drizzle of chilli and a dollop of oyster sauce. It’s a flavour and texture explosion: crunchy, salty, fresh, creamy, fatty, sweet, fiery and sour – and absolutely delicious. King Clarence's food is inspired by the flavours of Korea, China and Japan. To nail this, co-owners Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt persuaded top chef Khanh Nguyen to take charge. Most recently, Nguyen has been spearheading Melbourne’s award-winning Aru and Sunda. Th
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Modern Australian
  • Recommended
The name Troy Rhoades-Brown is as synonymous with the Hunter Valley as the shiraz and semillon grown on the vines. At age 24 – after stints at Robert’s Restaurant and Brett Graham’s The Ledbury in the UK (which recently won its third Michelin star) – Rhoades-Brown opened Muse Restaurant in Pokolbin. It’s been 15 years since that very first service (longer than most relationships) and the fine diner has since gone on to collect many impressive accolades. Walking in one evening, there’s not one free seat in the house, and it’s clear that what Rhoades-Brown has won over the years is far more important than any piece of paper. And that’s the loyalty and respect of the region. Truthfully, I’m briskly walking into the restaurant, as I’m running late for my reservation. I apologise to the gentleman who greets me warmly at the door. He gives me a smile and says, “Don’t worry, life’s too short to rush,” and I immediately feel at ease. Inside is dazzling – all golden and brown tones – and I take a second to breathe it all in. Long, pendant lights that look like luminescent beads drop down from the soaring ceiling. Light reflects off the dark wooden furniture and leather chairs the colour of coffee beans. In fact, the whole space shines like freshly polished jewellery. It’s a resplendent, grand dining room; and it reminds me of sitting down at Sydney’s Bennelong, sans sails. Sommelier Melinda Beswick’s wines-by-the-glass menu showcases drops from mostly New South Wales, while the full l
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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Australian
  • Recommended
The legend goes that Yellow Billy was a bushranger (AKA William White) who roamed the Hunter region in the 1860s. White slept in caves, lived off the land and used fire to cook and survive. Chef Sam Alexander and sommelier Pat Hester pay homage to him at their fire-powered Hunter Valley venue, Yellow Billy Restaurant, where cooking over fire is at the heart of each dish. I’m sitting down at lunch and it quickly becomes apparent that Alexander knows how to do two things really well. The first is cooking meat perfectly – whether that’s on Yellow Billy’s parrilla grill, or up on the custom-made fire pit. The second is creating big and bold flavours. You won’t find any subtle dishes here. Wallflower plates? Not in this neck of the valley. Yellow Billy Restaurant is found in wine country’s Pokolbin. Walking in, you pass under a fairytale-like archway covered in a blanket of vines before reaching an outdoor courtyard anchored by a black water feature. (Yellow Billy shares a roof with Piggs Peake Winery, and the team also runs The Sty next door, which pumps out pimped-up jaffles and coffee by Drop Bear Coffee Roasters). Cacti stand tall and cycad plants look like fireworks bursting out of pots the colour of rust. It feels very outback-y and relaxed, the kind of place you can settle in and not worry about an out-by time. Inside is a darker affair – it's kitted out with charcoal furniture and wine bottles along one wall – and to me it says winter. As well as co-owner and sommelier, He
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • French
  • Sydney
  • Recommended
A white bowl with blue squiggles is placed in front of us. Inside is a medley of mussels, clams and a bug, with one scallop shell looking like the beautiful sister holding a scallop- and prawn-stuffed zucchini flower. There are dots of saffron-spiked rouille around the seafood, and delicate fronds of fennel draped on top like sunbathers at Bronte Ocean Pool. It smells like prawns and summer holidays and a light sea breeze. The bug meat is tender and sweet, and the garlicky sauce, which has a hint of chilli thanks to gochujang, pairs well with the clams and mussels. But it’s the bright-orange bisque that makes me close my eyes and smile. Studded with small balls of fregola, the soup is bursting with prawn flavour. It’s rich and silky thanks to a whack of butter, and seasoned to the very edge. With help from fresh sourdough, I mop up every last drop of the bouillabaisse, and just like my first highschool crush, wish it never ended. Martinez is the latest restaurant to open in Circular Quay's Quay Quarter Tower from House Made Hospitality, the Sydney group behind oceanfront-Promenade Bondi Beach, subterranean sandstone bar Apollonia, and Italian-leaning Grana and Lana, both of which are found a pasta’s throw from Martinez. Named after the famous Hôtel Martinez in the French Riviera, the restaurant is inspired by the south of France and its idyllic neighbours. And while you will find steak frites on the menu (served with bone marrow butter), as well as a crumbed pork cutlet with
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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Modern Australian
  • Hurstville
  • Recommended
Hatch at Humphrey’s Hotel in Sydney’s Hurstville is not exactly a secret. It’s been open since December 2023. But the pub at One Hurstville Plaza has quickly been embraced by denizens of the suburb as its new community hub. Although there is a dizzying number of restaurants nearby, the 350-seat venue feels a bit like a playground where you can choose your own adventure. You can carve off to Humphrey’s, the all-weather terrace and sports bar that has capacity for 220. Or you can frock up for a fine dining experience at Hatch, which has space for 60 inside the elegant dining room, and 22 on the terrace. There’s also a swish private area that seats up to 20 people. Third-generation hospitality hotshot Mitchell Waugh of Public Hospitality Management Group (also Paddington's The Royal Hotel and Glebe's The Toxteth) is behind the concept, which was created after doing market research in the high-density suburb. The feedback from food-obsessed locals was that they didn’t want to have to leave their suburb and commute into the city to enjoy elevated bistro cuisine. And thus the plan for Humphrey’s was hatched. Hursty, as Hurstville is affectionately known, has, up until this point, been best known for everything from its no-frills yum cha to cheap and cheerful banh mi and Korean fried chicken. Diagonally across the way from the entrance to Humphrey’s Hotel is a barber that offers an $11 buzz cut. Hurstville Train Station is a mere minute’s walk away. And there’s an underground Japane
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • Surry Hills
  • Recommended
