9 Best Restaurants in Inner City and the Eastern Suburbs, Sydney

Locals rub shoulders while eating no-fuss Chinese food at TV chef Kylie Kwong's trendy restaurant. Kwong prepares the kind of food her family cooks, with Grandma providing not just the inspiration but also the recipes. The prawn wontons with brown rice vinegar are always popular, but the standout dish is the deep fried whole sand whiting with black bean and sea parsley. If you have a big appetite, indulge in a variety of dishes with the seven-course banquet (A$75).

It's always a fun night at this fashionable post-industrial Thai eatery because you never know who you'll end up meeting at the large communal table. The generous-size innovative mains—some say the best Thai food in town—are designed to be shared. Begin with a simple starter of either betel nut leaf with prawn-toasted coconut or a freshly shucked oyster with red chili and coriander. Mains include the stir-fried pork belly with chili and ginger, while egg nets—lacy omelets filled with prawns, pork, peanuts, and bean sprouts—are also a popular choice. Longrain's cocktails are legendary for their generous pours; try the ping pong—a luscious mix of passion fruit, lychee, and vodka.

Sign up for one of the monthly cocktail classes to learn the barman's secrets.

This bistro in the Woollahra Hotel spills over with happy-go-lucky patrons—mostly locals from around the leafy suburb of Woollahra—who have been coming back for more than 20 years now. The best dishes are inspired takes on Parisian fare, like the grilled Sirloin Café de Paris, French onion soufflé gratin, and port sausages with potato puree and Lyonnaise onions, although the signature dish you must try is the much-loved, twice-cooked soufflé. The casual café and bar, Moncur Terrace, serves mains such as wagyu beef burgers and gourmet pizzas.

Incredibly chic, this is where the hippest of the city come for early dinner during the week or a late-night nibble with cocktails on the weekend. The feel is Parisian bistro, with a lively atmosphere and traditional French cuisine like steak frites.

At this cute, popular little pub in Paddington, chef Colin Fassnidge (an Irishman who emerged as the most controversial guest judge on Australian TV cooking show My Kitchen Rules ) has been wowing patrons for years with his shared dish for two of slow-braised lamb shoulder with kipfler potatoes, baby carrots, and salsa verde. His whole suckling pig is also a popular Sunday long-lunch treat. Starters and mains change monthly, and the restaurant's popularity has seen it open for lunch and dinner six days a week.

Few restaurants have the magnetic pull of Otto, a place where radio shock jocks sit side by side with fashion-magazine editors and confirmed foodies. Yes, it's a scene, but fortunately one with good Italian food prepared by chef Richard Ptacnik. The homemade pastas are menu standouts; try the strozzapreti pasta with prawns or the saffron fettucine with rabbit ragout. The pepper-crusted swordfish with romesco sauce is also delicious. The selection of Italian wines is expensive but rarely matched this far from Milan.

Owned by Vietnamese TV chef Luke Nguyen, this restaurant is popular with his legions of TV fans. Diners should always start with the country's great export, rice paper rolls. Here you can have them filled with roast duck, enoki mushrooms, and herbs; or prawns and pork. Another tasty dish is ga chien don—crispy skinned chicken slowly poached in master stock with ginger, shallot, and oyster sauce. An unusual but yummy dessert is the black sesame seed dumplings with black sesame seed ice cream. For the full range of flavors, there's a tasting menu of nine dishes.

North Bondi Beach wouldn't be the same without Sean's Panaroma ("Sean's" to locals), perched on a slight rise a stone's throw from the famous beach. It's been there since the mid-1990s and owner Sean Moran loads his menu with fresh produce grown on his farm in the Blue Mountains, aptly named "Farm Panaroma." Dishes change regularly and are only featured on a blackboard: they may include baked blue-eye fish with roasted cauliflower, or a ravioli of zucchini, mozzarella, and lemons. The many fans in Sydney means it can be difficult to secure a table, and some the say the service is hit-and-miss (if not a bit arrogant), so be warned.

Found a little farther up Bondi Road, away from the beach, this restaurant has been a bit of an unexpected hit since opening in 2018. Unexpected because it's housed above a run-down pub called The Royal. But once you're up the stairs, it's an incredibly classy restaurant serving Italian-inspired wood-fired mains. The chef Khan Danis has worked at some of the best restaurants in Sydney and is hailed as the king of wood fire in the city. Each dish is impressive, with pizza-size flatbreads arriving with house-made charcuterie, pickled fish, stracciatella and seasonal fruit. There's also alfresco dining available, and there's lunch and dinner served every day.