What are the best Sydney restaurants?
 

We will be staying at the Four Seasons in Sydney for 5 nights? Should we make restaurant reservations before we leave the states? We recently went to New York City. I am so glad I made reservations a month in advance because the most popular restaurants book up so quickly. I have been reading posts and have compiled a list of popular Sydney restaurant choices mentioned by other Fodorites. Could someone help me narrow down the list or add to the list if I missed some good ones?
Aria
Guillaume at Bennelong
Forty One
Palisade Dining Room
Aqua Dining
Flying Fish
Icebergs (Bondi)
Watermark
Kables
Boathouse
Pier at Rose Bay
Est
We don't necessarily want fancy/gourmet --views are always enjoyable with really good food. Thanks

The fine dining crowd would probably add
tetsuyas to that list.You should book ahead for most of that list.Also increase the credit limit on your card...coz they charge nyc prices as well.

IMHO you'd be better off to take a picnic (from david jones food hall) and a bottle of cowra chardonnay to Bradley's head.

BTW..what's the weather like in southern colorado and Taos in mid april?

You have some great restaurants on your list including my second favourite ( Est)but please also consider my very favourite...QUAY. It has great views, great service and views of the harbour. As well,it is within walking distance of your hotel.And no, I am not connected with that establishment! Have a wonderful time!

Forgot to say I agree with John..reserve a table in advance.

Catalina Rose Bay (just down the road from Pier) is one of my favourites. Ate at Shangri La's Altitude last month and thought it was excellent. Icebergs looks great, but couple of friends went there and thought it was really overrated.
Prices of most of the places you mention are of the order of A$23-28 for entree, $35 - $40 main course and $15-$18 for dessert. You will get a few bottles of wine at under $50 but more over that mark.

I agree with johnj about tetsuyas. The last few years it has been consistently rated a genuinely world class restaurant. The food cannot be easily classified - best described as a creative fusion of french and japanese. On popular evenings, you need to book several weeks in advance. A close second is Claude's in Woollahra.
I have no interests in either one of these establishments, though I have the chefs at a function.

A typo - "though I have MET the chefs..."

Tetsuyas is good (although I had the flu at the time, so it might have been great. My tastebuds weren't quite up to par). It's a fixed menu, from what I recall, so hopefully no one is a really picky eater.

And yes, expect a big bill. It was about AUD $1000 for 4 people. We were celebrating big time, so that was fine...however I wouldn't make a return visit anytime soon. I agree with the David Jones food hall suggestion. An array of their wonderful goodies eaten on a bench in the rocks with a view of the Opera House would rival any fine restaurant in Sydney, IMHO.

Second vote for Claudes.

Tetsuya is thought by many restaurant critics to be among the best. It is fixed price with one menu per night and quite innovative french-Japanese style. Cost for four was about $1000/4 Aus three years ago. I love both Japanese and French food but my wife does not care for Japanese food. We both thought the food was interesting but were not overwhelmed by the experience. It rates as good in my book but at a rather high price. We got our reservation through the Four Season's concierge.

Tetsuyas now charge $178 without wine per person. You can choose to take your own wine if you are prpared to pay $18 corkage.

I just reread Richard's orginal message - that 'gourmet' food is not what they are necessarily after, but a good view to go with good food. I still maintain that Tetsuya and Claude are the places that serious foodies must go to at least once; but if views are just as important, then you are better off with some of the others places on the list.
There is another place which my wife and I dined at a couple of years ago - Cadmus Restaurant in the Quay Building right above the Opera House. Ask for a table with a view closest to and right above the Opera House - you get to see the icon from a unique angle. The view was absolutely spectacular. The food, I think was modern Australian with Lebanese influences. They have ala carte at the prices mentioned by Travelnick and a de gus offering as well - like Tetsuya.
The whole idea of a de gus experience is to put yourself in the hand of the chef (so to say) and sample his creative offerings. Non adventurious diners tend to go for the same old things - and creative chefs often groan in the kitchen at their choices and wish that more would venture to try something more adventurious. I know, having worked in a kitchen before. Some narrow their menu down more and more - and risk driving away ordinary diners, but there is always that scotch fillet just in case; some offer both ala carte and de gus; or if the chef is enough, only de gus is offered.