It arrives in two, each one the shape of a wallet flushed with cash, and placed in a small, white bowl. The icy red dessert is wrapped in a translucent mochi coat. I pick one up, take a bite, and the chilled sorbet bursts in my mouth. It tastes like bright, juicy cherries, perfectly ripe and sweet, the kind you hunt down in summertime. And on this 40°C day, I can’t think of a better way to end a rocking dinner at Ito than this refreshing and delicious cherry sorbet coated in a thin and stretchy Japanese rice cake. In fact, if every dinner moving forward could end like this, that'd be ace, thank you. Ito is the newish kid on the Crown Street block, having taken over the former café Cuckoo Callay’s site in late 2023. The two-storey, 85-seater is by the team who brought us elegant Middle Eastern restaurant Allia and pastel-hued Nour. At Ito, they’ve brought in an ex-Nobu and Cho Cho San chef, Erik Ortolani, to lead the charge, swapping sumac and harissa for soy, ponzu and pecorino. That’s right – Ito is a Japanese izakaya all right, but with an Italian touch (a nod to Ortolani’s heritage). We’re taken up to our seats on the second floor. Skilled Australian architect Matt Darwon has transformed the space with warm Tasmanian blackwood furniture, clean lines and pops of colour: ruby tuna, orange salmon and blue steel. A gorgeous kimono hangs on one wall. And even though it’s nearly a full house, the acoustics are such that I can hear my date without having to raise my voice. Big ti
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Bars
  • Recommended
When I took my first bite of the tuna tostada, I was certain we were in for a good night. The bladework on the fish demonstrates knowledge and care, and the pairing of avocado and lime mayo makes for a perfectly balanced covering for the tostada chip. Beside it on the table, the ‘local fish ceviche’ is served in a skull-sized, coconut shell; the slices of bream sitting thumb-deep in a tiger’s milk liquor of lime, bright-green cherry tomatoes, mild chillies, coriander and cucumber. Although bream wouldn’t usually be my first choice of fish for a ceviche, it’s fresh and undeniably local. I had seen plate-sized bream circling the wharf pylons when I explored the water’s edge prior to the reservation. And, after tasting this unimprovable version, I think bream will now be my first choice for tiger’s milk ceviche. So far, so great. Quarterdeck is housed in an old-style, timber oyster shed, built out over the inexplicably blue waters of the Wagonga Inlet in Narooma, a five-hour drive south of Sydney. All tables have a view of the azure-blue inlet through white-painted window frames, and the décor is unmistakably Polynesian. The cocktail bar is fringed with seagrass, and there are vintage black-and-white portraits of Samoan royalty. The décor appears to be a nod to its former life as a Tiki-style band venue. The illuminated sign over the front door still describes Quarterdeck as ‘The Little Red House of Tunes’. The next dish out is the charcoal grilled citrus pork belly, served with
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Steak house
  • Sydney
  • Recommended
The bartender brings it to the table in a thermos, along with a glass, a side of three meaty green olives and a shot of brine, and then pours it in front of me, smiles and heads back to the bar. It’s ice-cold, salty and briny thanks to my extra dash, and I can feel the cool liquid slide down my throat. A Martini served at -10°C is one of two promises from CBD bar and restaurant, Alfie’s. And while I don’t have a thermometer on me, it’s fair to say the first is one giant delicious tick. I’d order another, except for the fact it’s a Tuesday. Located amongst the hustle and bustle of Bligh Street, Alfie’s is the latest restaurant opened by Liquid & Larder, the team behind formidable Sydney steakhouses don’t-sneak-your-phone-in Bistecca and handsome subterranean spot The Gidley. But don’t come expecting the same kind of opulent experience here. At Alfie’s, it’s clear the team have shifted gears and are now moving at speed in fifth. The set-up is clever; the spacious bar area at the front is open and ready to capture all the nearby suits in need of an after-work tipple. With concrete floors, sage-green chairs and a charcoal terrazzo bar, it could verge on a little clinical-looking, if not for the larger-than-life colourful artworks, which inject personality into the room. I wasn’t kidding about the speed. I’m blissfully sipping on my Martini in said bar with the afternoon sun when I kindly get told my table is ready. And no, I can’t really sit here for longer, because we only have
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Italian
  • Surry Hills
  • Recommended
We know it’s a big call, but we think Pellegrino 2000’s truffle butter should be one of your desert island belongings (along with a cooler bag, a good book and a baguette, of course). Soft and creamy with a whack of umami truffle and a hefty dose of salt, the butter is heavenly when slathered over thick and fluffy housemade focaccia. Though beware: it’s very moreish, so dive in for seconds at your own risk (a discreet but necessary unzipping of one’s pants may be the repercussion). It’s true that us Sydneysiders love our bread and butter as much as the folks who dined at the Last Supper, so naturally there’s a lot of excellent bread around town. But Pellegrino’s takes our coveted Top Spot. Yet it’s not just the bread and butter that’s delicious. Every single dish that comes out of the kitchen at this Surry Hills’ trattoria is on point, cooked beautifully and seasoned well. Which is why it’s about as difficult to get a booking on a Saturday evening as it is to get rid of mozzies in summer. Take the prawn ravioli, for example. Plump and juicy crustaceans are cased in silky, slippery wrappers and finished with brown butter and sage, resulting in a dish that tastes equal parts elegant and comforting. Whole artichokes come on a plate looking pretty and dressed in a punchy vinegary sauce with mint and oregano. Meanwhile, veal milanese is served with the bone on: golden and crunchy on the outside and blushing pink and tender on the inside. Pick it up and take a bite, just like a gro
Hubert
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • French
  • Sydney
  • price 3 of 4
  • Recommended
You’re sitting at the bar, drinking a gin Martini out of a Nick and Nora glass, and ‘As Time Goes By’ is being played by a jazz quintet set against a red velvet curtain. This isn’t an elaborate Casablanca fantasy but rather the very real experience of dining at Restaurant Hubert on a Wednesday or Thursday night. That’s when they have the live band, which is essential to maintaining the illusion that you have travelled back in time, helped by the fact that two stories underground your phone won’t get reception worth a damn. Dinner here is akin to immersive theatre: the narrative is a love story and the leads are played by a perfect steak bavette and your fine self. It catches your eye on the menu, it joins you at the table, and after that first bite you fall deeply in love. The Rangers Valley flank has a char that is textbook, it’s served bloody and melting over the top is a Café de Paris butter that features no less than 19 ingredients. It has a complexity worthy of a Millenium Prize Problem. Out of the kitchen comes work from the classic French bistro handbook, punking up a velvety soft Wagyu tartare with anchovy, and directing sweet, juicy baby beetroots to go full melodrama in a purple pool of sharp blackberry vinaigrette, wearing a fascinator of flamboyant curls of crinkled Téte de Moine, a sour and creamy Swiss cheese. Don’t be fooled by the diminutive title, because le petit aioli is no tiny snack – it’s a weighty grazing plate starring celeriac wedges, fresh avocado,
