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$ | Darling Harbour |
Blackbird Café is great place to take a break while exploring Darling Harbour. The weekday lunch specials are all under A$20 and a good value. There are great views from the balcony, so try and nab a table there. The à la carte menu includes starters of haloumi and vegetable stack or grilled prawns and crab, and there's a wide range of pizza, pasta, burgers, and grills.
201 Sussex St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia
Known For
- Family-friendly
- Great value
- Balcony with views
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$$$$ | Royal Botanic Gardens |
With wide verandas providing tranquil views over the gardens, the sound of birdsong filling the air, and a menu created by celebrated chef Luke Nguyen, Botanic House is a top choice for a long lunch or a sunset dinner. The menu is modern Asian, leaning more toward Vietnamese, with dumplings, bao, and grilled meats usually on the menu. The restaurant is within the Royal Botanic Gardens; it can be accessed from either the Palace Gate on Macquarie Street or from Lion Gate on Mrs. Macquarie's Road.
Macquarie St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia
Known For
- Pretty Botanic Gardens setting
- Fresh Vietnamese meals
- Great service
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No dinner Mon.-Thurs.
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$ | Bronte |
One of eight or nine eateries in the buzzy café strip opposite Bronte Beach, this is a great place to refuel after the Bondi-to-Bronte cliff-top walk. All share the same postcard-perfect view, but Belo is worth seeking out for its consistently good coffee and spicy sticky chai. It has a little more elbow space between tables than some of its neighbors. The menu has all the standard breakfast and brunch selections, many with a slight Brazilian twist, like the poached eggs served with a spicy tomato ragù.
469 Bronte Rd., Sydney, New South Wales, 2024, Australia
Known For
- Relaxed dining experience
- Brilliant breakfast spot
- Gets busy
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$ | Bondi Beach |
You have to seek out this Bondi Beach restaurant, as it's situated several hundred feet back from the beach. You'll quickly find out, however, why locals love this place: organic, seasonal, handcrafted food. This daytime café and evening bistro is small, hip, and always buzzing. Weekend breakfasts, brunches, and lunches are popular, especially if you like Moroccan eggs (slow-cooked with English spinach, chorizo, spiced peppers, and tomatoes) and sweet treats such as mouthwatering buttermilk pancakes. It's a popular place for dinner, too, so book ahead. Main course favorites include fish pie with leek and truffle oil, while the hazelnut chocolate fondant with honey malt ice cream has to be experienced.
106 Curlewis St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2026, Australia
Known For
- Wholesome food
- Focus on health
- Great location near beach
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. No breakfast or lunch Tues.–Thurs.
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$ | Sydney Harbour |
Fresh is the name of the game with this café. Zesty avocado on toast, slow-cooked pulled-pork rolls, fresh juices, and rich coffee. There's limited seating inside but most grab their order to go, taking it to the nearby Bradfield Park which has views of the harbor.
2 Ennis Rd., Sydney, New South Wales, 2061, Australia
Known For
- Fresh eats
- Great coffee
- Friendly staff
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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$$$ | Paddington |
Walking into this happy, bubbly place is like turning up at a private party in the backstreets of Naples. Host, chef, and surrogate uncle Armando Percuoco invests classic Neapolitan and Tuscan techniques with inventive personal touches to produce such dishes as the thinly sliced kingfish with gin and orange and truffled egg pasta. Everything comes with Italian-style touches that you can see, feel, smell, and taste. Leaving the restaurant feels like leaving home, especially if you've partaken of the wonderful six-course degustation menu.
108 Boundary St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2021, Australia
Known For
- Friendly staff
- Great service
- Stand-out menu
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon. No lunch Tues.–Thurs., Reservations essential
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$$$ | Rose Bay |
This harbor-front restaurant occupies the site of the old "airport" (back in the days when the fastest way to get to England was by flying boat), and has ringside views of the harbor and Shark Island. Patrons can watch modern seaplanes take off and land just meters away while dining on fine seafood. Perched on piers over the water, with a distinctive white profile, Catalina has been one of Sydney's standout fine-dining establishments since it opened in 1994. A unique concept for Sydney, the restaurant kitchen is open from midday to midnight (except on Sunday), allowing diners to turn up at any time; patrons can also pop in for a drink and graze on a casual bar menu. Seafood lovers relish the oysters, sushi, and sashimi created by the sushi master chef, while the signature dish of oven roasted junee lamb rack with pickled cauliflower is sensational. The views from the floor-to-ceiling windows, the open deck, and the cozy fire in winter make this a restaurant for all seasons.
New South Head Rd., Sydney, New South Wales, 2029, Australia
Known For
- Formal dining
- Special occasions
- Incredible views
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No dinner Sun.
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$$$ | Surry Hills |
For a long time, those wanting to experience Chin Chin had to head to Melbourne. But in 2016, a sister restaurant finally opened its doors in Surry Hills, and it has since elbowed its way to epicurean cult status among foodies. The South-East Asian fare here is truly standout and so are the funky interiors, resulting in weekend tables being booked-out a month in advance. Most weekends, the team roll through 600 customers per day. There are several "must" dishes on the 50-plus menu, including the Massaman brisket and the chili salt chicken wings. There’s also an on-site cocktail bar open until late, serving weird and wonderful concoctions.
