• Sights
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Entertainment
• Shopping
• Activities
• Travel Tips
• Features

Restaurants Overview

Sydney's dining scene is as sunny and cosmopolitan as the city itself, and there are diverse and exotic culinary adventures to suit every appetite. Mod-Oz (modern-Australian) cooking flourishes, fueled by local produce and guided by Mediterranean and Asian techniques. Look for such innovations as tuna tartare with flying-fish roe and wasabi; emu prosciutto; five-spice duck; shiitake mushroom pie; and sweet turmeric barramundi curry. A meal at Tetsuya's, Claude's, or Rockpool constitutes a crash course in this dazzling culinary language. A visit to the city's fish markets at Pyrmont, just five minutes from the city center, will also tell you much about Sydney's diet. Look for rudderfish, barramundi, blue-eye, kingfish, John Dory, ocean perch, and parrot fish, as well as Yamba prawns, Balmain and Moreton Bay bugs (shovel-nose lobsters), sweet Sydney rock oysters, mud crab, spanner crab, yabbies (small freshwater crayfish), and marrons (freshwater lobsters).

There are many expensive and indulgent restaurants in the city center, but the real dining scene is in the inner city, eastern suburbs, and inner-western suburbs of Leichhardt and Balmain. Neighborhoods like Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, Paddington, and beachside suburb Bondi are dining destinations unto themselves. Plus, you're more likely to find a restaurant that will serve on a Sunday night in one of these places than in the central business district -- which can become a bit of a ghost town after offices close during the week and on weekends. Circular Quay and the Rocks are always lively, and the Overseas Passenger Terminal (on the opposite side of the harbor from the Opera House) has several top-notch restaurants with stellar views.

Surry Hills is a delight for diners with adventurous taste buds and limited budgets. Crown Street is lined with ethnic and gourmet restaurants where you can get a delicious meal for between A$20 and A$30. The restaurants in Darlinghurst are similarly diverse, though they tend to be a bit trendier and more expensive. Oxford Street in Paddington offers great upscale dining options as well as pub fare, and Bondi, which used to be a tourist trail of fast-food chains and cheap take-out joints, is now home to some of the most famous and beloved restaurants in the city.

Although most Sydney restaurants are licensed to serve alcohol, the few that aren't usually allow you to bring your own bottle (BYO). Reservations are generally required, although some restaurants don't take bookings at all. Lunch hours are from around noon to 2:30; dinner is served between 7 and 10:30. The 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST) is already incorporated in the prices, but a 10% tip is customary for exemplary service. If you bring your own wine, a corkage fee often applies. Expect a 10% service surcharge on weekends and holidays. Smoking is prohibited inside all restaurants throughout New South Wales.