If you are on a quest to discover the best eateries suitable for family meals, date nights, or business lunches in Sydney, then your quest ends here at this captivating, enlightening ‘Best Restaurants Sydney‘ list. The list is crammed with facts and figures about some of the greatest restaurants in Sydney.

It usually happens that due to any breakdown or pandemic in a country that affects the health of the people, the hospitality industry being a part of this fragile world always has to bear the brunt. Therefore, restaurants, hotels, and bars face disadvantages and stay behind the bar for a long time.

Be it for hotels, restaurants, or any other hospitality establishment, the business graph goes downwards rapidly. Nevertheless, the time after the downtime brings in good news for foodies as all gourmet fine dining restaurants, cafes, and bars in Sydney and other countries unlatch their doors for people.

Know the 10 Best Restaurants in Sydney

Home to the renowned Sydney Opera House, a prominent city in Australia, Sydney, has its roots deep in the culinary world. From the creation of mouthwatering Australian cuisine to owning numerous world-famous acclaimed eateries, this harbor city has it all.

Out of so many restaurants in Sydney, the exhausting job of discovering the best ones and enlisting them in the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list has already been done for you. Navigate your way through this engrossing ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list and learn about all the must-visit, acclaimed eateries.

1. The Berowra Waters Inn

Fine Dining on the Lap of Nature

Surrounded by woods on the Berowra waters, a tributary of Hawkesbury River, you will find this magnificent waterfront restaurant standing in its glory waiting for you. The alluring Australian vernacular design architecture and the tranquillity of the location have given it the name “Veranda By The Water”.

You cannot miss out on the additional free boat ride. Visit the restaurant on the restaurant-owned boats, due to the lack of presence of land roads.

What’s on the Menu?

Décor and ambiance alone did not get this diner enlisted in the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list. An entire menu comprising delectable morsels completed the job. Along with the ambiance and décor, the owner – cum executive chef, Mr. Brian Geraghty, has laid down a pleasurable degustation menu which includes dishes, like, –

• Kingfish, coconut & cucumber
• Duck, blueberry & Lavender
• Lamb, carrot & chickpea

Accompanied with a wine list decked with a wide range of fine wines, all to retain its name among the best restaurants in Sydney.

Extras

Bar Angophora, Berowra Waters Inn sibling entity,n also plays a major role in ensuring its position in the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list. Though young, still this venue has garnered an excellent reputation as a wine bar.

The soothing view of the Hawkesbury River and lush green surroundings works as a catalyst in enhancing that reputation.

2. The Quay

Found in Sydney Cove’s overseas passenger terminal of Sydney CBD, almost a regular visitor to the World’s Best Restaurants List, Quay a modern Australian-styled eatery was and is the pride of Sydney’s culinary sphere.

If it has earned a position in the World’s Best Restaurants list, then it is a crucial name for the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list as well. Be it for a business lunch or date night, Quay is the address for you.

Here, in Quay, the tasting menu comprising modern Australian delicacies reflects a new meaning, as the head chef renowned Peter Gilmore never ceases to play and experiment with the ingredients nurtured and grown solely to serve guests at the Quay.

Taste the delicacies offered by Quay, and maybe even you will feel obligated to pay respect to the ingredients as Chef Peter Gilmore ensures through his culinary god skills that the ingredients get to shine in their last hours.

Experimenting with ingredients and adding unique essence to Australian cuisine is not the limit for Chef Gilmore. He ensures the superiority of the Quay by creating customized crockeries for the restaurant.

What’s on the Menu?

Every morsel of the meal served here adds a burst of flavor to your mouth, kicking off a celebration in your taste buds. Delicacies on the menu that will take you on a roller costar ride of flavors are namely,

• Maremma pasture-raised duck
• Slow-cooked pig jowl
• Smoked eel

Also, a beverage menu featuring classic fine wines, refreshing cocktails, and many more beverages, will be there to make your dining experience worthwhile. Along with cherishing the pleasure of flavors, soothe your sight with the mesmerizing view of the opera house, as its location offers a dress-circle view of the harbor.

3. Shell House

Blend of New & Old in CBD

A brand new addition to The Point’s hospitality family, Shell House is one of its kind. Equipped with both indoor and outdoor seating arrangements, built in a heritage clock tower, Shell House is a multi-storied restaurant located at the prime position of CBD.

