elysag,

My spouse and I are traveling to Sydney in August, and we will dine at Tetsuya's and Quay for our two "splurge" meals. (Le Bernardin is one of our NYC favorites, along with Per Se and Momofuku Ko.) We also read good things about Marque; it was Plan C if we couldn't secure reservations at the other two restaurants. Definitely book ahead if you want to dine on a Friday or Saturday night - fortunately we were satisfied with weeknights, because both of those restaurants seemed fairly committed on weekends until the fall. I'll be watching your thread to get some ideas for more local places to eat on our other nights in Sydney.

Book early for any of these, especially for dinner.
I would add Pier at Rose Bay, Sepia in the CBD.
Aqua Dining @ Milsons Point has great views back to the city, Harbour bridge & opera house.

My favourites in Sydney (at the moment) are as follows:

Berta, Surry Hills (particularly on Wednesday when they do the set sagra dinner)
Porteño Surry Hills(excellent Argentinian, but they don't take bookings)
Billy Kwong Surry Hills (modern sustainable Chinese)
Red Lantern, Surry Hills (mod Vietnamese)
Spice Temple, City (brilliant Asian, get the banquet)

I'm also going in July and have been researching restaurants. From everything I've read, Quay seems to be the best in Sydney right now although I think we're going to skip fine dining altogether this trip.

What do you guys think of Fix St James, Gastro Park and District Dining? I have my eye on those. Berta is on my list as well.

Tetsuyas is still the best restaurant in Sydney. The chef is in the top 10 in the world, and deservedly so, the food is astonishing. Aria and est are also brilliant.

I have had one report back on Gasto Park from a friend who is usually very reliable, she thought the food was overly fussy and she wasn't impressed.

I would also recommend Quay and Marque but also Bridge Room and Sepia. However you will need to decide and book a table asap.

Hi Peteralan, interesting that both you and Bokhara liked Sepia. I took my partner there for his birthday and two out of four of the dishes we really liked. On the whole, I think that kind of fine dining is just too over-refined for me. I have the same view of Becasse.

What do you think of Felix, Susan?

I've had a couple of good lunches and a very ordinary dinner there. One of the lunches was with Peteralan, so at least part of my star rating would have to go to the excellent company!

Thanks, Susan. That's the second not so good comment I've read about Gastro Park so it's moving off the list.

We weren't impressed with Aria but our experience was years ago and it may have been because we ordered off the pre-theatre menu.

What does everyone think of Aki's? Trying to avoid Asian in general because we have so much good Asian where we live but good Indian is something we lack (at least in close proximity to our house).

Hi Bokhara, I haven't been to Felix. I did have a great meal at Neild Ave a couple of weeks ago.

Patty, can't help you on Aki's, but I really would not avoid Asian while in Sydney, in my experience the offerings hear are very different to anything you would get in NY or LA. For example, Neil Perry's Spice Temple is extraordinary.

Hi Susan. I really must try Berta too as I have heard good reports. And thanks Bokhara ,I return the complement!

Oh my goodness, how am I going to be able to dine at all these recommendatiuons when DH and I are in Sydney in eary July?! We only have 4 nights in the city itself, not enough time to indulge in these great-sounding restaurants. Dot

I ate at Aria last year- and the food was amazing. Had a view of the bridge and opera house.

We had the many course lunch at Tetsuya ( can't remember how many courses but I know it was a lot), which was fantastic and the man himself was there and came out speak with the diners. A very special experience.

Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay is very good. Or at least it was last time I went. If you were to arrange to have a hitman come and double-tap you behind the ear whilst tucking into their signature dish the snapper pie (that's you tucking into the pie, not the hitman) you would die very happy. An added bonus is the view - more an industrial part of the Harbour - is very untypical of what you'd normally associate with Sydney but very cool nonetheless.