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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Modern Asian
  • Sydney
  • Recommended
One of the many excellent things about Korea – alongside its neon-karaoke bars and snail serums (they work) – is Korean barbecue. You walk in, sit down, and immediately the action happens: the grill gets fired up, thousands of banchan are placed in front of you, Cass and a couple of bottles of soju are ordered, and you get to work, barbecuing the meat until it’s caramelised and golden, the fat glistening and perfect. Wrap it, eat it, and repeat until you’re about to burst. This experience is replicated beautifully at King Clarence, the latest restaurant from The Bently group (the masterminds behind leading Sydney venues Bentley, Monopole, Yellow, Brasserie 1930 and Cirrus). Though, more specifically, with wood-roasted pork belly ssam. A huge platter arrives holding slices of pork belly – the crackling all bronzed and bubbly – with an assortment of perilla, lettuce, radicchio and witlof leaves, and small bowls of kimchi, confit garlic, creamy oyster sauce and chilli sauce. I pick up a leaf, place some meat in its curve, top it with kimchi, a drizzle of chilli and a dollop of oyster sauce. It’s a flavour and texture explosion: crunchy, salty, fresh, creamy, fatty, sweet, fiery and sour – and absolutely delicious. King Clarence's food is inspired by the flavours of Korea, China and Japan. To nail this, co-owners Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt persuaded top chef Khanh Nguyen to take charge. Most recently, Nguyen has been spearheading Melbourne’s award-winning Aru and Sunda. Th
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Italian
  • Sydney
  • Recommended
July 2023 update: The Love Tilly Group’s (Ragazzi, La Salut, Love, Tilly Devine and Dear Sainte Éloise) gorgeous Italian trattoria Palazzo Salato has launched a $65 set menu available now for Saturday lunch only. The stellar prix fixe menu comes with five of the Italian restaurant’s greatest hits – including snacks and two pastas – for less than the price of a bottle of wine at most Sydney restaurants. We love to see it. Things will kick off with stracciatella with Cantabrian anchovies and pangrattato; grilled artichokes with green tomato pesto; and Palazzo ham with colatura hot sauce. Next, choose two pasta dishes from four options: mafaldine with spanner crab, uni butter, chilli and sea blight; spaghetti alla chitarra with bottarga and egg yolk; casarecce with boer goat ragu; or trottole amatriciana (a spicy tomato and pork pasta). All good things come to an end, and this banging deal is available now for Saturday lunch only, until Saturday August 26. Get it while it’s hot. ***** Read on for our review of Palazzo Salato from June 2023 Do you remember the old Pantene commercials featuring models with glossy and shiny hair the length of Rapunzel’s? Let’s face it, that level of shine was unrealistic to most – it was just trying to get us to buy the silicone-laced shampoo and conditioner. Which we did. And while we may never have reached Pantene-level strands, boy did we lust over that gloss. It’s a Wednesday evening when we visit Palazzo Salato, the sprawling new Italian resta
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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • American
  • Sydney
  • Recommended
Disclaimer: Good-times-only Italian diner Pellegrino 2000 is one of our favourite restaurants in Sydney. Chefs and owners Dan Pepperell and Mikey Clift, alongside sommelier Andy Tyson, know how to create a rocking venue with on-point flavours and a feel-good vibe (the fact that it’s impossible to get a booking unless it's a Tuesday at 5pm is testament to that). So, when news broke earlier this year that the trio were opening a third Sydney restaurant – a New York-style steak house slinging retro classics – joining Pellegrino 2000 and their French baby, Bistrot 916 – we were thrilled, hopeful, and perhaps a little biased. Thankfully, it’s turned out to be a clam dunk. We head to Clam Bar – which has taken over the former Bridge Room space in Sydney’s CBD – mid-week and hungry. The outside doesn’t give much away except for tinted glass and silver doors with the words Clam Bar in giant letters. It looks grand and important. If the outside city is grey, then the inside of Clam Bar is light years away from that. Herringbone timber flooring and Art Deco chandeliers the colour of toffee add sophistication; while Murano clam-shaped lights are a nice nod to the creatures of the sea. Speaking of the ocean, an illuminated sea life painting by artist Laura Jones hangs on the wall, alongside a giant fish. At the back, vintage posters of Ortiz anchovies and Rosella tomato sauce bring character above chocolate-coloured seating. It does verge into 50 shades of brown territory, even with the
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Modern Australian
  • Surry Hills
  • Recommended
May 2023 update: It’s a lazy Saturday afternoon and you get a text from Jane. She’s in the mood for a tipple with some snacks. Luckily, you’re in the know. Text Jane to meet you at 478 Bourke St for their brand new Australiano hour. This local gem has teamed up with the award-winning Rhubi Mistelle  – a Victorian-crafted rhubarb aperitif – on one of the happiest hours in town. Every weeknight from 5 to 6pm, and with extended hours of 4 to 6pm on weekends, you can sip through Jane’s drinks list, complemented by a solid selection of Australian-focused snacks. The fun starts at $6 with Jane’s top-selling Australiano cocktail featuring Rhubi Mistelle, Regal Rouge vermouth, bitter citrus and mandarin; a tall and refreshing Rhubi and Soda; a classic G&T; an all-Aussie VB; or a chilled red from Jilly’s Wine Co. When you need something a little stronger after work, there’s also the Jane Martini featuring White Possum Gin for $10. Jane hits the nail on the head for happy hour snacks, with $2 Sydney rock oysters and $6 light bites including duck croquettes, ebi prawn brioche toast, and Jane's take on the Gilda, with layers of marinated sardines, kingfish nduja, green olives and pickled native lime. For $15, you can also sample some of Jane’s house specialities, like the lamb dumplings with saltbush, chilli and yogurt or the Kangaroo tartare with pickled cucumber, bush tomato harissa and potato.  Jane is sure to become a regular here. We don’t blame her – it’s hard to pass up happy hour
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Bennelong
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Sydney
  • price 3 of 4
  • Recommended
We know that the world of fine dining has a notorious reputation for being misely, baby-sized portions that leave you in need of a Maccas run on the way home. And there are elements of dishes at Bennelong - the longstanding restaurant in resident inside the famous Opera House sails - that toe the line of that sterotype. However, where delicate featherweight portions may dwell, a full on uppercut of flavour and depth leave any thoughts of hunger KO'd. 