Although renowned as Shell House, this establishment is also home to the Menzies Bar on the ground floor, the Shell House Dining Room on the terrace, the Clocktower bar, and the Shell House Sky Bar on the 9th and 10th level respectively.

What’s on the Menu?

The Shell House boasts of serving flavourful Mediterranean-styled delicacies, brought to the plate by a culinary team guided by director Joel Bickford and led by head chef Aaron Ward. The tasting menu of this multi-storied dining establishment is considered one of the most sophisticated and finest menus in Sydney.

Let the article familiarize you with the top-selling items on the menu of this eatery –

• Beginning with Oysters as the common starter.
• Cruller doughnut is served with a topping of whipped roe and grated mojama.
• Add little twists to the steak tartare by infusing silky oyster cream in the recipe and replacing the capers with caviar.
• Ranked top among the bestsellers in the set menu is Moreton Bay Bug bisque, flavourful knots of linguine tossed in shellfish oil accompanied with well-cooked bug meats.

It is crucial to draw the ending line here, otherwise, the list of signature dishes might become a never-ending one. Serving any item present on the card, be it a main course or dessert, is a grand celebration of culinary twists and tales.

Also, it is nothing short of a paradise for thirsty souls. The presence of two bars on the premises ensures an ample supply of cocktails, fine wines, and other popular beverages.

To ensure its position as the best in every possible ranking list and not just on the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list, the Point family spared no expenses in developing this establishment.

4. Firedoor – The Surry Hills Restaurant

Hot Restaurant of Surry Hills

Have you ever watched the documentary ‘Chefs Table’? If yes, then you might be familiar with this Surry Hills restaurant, where the head chef Lennox Hastie, cooks up flavourful yet simple dishes. Among some of the renowned Surry Hills restaurants like Nour, The Blue Door, and Poly, Firedoor has claimed the crown and made its way to the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list.

Amidst so many restaurants in Sydney, the hot restaurant of Surry Hills -Firedoor, stands out in the crowd with its unique ‘touch me, and I will burn you’ visible open kitchen, equipped with grills, wood-fired oven, and hearth scattered with burning woods.

At this hot surry hills den, you will witness the creation of simple yet flavourful dishes on a wooden fire in the ‘touch me not’ open kitchen with your eyes, all the while munching on an array of flavourful dishes.

Experienced in Michelin Star restaurants, Chef Hastie is called the wizard of fire, possessing unimaginable prowess in using fire to transform simple, local, or seasonal ingredients into pleasurable delicacies. And guess what, this fire wizard is the head chef of this Surry Hills restaurant.

What’s on the menu?

To acquire, a position on the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list, an entire menu of mouth-watering, fulfilling dishes is a must. So want to find out about the delicious tales of this Surry Hills restaurant? Well, just keep scrolling and reading.

Ingredients served in this Surry Hills restaurant vary with seasons, but oysters, mushrooms, lamb, and a few more are enlisted as constants, while the signature ones on the five-course set menu are –

• Kangaroo and chargrilled cos starter
• Murray cod
• Moonacres.
• Porkchop

Of course, a hot and cold beverage menu featuring refreshing cocktails and an excellent wine list is also present here, to soothe parched throats.

5. Saint Peter

Acclaimed Seafood Eatery of Paddington

A constant favorite of seafood lovers, Saint Peter is an astonishing seafood eatery in Paddington, headed and co-owned by chef Josh Niland. Very few restaurants leave an everlasting impression on your mind as Saint Peter does.

Internationally acclaimed chef Josh Niland had this indomitable urge to experiment, discover, and serve varied flavors of seafood. Chef Josh Niland’s motive of bringing about a revolution in seafood gave birth to his first solo restaurant.

Here, in Saint Peter, the stereotypical idea of seafood has been changed and is constantly changing, as the chef, never ceases to bring out new flavors by wielding his culinary skills. Therefore, making its place in the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list.

What’s on the Menu?

Starting from serving the delicious meat of Spanner crab found in Ballina of northern New South Wales, in its shell covered in coral sauce cooked with its roe to serving aged blue mackerel served with bitter radicchio tossed in sweet and sour sauce, the menu is crowded with some innovative platters.

The presence of an aging room on the restaurant premises aids in creating special dishes with aged blue mackerel and albacore.

