The best cheese dishes in Sydney

Ok, so we know that calling 'cheese on a plate' a dish is a bit of a stretch but hear us out. When something is as perfect as a hand pulled ball of burrata, like the one at Totti's in the ivy Precinct, little more than a splash of olive oil is required. 

If you truly want to guild the lily, late night favourite, Big Poppa's on Oxford Street ramp up the burrata monochrome with a bed of black Russian tomatoes and sherry vinegar.

What's better than a toastie filled with cheese? A toastie that is also encased in cheese, like a salty, crisp, coat of armour. Penny's Cheese Shop makes a limited run of her four-cheese toasties each day, frills them to the perfect burnished gold and packs them with salami, ham, or jalapenos.

There's more excellent toastie action to be had at Brighter Coffee, where they pack house-made 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.

Or for meatier thrills, savour layers of roast beef with just enough cheese to bind everything together is the heart of the French Dip baguette at Continental Deli Bar Bistro in the CBD. Even at this point, it's juicy enough, but the bowl of pan juices for you to dip each bite into is what makes this unlike any other sandwich in town.

Look, some people might say that scraping melted cheese over food isn't technically cooking so much as assembling, but it in no way diminishes the joys of eating raclette on a cold winter's night. Get it at Bistro Papillion for just $40 (extra cheese is just another $5, go ahead) and is served with French ham, bresaola, coppa and salami. 

You can find more melty cheese at LoLuk Bistro. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights it's $49 for an all-you-can-eat spread of cheese-topped potatoes, cornichons and salad. It also includes a single plate of charcuterie; plus sweet profiteroles to finish.

You might not have heard her name but trust us, Lorraine Godsmark makes Sydney's best cheesecake. It’s as light as a cloud, with the faintest hint of lemon and a crisp, cinnamon-toned crust.

It's all the rage on the socials, so to get in on some Basque cheesecake action without having to make it at home you should head to Wyno x Bodega for a slice of the char-topped dessert that everyone's talking about. If you prefer your Basque brought straight to your door, don't go past Black Cream bakery, who even have mini cheesecakes so you don't even have to share.

Uncle Tetsu make impossibly perfect-looking Japanese cheesecakes with a sweet-savoury egginess to them. They have a devoted following who queue to get their hands on one fresh out of the ovens.

At Matteo in Double Bay, the merits of just-cooked broccoli florets, cavalier anchovy application and a whole, fresh burrata orb in the middle like a pearl, cannot be understated as a pizza topping. That cheese is destined to be smashed open and spread across the blistered pizza surface. Talk about the cream of the crop.

Bella Brutta balances both ends of the cheese spectrum with their cavolo nero pizza. They take the sharp, salty bite of parmesan and stretch it out with creamy fior de latte, then keep those cheese calories in check with Italian kale, chilli and garlic.

Can't ever go past the simple pleasures of a Margherita? The one at Pizza Madre is a textbook example: piquant tomato base, stretchy cheese and fresh basil.

You want the pasta at Ragazzi, be it al dente spaghetti tossed in a sauce of pecorino and pepper bound with pasta water and butter, or goat rolled in a sheet of pasta, sliced into rounds and served in nut-brown butter with a blob of stracciatella. 

The small elbows of pasta are not the star of the mac'n'cheese at the Stinking Bishops in Enmore. This restaurant and cheese bar suspend pasta in a sauce of scarmoza and gruyere so that you are eating maximum cheese and minimum carbs in each bite.

The pasta is excellent at Kindred, whether it's the famous carrot triangoli with goat's cheese swimming in butter sauce, or a classic lasagne.

And have you truly tested the limits of richness if you haven't had a serve of Buon Ricordo's famous creamy fettuccine doused in parmesan and run-through with a truffled egg – return players know to split a serve between two or even four.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that cheese isn't only a savoury friend – it's also the star of the best possible post-lunch pick-me-up: the tiramisu. At 10 William Street there'd be riots if they ever take it off the menu, such is the popularity of their mix sabayon and mascarpone with more airy lift than a helium balloon. Fratelli Paradiso also does a killer classic.

For a twist on the traditional recipe head to Saga where the Savoiardi biscuits have been spiked with tequila, and there's Kahlua jelly in there for good measure.