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Darling Harbour
  • price 3 of 4
  • Recommended
When Sydneysiders make a six o’clock dinner reservation, they’re often met with the sobering reality they’ll need to skedaddle at eight. (And in some cases, shockingly, even sooner.) Usually that’s perfectly achievable, assuming arrival is on time and ordering is prompt. When the offering is an elaborate tasting menu with a $195 price tag, however, it’s quite a different story. LuMi manages to get the job done by 8.11pm, which is impressive considering there are ten courses to get through (or fourteen if you count the fusillade of single-bite snacks that starts the meal one by one). Indeed, so much happens in these splendid, and occasionally spellbinding, 131 minutes that you’ll inevitably wish you had more time to appreciate it all. The moral of the story? Book the late sitting, and take your time. This is a brazen fine-dining restaurant, one that willfully celebrates luxury and believes in giving you what you pay for. The sort of place where a palate-cleansing dessert isn’t a puny scoop of sorbet, but a hollowed half mango filled with heavily whipped cream, finger lime pearls, cardamom granita and then sealed with scored mango sorbet. The sort of place that doesn’t think twice about following that with another heavy-handed helping of cream, this time smoothed over buffalo’s milk gelato dressed with coffee caramel and candied popcorn, then offers to finish it with shavings of in-season Spanish black truffle. People often describe chef and co-owner Federico Zanellato’s cooki
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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Mediterranean
  • The Rocks
  • Recommended
To quote a song from the OG Kylie, it was love at first sight with Le Foote. And thank god, because expectations were at an all time high for this part Parisian wine bar, part Mediterranean grill. Word on the street is that it's Sydney’s hottest opening this year. After all, Le Foote is a Swillhouse venue – they're the team behind some of Sydney’s most on-point venues including red-hued old-world bistro Hubert, and good-times-only Italian joint Alberto's Lounge. It’s been a heck of a long time coming, with more than two years of planning and setbacks. Which makes sense, when you consider that Le Foote has taken over the historic Phillip’s Foote restaurant in the Rocks. All that sandstone, while gorgeous, ain’t forgiving. At last, the red curtains opened. And what a show. In the opening two months we’ve visited Le Foote four times, drawn to the site like a moth to a flame. The first thing you need to know is that Le Foote is big. Not in the open-plan Palm Beach house kinda way, but with nooks and crannies and paths going here, there and everywhere. Walking in it feels like you’re venturing down a rabbit hole. This is a Swillhouse world, and one we’re very glad to be in. The first time, we sat in the upstairs bar and ordered Negronis. Artist Allie Webb's signature charcoal works dress the walls, candles are dotted on each table, and jazz played in the background. Everyone around us had that warm, boozy look on their face. It looked like a dinner party with your favourite people
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Steak house
  • Sydney
  • Recommended
The bartender brings it to the table in a thermos, along with a glass, a side of three meaty green olives and a shot of brine, and then pours it in front of me, smiles and heads back to the bar. It’s ice-cold, salty and briny thanks to my extra dash, and I can feel the cool liquid slide down my throat. A Martini served at -10°C is one of two promises from CBD bar and restaurant, Alfie’s. And while I don’t have a thermometer on me, it’s fair to say the first is one giant delicious tick. I’d order another, except for the fact it’s a Tuesday. Located amongst the hustle and bustle of Bligh Street, Alfie’s is the latest restaurant opened by Liquid & Larder, the team behind formidable Sydney steakhouses don’t-sneak-your-phone-in Bistecca and handsome subterranean spot The Gidley. But don’t come expecting the same kind of opulent experience here. At Alfie’s, it’s clear the team have shifted gears and are now moving at speed in fifth. The set-up is clever; the spacious bar area at the front is open and ready to capture all the nearby suits in need of an after-work tipple. With concrete floors, sage-green chairs and a charcoal terrazzo bar, it could verge on a little clinical-looking, if not for the larger-than-life colourful artworks, which inject personality into the room. I wasn’t kidding about the speed. I’m blissfully sipping on my Martini in said bar with the afternoon sun when I kindly get told my table is ready. And no, I can’t really sit here for longer, because we only have
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Burgers
  • Surry Hills
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
Bowls & Burgers has a big selection of burgers, but if you’re keen to bite into a classic-tasting number with the perfect balance of flavours – juicy beef patty, oozy cheese, salty bacon, caramelised onion, tangy barbecue sauce – we highly recommend you order The American. It tastes just as indulgent as a burger should, though we love that it comes piled high with more fresh salad than your average American version. They also offer a big chicken burger range: from Schnitzel Deluxe to Southern Fried, a Parmi burger and grilled chicken breast options. Then there are the veggie versions: a cauliflower number, a haloumi one, and a vegan one with plant-based patty. For those after something less carby, the bowls are ace, too. With 17 suggested bowl choices on the menu, and the ability to craft your own, the options are pretty much endless. They’ve got Mexican and burrito bowls, Japanese-style miso and also teriyaki bowls, falafel bowls, risotto bowls, Hungarian bowls with slow-cooked beef goulash – and even butter chicken bowls. They’re all big, hearty, colourful meals made from super-fresh, well-seasoned ingredients. A great balanced lunch in one dish. Our favourite is the tahini bowl with salmon. The best thing about this place is that there's no "pack-shot disappointment". Unlike at your average burger joint, what you see on the menu is an accurate vision of what you'll actually get.   There are two Bowls & Burgers outlets in Sydney – there’s one on Bronte Rd, Waverley; but we
Chinese Noodle Restaurant
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Haymarket
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
This little Xinjiang-style restaurant is so popular, the lines have forever snaked out the door during every lunch and dinner time. Nowadays, they have a whole lot of on-the-street seating, so you're less likely to have to wait to get a seat inside (which only has about 30 seats). Once you're seated, you're in for some seriously delicious treats, like hand-pulled noodles with lamb, and light-as-a-feather dumplings. Add a little Chinese vinegar and chilli oil, and you'll be licking your lips throughout the meal and long afterwards. Plus, the prices are seriously right. There are a few Xinjiang noodle houses like this in a row and dotted around Chinatown – but we're calling it, this one is The Best.