Wrapped in the swordfish bacon, Yellowfin tuna filet tossed in tuna bone sauce, accompanied with golden beetroot and fish liver terrain, can make anyone fall in love with seafood. Not only just in Australia but this solo restaurant of Chef Josh Niland, is crowned as one of the best in the seafood realm by the seafood lover souls.

6. Mr. Wong

Giant Cantonese-Influenced Fine Dining in CBD

Regarded as the leading kid under the Merivale banner and a leading one on the ‘Best Restaurant Sydney’ list, this modern Australian fine dining restaurant is a gigantic celebration of Cantonese-style food in CBD, Sydney.

From accommodating over 200 people to offering as many as 80 Cantonese-influenced gourmet treats, Merivale’s glory Mr. Wong believes in the saying ‘go big or go home.’

Want to have a date night on the cards? Visit this Merival’s wonder to make memories with your dear ones over delicious Cantonese-inspired delicacies, in a romantic ambiance, created by dim lighting and live jazz.

What’s on the Menu?

Even though the dishes served here, are essentially Cantonese styled still the talented executive chef Dan Hong, ensures that it is appreciated by the Western palate. Listing down a tasting menu comprising 80 dishes is not possible, hence given below are a few of the bestsellers.

• Lobster and scallop dumplings
• King prawn toast served with foie gras
• Kung pao chicken
• Pipis drenched in XO
• Bamboo shoot dumplings

If these are not enough to soothe your taste buds then move on to the bigger and tastier deals, like –

• Glacier 51 toothfish
• An entire roasted duck

Frankly, the above description couldn’t summarize half of the menu served at this restaurant. Along with this vast tasting menu, a long wine list decorated with some of the renowned brands will also be at your service.

After compiling all these USPs, this two-level giant Cantonese food affair is an indispensable addition to the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list.

7. Restaurant Hubert

Precious Gem of CBD

A valuable jewel in the Swillhouse’s crown, Restaurant Hubert, a worth remembering name in the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list, is designed and furnished with dark wood, vintage posters, and dim lighting to give off the vibe of a 1920s, French bistro.

Rest assured, that once you walk into this unique establishment, you will receive more than you have bargained for. Along with experiencing the dark, soothing, romantic French ambiance of the 1900s era with live jazz in the background, the restaurant has a hidden gem, i.e. a theatre, acting as its unique selling point.

Yes, you heard it right, a theatre. Restaurant Hubert accommodates a large dining room, and three bars comprising of the cocktail bar, wine bar, and the Theatre Royale.

What’s on the Menu?

Along with providing an amazing ambiance, Swillhouse’s production boasts of serving gastronomically pleasurable items to people. Some masterpieces served at restaurant Hubert, are presented below –

• Escargots with XO sauce
• Framed duck parfait made more appetizing with maple -syrup jelly.
• Prime beef tartare
• Salad de Maman

Well, this is just a glimpse of the appetizing menu served at the Hubert, to enjoy the whole show you will have to visit this captivating wonder.

8. Icebergs Dining Room and Bar

Italian Restaurant On the Bondi Beach

Are you searching for a restaurant serving world-class Italian cuisine in Sydney? The ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list is at your service, with the most acclaimed one, i.e. Icebergs Dining Room and Bar.

And your search ends here, as the Icebergs dining room and bar, possess the reputation of serving well-crafted exquisite modern Italian cuisine. Acclaimed by culinary experts as the best one among the few restaurants serving Italian cuisine in Sydney, it is crucial to the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list.

Mesmerizing décor and the enthralling view of Bondi Beach from the restaurant make it more appealing to the eyes of food lovers. Along with serving flavourful, mouth-watering morsels, you also get to quench your thirst from the wine bar and cocktail bar present on the premises.

What’s on the Menu?

From providing a diverse cocktail and wine list to serving various Italian delicacies, crafted by talented chef Maurice Terzini, Iceberg’s menu will never disappoint you. You will be presented with a plethora of Italian delicacies, produced from various, local and seasonal ingredients.

• Autore Pearl Meat Crudo
• Polanco Baeri Caviar
• Imperial Beluga Caviar
• Yarra Valley Smoked Salmon Roe
• Orecchiette all’Amatriciana di Mare
• Squid ink risotto

Giving a tour of the entire menu can kill the joy. Hence, naming just some of the bestsellers on the menu. All that is left for you is to visit this captivating diner and taste it for yourself.