All the restaurants you mention are of course in the SMH Good Food Guide - I am sure they are all absolutely wonderful - and why not book in advance if it so important to eat there.

But may I make a suggestion - why not just busk it one evening - do what most people who live here do, and go down to one of the local eateries - well, perhaps a local eat. The tables will be beautifully set napkins and cutlery and clean glasses and all that sort of stuffa dn ;l laid

All the restaurants you mention are of course in the SMH Good Food Guide - I am sure they are all absolutely wonderful - and why not book in advance if it so important to eat there.

But may I make a suggestion - why not just busk it one evening - do what most people who live here do, and go down to one of the local eateries - well, perhaps a local celebration eatery. The tables will be beautifully set - napkins and cutlery and clean glasses and all that sort of stuff. The menu will be interesting; the location too. It may be BYO. And you will have the pleasure of an adventure and maybe an excellent meal (at a fraction of the price) that you wouldn't have found otherwise.

Just a thought. If you are interested I am sure lots of people will chime in with neighbourhood favourites a taxi or ferry ride from the Four Seasons. Or you could just find your own.

Happy eating.

Actually I have more interest in just finding a local favorite place more than booking into fancy haute cuisine restaurants. I haven't decided if I will take a jacket, definitely no tie which will mean we won't be eating in most of the places on the list. Just winging it might be more fun. How would we find the local favorites? Could we rely on the concierge at the 4 Seasons or would that desk only try to steer us to the upper end?

Richard, Sydney is jam packed with "local favourites" as it is with "best restaurants". What is #1 in either category for one person may well be #10 for another, as you will have seen from the responses to your original post seeking "best Sydney Restaurants", and to others on the Forum on this subject.

As your preference appears to have changed vastly since your original post; my suggestion would be to wait until you arrive, then go to the nearest newsagency/bookshop & buy "The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide", and "Cheap Eats". There's another one put out by SBS but it's name escapes me at the moment.

Alternatively, take a cab or bus to Newtown, Balmain, Surry Hills or East Sydney and simply wander along until you find something that appeals to you. This is what the locals do.

The quality of food in Sydney is excellent, especially in the trendier areas (above) with the fickle & fussy Sydney market ensuring that only the popular survive.

I'm open to correction here, but I'm not aware of any Sydney restaurant, no matter how pricey, that would demand a jacket and/or tie. I would think that any place that indulged in such un-Australian conduct would see its business nosedive.

Neil is right. None of the restaurants mentioned so far or any other will require you to wear a tie.

May not rank in Sydney's top 10 but the Oceanic Cafe in Elizabeth Street opposite Central Railway Station is well worth a look. Booth-type dining with orginal Formica table tops. The place hasn't had a coat of paint since the 1950s and fare is certainly reasonably priced. A fellow worker actually ventured into the Oceanic feeling peckish for some fish and chips but (because he WAS wearing a tie) was refused service, being informed he wasn't "our type of customer".
The Oceanic is apparently one of a half-dozen or so shops owned by one particular lady who refuses to sell ... the Aurora pub (on the corner of Elizabeth and Kippax streets) has been desperately trying to acquire the adjacent property for bottle shop extensions but it remains a derelict eyesore.
So, I guess, if the wallet is a bit stressed in Sydney it might be an idea to dress down and venture up to the good old Oceanic. Tell 'em Crosswords sent you.

Hi RichardJ,

Agree with Bokhara 100%. And those two eating in Sydney bibles are great to browse through.