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Filipino
  • Blacktown
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
October 2023 update: Filipino suckling pig masters Sydney Cebu Lechon have moved from their Newtown digs to a brand new spot in Blacktown. You can now find them at 4 Kerry Road – and be sure to use the back entrance. And while Sydney Cebu Lechon's address may have changed, everything you loved about this delicious, affordable eatery is still the same. Come for the signature charcoal roast pork, beef nilaga (beef soup), pork barbecue skewers, halo-halo (a shaved ice dessert) and more. And in good news, the team are still doing catering if you want to impress at your next party. Get cracking.  - Avril Treasure Read on for our original review of Sydney Cebu Lechon in Newtown from March 2019 by Helen Yee.  ***** At the centre of every Filipino celebration is lechon, a spit-roasted whole suckling pig that’s equal parts crackling and tender flesh. The Cebu Island version is said to be the best, stuffed with aromatics like star anise, garlic, lemongrass and shallots, before slowly being roasted over charcoal for three hours. Whole suckling pigs are awesome but how often do you have twenty mates over for dinner? That’s why Sydney Cebu Lechon’s recently opened Newtown restaurant has been such a hit. Originally starting as a catering business in 1991, this family-run business is now serving up lechon by the plate. And local punters (and homesick Filos) can’t get enough of it. Arrive early or make a booking. There are less than 30 seats in this casual corner eatery and they fill up fast
Gumshara
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Haymarket
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
Legendary ramen restaurant Gumshara has finally reopened – and in good news you won’t have to go far, as the new digs are still in Chinatown. After 14 years of operation in the Eating World Food Court, news dropped in August that the beloved ramen joint would be closing to make way for a massive new development. Thankfully, the team found a new 40-seater site on the corner of Kimber Lane and Little Hay Street to serve hungry Sydneysiders. Spearheaded by co-owner and head chef Mori Hogashida, Gumshara has gained legions of fans – 700 of whom lined up for hours on their last day of trading at Eating World – for its collagen-enriched noodle soup made using a traditional Japanese method. It takes a whopping seven days to make the pork stock for the tonkotsu ramen and just three ingredients: water, miso and 120kg of pork bones. The result is a rich, soul-warming bowl of noodle soup with an incredible porky flavour and enough guts for two. And while Gumshara has a new location, everything you loved about the OG is still the same. We're so here for it.  Hungry for more? These stories are popular: These are the best cheap eats in Sydney Sydney Place is a new dining and drinking precinct featuring 15 yummy spots Check out Rockpool's new happy hour that lets everyone experience the high life from as little as $15
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The Dolphin Hotel
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Bars
  • Surry Hills
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
In a city loaded with hidden gems – concealed in dark alleys and dingy basements, behind unmarked doors and unassuming shop windows – there are other venues that go for the opposite approach, sucking you in with a blast of bright lights and loud noises. The Dolphin Hotel is one of those. You can hear it coming from a dozen doors down on Crown Street. Baselines blare from open windows, diners chatter cheerily from curbside tables, a giant banner strung from the first floor balcony reads: You Want a Pizza Me? Stepping inside is like entering the heart of the storm. This isn’t, after all, your standard Sydney pub. Walls wrinkle with off-white fabric, tables and chairs pop with black-on-white faux graffiti, daily specials are taped to arbitrary vertical surfaces. The place is positively sprawling, opening into a collection of distinct dining rooms and bar areas, including an outdoor terrace and street seating.The clientele is young, smartly dressed, and – on weekends – in a riotous mood. The packs of day drinkers and hen parties are more likely to be after a tray of sours than a perfect pizza. But that hasn’t stopped the hotel’s head honchos from serving that up. They’ve spent the last few months building the Delfino Pizzeria, a dedicated in-house pizza kitchen. It boasts a handmade Neapolitan Mesiano wood oven, a dough recipe made of three types of Italy-imported flours, and the masterful hands of head pizzaiola Sasha Smiljanic, who previously led the kitchen at popular Newtown
Malay Chinese Noodle Bar
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Circular Quay
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
The first mistake we make when visiting Malay Chinese’s flash new eatery at Circular Quay is visiting on a Wednesday. You see, the famed har mee noodle soup – the one loved for its incredible prawn-rich flavour – is only available on Tuesdays and Fridays (the chefs start the cooking process at 4am). That’s OK – we will have to come again. Worse things can happen. The second mistake we make is wearing white. But that’s where the bad news ends, because Malay Chinese has knocked it out of the park again with its drool-worthy flavours and prices. Malay Chinese was first opened in 1987 by the Woon family – the OG joint was near the corner of Elizabeth and King Streets. There have been iterations of it around the city ever since, including the beloved shop on Hunter Street, which is now closed. Nowadays there is a Malay Chinese in Ashfield, and this new one at the new dining precinct, Sydney Place. We would say Sydney Place has a signage problem, in that there doesn’t seem to be one single sign at the top saying “Yum food, down there,” but it looks like it’s only tourists missing out on the fun, because this place is heaving – the crowds are like a pack of wild animals at feeding time. We’d heard about the lines, and we were primed and ready for (slow) action. Walking up, we see office workers snaking out the door (the line at next door's Kosta's Takeaway doesn’t look to be any better). Circular Quay’s eatery is shinier than its predecessor, with slick jade-green tiles, pops of bra
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Rockdale
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