9. Chaco Bar

Japanese Dining at Potts Point

Give your tongue a taste of Japanese cuisine, at this Asian cuisine hub in Darlinghurst Bunker of Potts Point, established by chef-owner Keita Abe, who also takes pride in being a master of robata grill.

It has made its position in this ‘best Restaurants Sydney’ list, because of an entire menu enriched with Asian flavors and an ambiance similar to traditional Japanese diners. Through Chaco bar, Chef Keita Abe promises a mini-tour of a traditional Japanese eatery.

To ensure a traditional Japanese bistro ambiance at Potts Point, Mr. Abe went to the extent of setting up a Yatai a traditional laneway izakaya meaning a food cart, typically found in Fukuoka, the hometown of Mr. Abe.

What’s on the Menu?

Right from quality to quantity, every aspect is about making others’ dining experience worthwhile in this Potts Point Japanese hub. Yakitori can be easily ticked off as the best-selling dish of this Potts Point eatery, while other dishes are:

• Warayaki -the hay-smoked sashimi
• Toothfish tossed in Miso and served with cumquat jam
• Perfectly set Chawanmushi
• Fried chicken, frame

From fabricating the chicken by hand to basting, grilling, and tenderizing the chicken over a robata grill, Chef Keita Abe showcases his culinary skills at every step, ensuring a spot for his eatery on the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list.

Throat all dried and parched after consuming so many delicacies, no need to worry, as you will come across a wide range of fine sakes on the drinks menu.

Extras

Chaco Ramen, a sister venue of this Japanese entity, has acquired the reputation of serving the best Japanese ramen in Sydney. So if you are fond of ramen, then don’t hesitate to visit the Chaco Ramen, a specialty Japanese ramen eatery for more interesting insights on this Ramen junction.

10. Odd Culture Newtown

A Perfect Package of Restaurant, Wine Bar & Café

Well, this ‘all in one joint’ Odd Culture, is the answer to all the people looking for a restaurant serving delicious platters along with a long beverage menu decorated with a wide range of fine wines and cocktails.

Bright minds, James MacDonald and Jesse Warkentin brought this establishment to existence, and Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Warkentin aimed at creating an airy, spacious, warehouse ambiance.

The eatery is decked up with bits and pieces of wood covering the wall, large almost ceiling-touching windows, an elongated kitchen, a wooden bar top, and high and low wooden tables.

Beverages occupy the center stage here, and its fascinating beverage menu plays a major part in securing its name on the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list.

What’s on the Menu?

More than food, drinks are the protagonist of this tale. Order a soothing cocktail mixed and stirred with their fermented drinks. Also, there is a diverse beverage menu, featuring world-class craft beers, and a wine list consisting of natural as well as classic wines.

Now, with thirst quenched, it is time to think about a growling stomach. Chefs here have taken the European palate as the base for the dishes but keep on adding flavourful Asian twists to the tasting menu. Again, naming some of the bestsellers –

• Odd Culture’s butter smeared on Sourdough Beer bread is a crowd-pleaser.
• Chicken Liver Parfait soaked in caramel fish sauce
• Anchovy Cigars and homemade crisps

All these and many more attributes of Odd Culture have proven it worthy of being on the  ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list.

Concluding the Dining Experience

So finally the article has reached the limit, but to be honest there are many more names suitable for being mentioned in this ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list. A large, developed, bustling city like Sydney is brimming with large and small-scale restaurants, out of which a lot many have been crowned as the best.

The most deserving restaurants among the total have already been mentioned above, but the ones left to be a part of the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list, are –

• Pub Life Kitchen
• Lankan Filling station
• Bridge Room
• Tapavino Tapas Bar
• York 75 sports bar

Starting from fine dining to bars and different cuisine hubs, each type has attained a spot on this ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list.

It is hardly possible to include numerous renowned, acclaimed restaurants of Sydney in just one list. Even so, the finest ones from all over Sydney have been allotted a spot in the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list.

For example, the greatest Japanese cuisine diner, the Chaco bar is on the list, but there are many more acclaimed Japanese restaurants around Sydney, which for some reason or the other have not been enlisted in the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney’ list.

It might be the ending of the ‘Best Restaurants Sydney‘ list, but for you it is limitless. So keep browsing and you might come up with a list of your own.

Last Updated on February 27, 2024 by Namrata