If you choose to go somewhere in Balmain one night there is the added bonus of being able to get here by ferry. You need to take a bus up Darling Street from the wharf, but there is always a bus (unless you are really unlucky) as the schedules for ferry/bus are meant to interlock.
Ride over at dusk; maybe have a drink in one of the pubs; unless you are very late eaters you can go home by ferry too.

There aren't any places in the area with waterfront views that I can recommend but there are plenty with courtyard or outdoor eating.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Doyles at Watsons Bay. I've never eaten there; the food may well be overpriced, but the location is superb. Somewhere for Sunday lunch, maybe, but you would have to book in advance!!

Hope you have a wonderful time.

The Oceanic Cafe sounds like a gem. An eating house that treats tie-wearers as undesirables upholds the finest traditions of Australian hospitality. And I'll bet they'd whip up a good lamb's fry, bacon and onions if you asked them, too. RichardJ should be aware that the Central Station end of Elizabeth Street isn't exactly ultra-chic, though. "Serviceable" might be the politest way of describing it. The view isn't to die for, either.

Neil_Oz

While I completely agree with your comments concerning Australians always dressing casually for dining out, the same cannot be said for entering a golf club. I'm looking at joining this club and it begs the question, what is allowed.

http://www.concordgolfclub.com.au/gu...dressreg.mhtml

Geordie

Thanks for giving me my first good laugh of the day, Geordie. The club's regulations give a whole new meaning to the term "fashion police". But any place that doesn't ban shorts with long socks is pretty questionable IMO.

Are you tempted to repeat Groucho Marx's line "I wouldn't want to join any club that would have me as a member"?

fuzzylogic, your assumption re Doyle's at Watsons Bay is dead right. Very overpriced for average only food. It does have that magnificent view but you can get the same view next door in the Hotel beer garden with seafood cooked to order at a fraction of the cost!

Flying Fish is always raved about, but I wouldn't recommend The Boathouse (I found it overpriced for pretty average food). Haven't been to Doyles proper, but have pulled in to the wharf on our boat for takeaway which was dreadful. Those I know who have been to Doyle's have been disappointed. Good seafood at Nicks (Cockle Bay) or Jordan's (Darling Harbour). If you get to Balmain (you could walk from the ferry although the hill is huge - but there are 2 pubs on the way!!) try Kazbah on Darling, La Lupa, L'unico or any one of many and varied restaurants. The Mixing Pot in Glebe is a personal favourite as is Astral at Star City. There are many pubs that have really good and innovative food too. You don't have to pay through the nose to eat well in Sydney.

Thanks to all of these helpful posts I think we will just wing it and not get involved with these fancy, haute cusine book-ahead restaurants. I will copy down all of the favorite places recommended (and ones to avoid). I am considering not taking a sports coat but then I might feel odd at Pirates of Penzance in the Opera house without. Sounds like we can relax and not worry about making decisions in advance. Very grateful to everyone.

Richard,
We were at a Ballet performance in the Opera House in December and there were many men (of all ages) not wearing coats. They were all in collared shirts and trousers and as is the norm these days some of the younger ones were in jeans.
Although the theatre was air conditioned it was still very warm and certainly a coat would have made you quite uncomfortable.

This is a little off thread, but the question about attire relates to best restaurants, performance halls, etc.

We are Americans and were in Sydney a few years ago, husband, wife, 2 daughters. We were staying in Cronulla and took the train to Sydney for the day, toured the Opera House etc. We wore clothes meant for walking around, for an active day of sightseeing. After the Opera House tour my husband learned that there would be a concert that night with tickets available and he wanted to go with our older daughter. They were definitely not dressed for the theatre or a concert according to our "hometown" expectations! But an Australian we encountered said they should do it anyway. Said it would be very un-Australian to exclude people like that. So they went (and I returned by train to Cronulla with our younger daughter)

Their report was that there were people dressed all kinds of ways at the concert. There were people in fancy dress and people in jeans. They wished they'd been dressed a bit better but enjoyed the concert and didn't feel "looked down upon". They had a lovely conversation with an elderly Australia man at intermission who was quite dressed up. This is one of the things I LOVE about Australia.