UPDATE: Since writing this review, Swallow Coffee Traders has been taken over by new owners Steph and Mick and become fully vegan. They are the only 100 per cent vegan eatery in the whole St George area of Sydney. To check out their plant-based menu, click here. ***** Some inner-west devotees will tell you that once you leave the café heartland all hope for a great coffee is lost. They couldn't be further from the truth. Dare to venture beyond the confines of your regular brunch haunts and you may just uncover a hidden gem in the least likely of locations. One such treasure is Swallow Coffee Traders in Rockdale. Nestled in a tiny nook just next to the station, this wee café sees off the hordes of morning commuters with powerful espresso shots and quick breakfast snacks. Opened in November last year, it boasts a street-art inspired mural, milk crates covered with fashionably repurposed printed hessian sacks and industrial interior that would be right at home on King Street. New café owners Angus Nicol and Jessica Hol have instead set up shop just off the thundering Princes Highway. The beans at Swallow are Single Origin and it is clear that Hol and Nicol have more than a passing interest in coffee. Right now the order of the day is espresso but looking beyond your standard shot there are plans afoot for pour-overs, siphons and cupping – specialty extraction methods that include test tubes and Bunsen burners among other strange and wonderful paraphernalia. On the weekend there'
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Darlinghurst
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
The orange neon signage and lacklustre shopfront may not look like anything special, but anyone who’s tried an Indian kebab from here knows that this Oxford Street late-night haunt is a very special place. Pick your naan (go on, live a little and get the cheese naan), then with metal tongs they’ll smash together pieces of grilled chicken tikka with either aloo chop (fried potato) or an onion bhaji. Finally, pick your curry sauce (butter chicken, vindaloo, Rogan Josh or korma) and watch them fold it up into one of the tastiest wraps you’ve ever had.
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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Surry Hills
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
At Malibu, which you’ll find down a Surry Hills alley, there’s just one man, Marc Aebi, taking orders, chopping fillings and waving you off with a smile and a ginormous, foil-wrapped sandwich. Pick from an array of tins holding crunchy butter lettuce, sweet beetroot, pickles, and crisp cucumbers. A green, herby mayo forms the base of your ‘wich. Beware: structural integrity could be compromised if you play too fast and loose with additions. Are you sure you need that extra avo? Even if you decide you do, your sandwich will probably still ring in under $10 (just make sure you bring cash. Your card's no good here).  What Marc Aebi can’t stick between two pieces of bread probably isn’t worth knowing and he works the matchbox-sized shop like nobody’s business, making everything fresh every morning. Don’t miss the schnitzel on fluffy white bread and baby cos lettuce, or the roast vegetables with hummus on brown bread. If you're really looking to get messy, dive into the ham, bocconcini, tomato and basil number. It's stacked sky–high and doused in a thin, creamy dressing.
Nakano Darling
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • Haymarket
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
Japan’s best izakayas are the ones you lose yourself in. The places where your first visit ends hours later, when you stumble out after a long night of highballs and grilled offal feeling like a regular. The team behind two of North Sydney’s cosiest Japanese small bars, Yakitori Yurippi and Tachinomi YP, have nailed that feeling so well at their third project, Nakano Darling, that time and place become vague; the little details transportive enough to make you wonder if you’re still in Darling Square.  Beyond the grubby garage door façade, flanked by a wooden bench and a giant, eye-popping yellow flag, is not so much a bar as a Japanophile’s dream. It’s brought to life by unmistakably yellow Kirin beer crates, an abundance of raw oak, and a bar with an impressive line-up of backlit, now ultra-rare bottles of Suntory Kakubin blend whiskey perched above the usual suspects from the Yamazaki, Chita and Hakushu distilleries. That’s in addition to pages of beer, shochu, umeshu and sake imported straight from the source.   There’s a projector casting famously offbeat Japanese advertisements onto the back wall as diners bask beneath. Shed a tear of Nippon nostalgia as MOS Burger, the ubiquitous Japanese fast-food chain, flashes across the screen and fires your synapses. You can butcher the classics in the karaoke booth or pile into one of two tatami rooms for a traditional sit-down. That soft-drink vending machine in the back, the sort you’d find on every Tokyo corner, has probably co
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Bondi North
  • Recommended
Look, it’s probably been said 100 times before, but we’ll say it again: Rocker, Bondi’s breezy and cool restaurant and bar, rocks. Found 200 metres from Bondi's golden stretch of sand, the relaxed eatery by Darren Robertson (also Three Blue Ducks) and Cameron Northway (also Melbourne's Loti) has been keeping Bondi locals well fed and hydrated since 2017, and the good times have just kept on coming. The menu by head chefs Stuart Toon and Ethan Smart (who are also part owners) is packed with tasty hits, like white bean hummus with pickled onion, flat bread and za’atar; fried chicken with almond buttermilk, fermented chilli honey and orange vinegar; pappardelle with beef cheek ragu, tomatoes, parmesan and pangrattato; and grilled broccoli with curry butter, yoghurt and pistachios. Can’t decide? There’s a stellar feed-me menu for $75 per person. As well as tasty dishes and fun vibes, Rocker slings some banging deals too. First up is Rocker’s bottomless brunch, which changes with the seasons. The current rendition comes with house-made roast onion and thyme focaccia; local burrata; glazed free-range chicken; harissa-spiced roast pumpkin and almond cream and more. All paired with two hours of free-flowing Mimosas, sparkling, red, white and rosé, for $99 per person. The bottomless brunch is available every Thursday to Sunday, noon and 3pm sittings. Rally your gang. There’s also a House of Friends event on Friday nights with $16 Margaritas – Casamigos tequila-based Tommy’s, Classic,
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Sydney
  • Recommended
