The best restaurants in North Sydney

When the sun’s shining, there may be fewer nicer places to dine at the moment in North Sydney, or even Sydney for that matter, than North Sydney's new kid on the block, Rafi. What’s on the menu? It's like sitting in a glasshouse. You’ll find a lot of seafood and vegetables cooked over charcoal. Highlights include raw South Coast tuna with tomato, tahini and fragrant chilli oil; crispy eggplant with chilli, spice and organic honey; Glacier 51 toothfish with koji, charred lemon salsa and rocket; and a 250gm Angus flat iron served with chimichurri for the carnivores. To finish, try the pavlova with berries, basil and matcha. Yum.

At this former home of a botanist, high-set tables and a long bar with a lengthy drinks list give the impression that this is a pub rather than a restaurant. The sophisticated Mediterranean-style menu reassures diners that food comes first. The 'small' and 'large' shares are pleasing, both to look at and in their flavour combinations. Grilled scallops are served in their shell with a healthy drizzle of garlic butter. A ‘crispy’ duck leg neck with quarters of silken eggplant is decorated with roundels of roasted beetroot and onions, and squiggles of yoghurt sauce. Daily dessert specials are inspired combinations, such as mango with whipped coconut, rum and lemon balm, reinforcing the impression that The Botanist has a very creative kitchen indeed.

Come to this bowling/leagues club on a sunny day if you can for a seat with views of the parkland and harbour. The modern Australian menu is streets ahead of standard clubland fare. Forget the limp lettuce leaves served as an afterthought and explore The Greens' bougie salad options like kale and nashi pear or feta and watermelon.  Seafood is a strength of the kitchen: a grilled barramundi has crisp crackling but tender flesh, a taste and texture contrast to baby vegetables and fresh pea sauce. The drinks list isn’t typical of a club either, with a wide range of fruity tipples that includes mega cocktails to share, like the watermelon kegger for $59.

By day it’s a café with Thai dishes on its lunchtime menu, at night Chedi Thai ramps up into a full-service Thai restaurant with a few pan-Asian favourites on the menu. It stands out from its local competitors due to the high standard of the cooking and the seasonal freshness of the ingredients. Veteran restaurateurs Greg and Shanya Richardson’s decades of experience, both in Sydney and in Thailand, are on display: Greg’s geniality in the front-of-house role, while Shanya and her team show they know their way around a wok. The mains include a crispy pork belly dish with green peppercorns and ginger; and an authentic version of that touchstone noodle dish, pad Thai.

An offshoot of nearby favourite Rose of India, this small but perfectly positioned ‘new age’ Indian restaurant combines harbour views and white tablecloths with ambitious fusion food. A seasonal tasting menu takes the stress out of decision-making, but brave souls can parse the not-so-easy menu on their own. At around $25 each, the starters of juicy barbecued lamb cutlets, and the crispy lemon and soy prawns are winners. A main dish of butter chicken garnished with fenugreek and almond transcends the ordinary. 

In a streamlined white space warmed by homey touches, Charlie & Franks is an oasis of real food in a desert of fast-food options. Its two strengths are attentive customer service, and ingredients sourced with an eye to ethics and sustainability from quality purveyors, listed on a blackboard. The menu’s indulgent options coexist with salads: a spicy fried chicken burger is almost swamped by string-thin fries. Offset it with a ‘green detox’ juice of starring kale, or rev up with a chai latte made with leaf tea and whole spices. There are also thoughtful choices for wine, beer, and cocktails.

Modestly described as a teahouse and eatery, this warm and inviting space is a restaurant in all but name and liquor licence. The experienced hosts (they’ve been in this same spot for 30 years) divide their labour: Ivan serves, and chooses the smooth jazz; Lizzie does the cooking. Bring your own bottle for $2.50 per person, and hoe into slightly Asian, slightly European dishes cooked without pretension but with a sure touch: see the comfort-food entree of curried lentils topped with sour cream and enveloped in a wafer-thin, soft parcel of rice-flour. The inexpensive lunch menu provides two dishes for $25, or three for $35.

It’s pot-luck if you get into this tiny café tucked away in a sunny side street – it doesn’t take bookings but certainly draws crowds. They’re here for good coffee and an unusual café menu. Owner Erik draws on his Scandinavian heritage for dishes such as pytt I panna (Swedish bubble and squeak), where a perfectly round fried egg sits on top of sautéed bacon, sausages and tiny potatoes, dressed with olive oil and fresh dill. Sides of house-made pickled cucumber and beetroot help to cut the richness. Solicitous customer service is also part of Oski’s charm.

Samurai armour at the entrance to Rengaya is a not-so-subtle hint of what’s to come at this Japanese restaurant. The speciality here is yakiniku; that is, barbeque. Diners are in control of grilling select cuts of fat-marbled meat and seafood at their table. Grab three friends for the best sharing experience, or if time is tight, the lunch special of $49.80 covers a choice of three meats or seafood. Stick to the a la carte menu if you don’t fancy being the chef. Customers range from corporate workers at lunchtime to families with young children in the early evening.

An elevated position means the Treehouse feels like an escape from busy North Sydney. Velvet curtains, chandeliers and a soul and rock soundtrack are nods to speakeasy style, well suited to relaxed evening dining. Lunches range from on-the-go business eats like Hawaiian poke bowls, or make it a long lunch with Sydney rock oysters and pork belly.