If you are looking for a 'special occasion' dining experience, second the recommendation for Quay. Make sure you get a window table though - window is designed like a cockpit and the view is amazing - had the Harbour Bridge on one side and the Opera House on the other side.

Went to Aria last week and was disappointed - food was very average and overpriced.

Since you are after views, there is a strip of restaurants in the King St Wharf area that are worth a try. Another option is Bather's Pavilion at Balmoral Beach.

Sydney is very multicultural and there is a lot of good food. So, depends on what you want to eat 'Mod oz', Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Italian, Seafood, Turkish, Lao..you can pretty much find it all!

Also check out www.sydneyeats.com.au and www.eatability.com.au
for more ideas/reviews from locals

For a truly memorable and fun evening, what about the Lowenbrau Keller at the Rocks (www.lowenbraukeller.com.au) a very well known Bavarian/German restaurant with oompah band entertainment 7 nights a week. Great atmosphere and well worth it if you like that sort of thing.

Forgot to mention we have been to Doyles at the Quay and were very disappointed. I thought it was very overpriced for fish and rice/potato/chips - they don't serve vegetables or salad - you can't even order them on the side, they simply don't have them.

from a food-loving new yorker....

LONGRAIN on commonwealth in surrey hills (hip)
BILLS (any of them)- best breakfast in town. (hip and casual)
BLUE GINGER in balmain (casual)
TETSUYA in the city. best dinner we've ever had. (fancy fancy)
LOTUS in Potts Point. gorgeous cocktails in the back bar. (hip)

have fun!

Icebergs is great for drinks....

Now I am totally overwhelmed with so many great choices. We will only have 5 dinners so I have no idea how we will decide. We found a fabulous little breakfast place in New York City near our hotel in Times Square. For $5.95 we had two eggs, hash browns, toast and 5 strips of bacon! We were so full that we skipped lunch each day. Would we be able to find a little hole in the wall breakfast place near the Sydney Four Seasons?

Not at that price.

Well...
No-one mentioned my favourite, Seans Panaroma, at North Bondi. Great view of the beach (apart from N Bondi SLSC!) - and really good food. Not cheap - but well worth the trip. May be best for lunch or early evening, if you are going to Bondi anyway.

Second Longrain as really outstanding Thai.

I have been requested to go (at my expense) to a $200/head dinner at Galileo, in the Observatory Hotel, on Saturday night. I'm not sure if food can be that good?@ :o! Should I just offer to meet them at Harry's Cafe de Wheels after?! :)

Hi Margo, if it were my $200, I'd be off to Tetsuyas with it.(LOL) I remember when Bilsons opened at the Quay, there was a black truffle risotto appetiser for $84. My dining companion, not unused to spending a $, opined that for $84, he'd want the truffle finding pig as well! We passed on it :)

Now I am really confused - why are you staying at the Four Seasons and asking about gourmet restaurants if 2 eggs, etc. in a hole in the wall (or "greasy spoon") is what you hanker for?

Nowhere at that price I can think of in the CBD though there are great places for brekkie in the inner suburbs, at about that price (or a little more) for the "plate" - it's the coffee and orange juice that bump it up to the $15 AUS mark.

But they aren't open for dinner.

Richard, for that price in Sydney you'd be best hopping on bus down Elizabeth St and trying the Oceanic, mentioned somewhere above by Crosswords.

We aren't trying to be cheap. Some of the best breakfast places are simple and unpretentious, serving great morning food. As a tourist, breakfast provides energy for the day and we always try to avoid the heavy, rich foods for breakfast. Ambiance is not important to us for breakfast. Where we sleep at night really doesn't impact what we want to eat (plus we got a great deal, stay 3 nights get the 4th night free)

My favorite restaurants in Australia are the BYO restaurants. Bring a bottle of wine that you purchased from a liquor store and they will open it for you for free. I found several around Oxford Street area of Sydney.