If there’s one thing us Sydneysiders love, it’s a ripper sandwich. And now there’s another joint we reckon you should check out, and that’s at sunny hole-in-the-wall café June’s Shoppe, which has just launched an epic all-day sandwich menu. Part of the Applejack Hospitality group (also Rafi, Bopp and Tone), the vibrant café is based in the Wynyard Precinct in Sydney's CBD. Applejack culinary director Patrick Friesen (formerly Queen Chow) has created the new bad boys, which were inspired by the giant rainbow sandwiches from King George Deli in Tokyo. Made with fresh, super fluffy and thick-cut Texas-style bread, June’s sambos are packed to the rafters with fresh salads, delicious fillings and house-made sauces. There are eight colourful creations to choose from, including the salad sandwich with cucumber, tomato, beetroot, carrots, alfalfa, mayo and vintage cheddar; the spicy fried chicken with comeback sauce, cheddar and gem lettuce; curried free-range egg salad with nori, Kewpie mayo and gem lettuce; and the roast free-range fennel pork with pesto, pickled chillies, provolone and rapini (a green veggie, similar to broccoli). Pat says you should “come give it a try when you’re done hurting your mouth eating sourdough or ciabatta sandwiches". And if you were wondering what Pat's favourite sambo is, the answer may surprise you. “I think my favourite is the salad sandwich and the broccoli salad.” See, even chefs make friends with salad. Come down to June’s and have a bite for yo
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Edition Coffee Roasters Haymarket
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Haymarket
  • Recommended
ED'S NOTE: This review was written following the café's opening back in 2018, but it's still a top spot for breakfast and coffee. When it comes to café breakfasts, Sydney is a hard town to impress. But when Edition Coffee Roasters opened their light, bright Japano-Nordic café in Darlinghurst, it rocketed to the top of everyone’s brunch bucket list with fine-dining inflected dishes like the mushroom pond, inspired by a dish at Noma and featuring consommé, udon noodles, mushrooms and crème fraîche. Fast forward a few years and we’ve been gifted a second bite at the fusion cherry, but Edition’s Haymarket outpost is no carbon copy. In fact, it’s almost a complete contrast, and we’re not just talking about the fact that the CBD Edition is painted black. The pared-back layout is inspired by Japanese farmhouses, and it feels almost like you’re inside a piece of activated charcoal – like Valhalla for minimalists. It’s also leaning more heavily on the Japanese half of the concept. Sure, you can get open sandwiches (smorrebrod) on a malty, chewy rye that they bake in-house. As far as smugly beautiful lunches go, your plate of three slices topped with sweet chunks of butter-poached prawn meat just fastened to the bread with a yuzu kosho buttermilk dressing is the one to beat. Dill and fresh apple keep it light, and an extra allotment of seafaring credentials in an amber sprinkle of briny flying fish roe. From here, the menu steers into more recognisably Japanese territory. Students slop
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Rockdale
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
UPDATE: Since writing this review, Swallow Coffee Traders has been taken over by new owners Steph and Mick and become fully vegan. They are the only 100 per cent vegan eatery in the whole St George area of Sydney. To check out their plant-based menu, click here. ***** Some inner-west devotees will tell you that once you leave the café heartland all hope for a great coffee is lost. They couldn't be further from the truth. Dare to venture beyond the confines of your regular brunch haunts and you may just uncover a hidden gem in the least likely of locations. One such treasure is Swallow Coffee Traders in Rockdale. Nestled in a tiny nook just next to the station, this wee café sees off the hordes of morning commuters with powerful espresso shots and quick breakfast snacks. Opened in November last year, it boasts a street-art inspired mural, milk crates covered with fashionably repurposed printed hessian sacks and industrial interior that would be right at home on King Street. New café owners Angus Nicol and Jessica Hol have instead set up shop just off the thundering Princes Highway. The beans at Swallow are Single Origin and it is clear that Hol and Nicol have more than a passing interest in coffee. Right now the order of the day is espresso but looking beyond your standard shot there are plans afoot for pour-overs, siphons and cupping – specialty extraction methods that include test tubes and Bunsen burners among other strange and wonderful paraphernalia. On the weekend there'
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Circa Espresso
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Parramatta
  • price 2 of 4
  • Recommended
Is it a garage sale? Is it a tiny art gallery? No! It’s the entrance to Parramatta’s celebrated café, Circa Espresso. For the three of you in Sydney who haven’t heard of it, this narrow space has been exemplifying café excellence since 2010. It really doesn’t matter if we’re talking about the full-page tea menu, the refined coffee program, real-deal baked goods or the go-to, destination-worthy dish of Ottoman Eggs – people here have clearly worked hard to ensure the options are all killer, no filler.  Owner Aykut Sayan is still here, front and centre – cheerfully greeting customers, running coffees out to tables, checking in with the chefs – and it feels like you’re a guest in his home. The shop’s layout places you in the middle of a narrow room amongst the (tiny) open kitchen and coffee bar. As you sit back and watch your whole order being prepared, soak in the old-timey paintings, posters, books and artefacts that line every wall. Don’t forget to clock those ornate ceiling fans above you, too. If you venture to the back of the space, you’ll find a quiet booth for a romantic date or a less romantic business meeting. Circa’s menu is seasonal, but always steered by flavours and textures of the Middle East. We’re talking about hearty, restaurant-level dishes at around $20 a plate. Value. Yes, you’re getting extraordinary value, especially considering the effort that goes into each individual component. Halloumi and cauliflower fritters are the opposite of mushy, and come thin a
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Surry Hills
  • price 1 of 4
  • Recommended
At Malibu, which you’ll find down a Surry Hills alley, there’s just one man, Marc Aebi, taking orders, chopping fillings and waving you off with a smile and a ginormous, foil-wrapped sandwich. Pick from an array of tins holding crunchy butter lettuce, sweet beetroot, pickles, and crisp cucumbers. A green, herby mayo forms the base of your ‘wich. Beware: structural integrity could be compromised if you play too fast and loose with additions. Are you sure you need that extra avo? Even if you decide you do, your sandwich will probably still ring in under $10 (just make sure you bring cash. Your card's no good here).  What Marc Aebi can’t stick between two pieces of bread probably isn’t worth knowing and he works the matchbox-sized shop like nobody’s business, making everything fresh every morning. Don’t miss the schnitzel on fluffy white bread and baby cos lettuce, or the roast vegetables with hummus on brown bread. If you're really looking to get messy, dive into the ham, bocconcini, tomato and basil number. It's stacked sky–high and doused in a thin, creamy dressing.
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Flour and Stone
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Woolloomooloo
  • Recommended
Is it possible to build a business off the back of a lamington? When it's the arctic flurry of shaved coconut embellishing a hefty cube of chocolate-coated vanilla sponge, soaked in panna cotta and shot through with crimson berry compote at Nadine Ingram's Flour and Stone bakery in Woolloomooloo, the answer is yes. Ingram, with her community-driven, small-batch approach, has taken the most deceptively simple baked goods and raised them to cult-like status, thanks to an unwavering commitment to precision, quality and flavour. Since it was established in 2011, Flour and Stone has become a Sydney institution with queues out the door - and they’re still a regular occurrence even with an extra space added two doors down. It’s hard to imagine how a team of 22 fit behind the tiled wall when you sneak a peek from the communal 8-seater at no. 53, the new annexe. A high table, a pair of outdoor settings and a banquette seat provide extra dining space (but nowhere near enough to sate demand). The room is decorated in colourful Dave Teer artworks inspired by Old-fashioned vanilla cake, but the real eye candy is the display cabinet packed with madeleines, lemon drizzle cake, brulee tarts, and chocolate, raspberry and buttermilk cakes. Do not discount the savoury treats though. Spanakopita ferries a textbook-perfect spinach and feta filling between layers of delicate puff pastry; crisp iceberg lettuce plays a surprisingly significant role in the success of a chicken ciabatta sambo with
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Ultimo
  • Recommended
With its bustling narrow footpaths, perpetual construction projects and conga line of rattling buses, Broadway might take the cake for Sydney’s least fun pedestrian experience. Luckily, respite is now available for us – hark! Seek out the bucolic signage at Little Livi, a little cottage tucked just far enough down Mountain Street to remain a viable pit stop on a takeaway coffee rush.  Rest assured, your cuppa is in steady hands here. Ask the friendly partner/barista Amadeo Vasquez about his lateral involvement with various roasters, importers and brewers through his career, and you’ll come to understand he’s curated Little Livi’s coffee menu from a truly wide range of experience. Today’s super clean, vibrant filter coffee hails from Dukes in Melbourne, served in a bulbous glass for optimal sniffin’ and quaffin’. Bonus points awarded for Little Livi’s house blend being an actual house blend, designed by Vasquez himself. It’s rich and punchy through milk, and its syrupy honey sweetness intensifies as it cools.  Decent grab'n'go breakfast options are something of a rare find around here, so if you’re wondering why everything looks miles better than the cling-filmed banana breads of your past, it’s because partner/chef Daniel Leyva once headed the kitchen of the Bridge Room (RIP), and this fine-dining pedigree shines through in the visuals of every edible thing under the roof. An abundant pastry cabinet features artfully stuffed croissants, bagels (by Brooklyn Boy Bagels) and hou
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Lobby Boy - North Sydney
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • North Sydney
  • price 3 of 4
  • Recommended
When you’re dining in a hurry, it can be easy to slip into the pitfalls of mediocrity. While a fridge-cold sandwich shrunk in plastic wrap from a sad display is still a very real lunch possibility in Sydney's other CBD, the tides are turning in North Sydney thanks to a recent influx of dining destinations. Take Hawkers Village, the dizzying food market proffering a taste of Asia, or neighbouring Glorietta, a pizza and wine bar brought to you by ex-Tetsuya’s and Frankie’s chefs. Now, the team behind the Grounds of Alexandria is joining the fold with Lobby Boy. We all know this brand specialises in generous servings of fresh, wholesome food and perfectly roasted coffee in beautifully imagined spaces – and Lobby Boy is no exception. Brushed charcoal walls, forest-green banquettes and marble tables in a soaring light-filled atrium isn’t necessarily what we’ve come to expect from “the coffee place down in the lobby”, but it’s clear here that no expense has been spared. As with the other venues, there is real luxury here, though it’s less technicolour Instagram dreamland, and more pared-back, polished and grown-up. The effect is transporting; you’d hardly know you were on a bustling intersection (unless you’ve paid for metered parking...set that timer).  Like the fit-out, the menu is considered and tailored to all manner of occasions, whether you’re dashing to work or have knocked off for a long lunch. They take a seriously (possibly overly) decadent approach to the croissant, stuf
Brighter Coffee
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Stanmore
  • price 2 of 4
  • Recommended
You’ve heard of confit duck, of course, and confit garlic or tomatoes, but confit tofu? That’s a new one. Should you add said block of spongy bean curd – marinated overnight in mushroom stock and slowly cooked in olive oil – to the kimchi toastie at Brighter Coffee? It’s debatable. Not so much because the tofu itself wants for anything in particular, but because that toastie is a thing of beauty on its own.  The kimchi is made in house, more a fresh and fragrant ferment than a pungent lactic acid bomb, and it’s sandwiched between two pieces of Iggy’s miraculous sourdough in the company of sweet tomato passata and a combo of nutty Gruyère and mild Gouda cheeses. Much like the other five items on the Stanmore café’s (very) short, entirely vegetarian menu, the toastie is a variation of ‘stuff on bread’, and it might not even be the best of the bunch. That title might go to Where the Wild Things Grow, which isn’t a psilocybin hunter’s guide, but what co-owners Ben Richardson and Junji Tai call their mushrooms on toast. Here, a plate-length slice of Iggy’s (or Nonie’s next-level gluten-free bread) gets a light swipe of mushroom purée, made from reducing mushroom stock to the consistency of Vegemite and blitzing it with cashews and truffle pâté. Layers of various sauteed fungi get stacked on top – field mushrooms, buttons, woodears – and elegantly finished with saffron-stained enoki strands and shiitakes seasoned with koji. Shiso, sage and dried rose get a little bit lost amidst al

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