69 Commonwealth St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2010, Australia
Known For
- Superior Southeast Asian food
- Buzzy atmosphere
- Cult following so packed on weekends
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$ | Woollahra |
Few central Sydney restaurants have access to their own homegrown produce, but here in trendy and leafy Woollahra—just a few kilometers east of the city—is an all-white and refreshingly bright restaurant surrounded by formal gardens and a large kitchen garden. Chiswick is all about stylish casual dining using the freshest of produce and a wonderful place to linger over a long lunch on a sunny day. There are small plates for sharing, such as the grilled octopus; large plates for sharing with a group of four (try the lamb from celebrity chef Matt Moran's own farm); and main courses such as the spanner crab casarecci.
65 Ocean St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2025, Australia
Known For
- Hearty meals
- Lively atmosphere
- Great wine list
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$$$$ | City Center |
This elegant, pillared dining room is the perfect setting for showing off chef Peter Doyle's modern, light touch with Mod Oz cuisine. Menu highlights include the prawn tartare and the aged pork loin with rhubarb, mostarda, and cabbage. Finish off with a dessert of intriguing tastes—Earl Grey ice cream with blood orange citrus curd doughnuts and blood orange sorbet. There's also a four-course chef's menu (A$160) and various two-, three-, and four-course lunch options, but no à la carte menu.
252 George St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia
Known For
- <PRO>delicious seafood dishes</PRO>
- <PRO>tasting menu</PRO>
- <PRO>interesting ice-cream desserts</PRO>
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No lunch Sat., Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential
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$ | Surry Hills |
This buzzy little café serves some of the best breakfasts in Surry Hills, which is really saying something as there is plenty of stiff competition in this part of town. Come here for the house-made muesli and organic yogurt or fuel up with the 485—egg, hummus, feta, pilpelchuma chili paste, Israeli pickles, and red cabbage salad on a bagel or pretzel—and wash it down with some ginger turmeric kombucha. Or if you like to start your day with a sugar hit try the French toast stuffed with banana, dulce de leche, and mascrapone. They also do great sandwiches and a wicked double espresso coffee frappé.
485 Crown St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2010, Australia
Known For
- Espresso coffee
- Desserts
- Relaxed atmosphere
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No dinner
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$$ | Paddington |
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.
105 Sutherland St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2021, Australia
Known For
- Relaxed dining
- Pub-style atmosphere
- Boozy Sundays
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon.
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$ | Haymarket |
For two hours—or as long as it takes for you to consume delicately steamed prawns, luscious mud crab with ginger and shallots, and pipis with black-bean sauce—you might as well be in Hong Kong. This place is heaven for seafood lovers, with wall-to-wall fish tanks filled with crab, lobster, abalone, and schools of barramundi, parrotfish, and coral trout. You won't have to ask if the food is fresh: most of it is swimming around you as you eat. Come for the big-ticket seafood or a simple meal of deep-fried duck. Supper is served until 4 am so it's popular with late-night revelers. It's not the prettiest of places and service can be hit-and-miss, but it has a legion of fans.
393–399 Sussex St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia
Known For
- Large range of seafood
- Late-night dining
- Lengthy queue
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$ | Sydney Harbour |
This Belgian chocolate shop has an on-site café offering ice-cold chocolate milk shakes, frothy hot chocolates, and plenty of sweet treats. Circular Quay is packed with restaurants, but this is only one of a few cafés in the area and with views of the harbor if you get a window seat. Open everyday until 6 pm.
Shop 10/3 Macquarie St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia
Known For
- Artisanal chocolate
- Sweet treats
- Water views
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$$$ | City Center |
Once a bit of a run-down pub known as Hotel William, in 2018 it reopened with a new name after a A$5 million refurbishment, and it's since became one of the classiest restaurants in Sydney. There are four levels in total: the ground offers traditional Australian pub fare, the second is a private dining area that can seat up to 250 people, and then there's a swanky cocktail bar but the real jewel here is the rooftop bar and restaurant offering trendy cocktails and a modern Japanese menu of sushi, sashimi, and sizzling plates.
47 William St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia
Known For
- Rooftop restaurant
- Fresh sashimi
- Fun cocktails
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$ | Darlinghurst |
A lot of care goes into the creations in this popular Southeast Asian spot: the pork hock is braised for four hours each night before being pressed and then tossed with homemade chili jam, while coconut milk is smoked overnight and then churned into ice cream in the morning. As delicious and affordable as the sandwiches and dumplings are, be sure to save space for this true star of the show, which is served enveloped in smoke under a glass dome and topped with tender young coconut shavings and a simple pinch of salt.
1/28 Kings La., Sydney, New South Wales, 2010, Australia
Known For
- Smoking coconut ice cream
- Jumbo lunch sandwiches
- Delicious Southeast Asian fare
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$$$ | Darling Harbour |
A bit of a hidden gem, to enter this New Orleans--inspired smokehouse you have to come through a door in an alleyway just off Barangaroo waterfront. Take the elevator up two floors and when the doors open you'll be hit by that incredible American barbecue smell. This 270-seat restaurant has water views, around 500 whiskies and a 2½-meter-long open-grill fire pit and a hickory-packed smoker. The atmosphere is buzzy every night of the week.
100 Barangaroo Ave., Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia
Known For
- Extensive whiskey range
- Authentic smoked meats
- Incredible views
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$ | North Bondi |
Celeb-chef Matt Moran’s much-celebrated beachfront fish-and-chips offering is so much more than just standard fish-and-chips. The ocean views enhance a small and select seafood menu that includes fresh Sydney rock oysters, charcoal-grilled snapper, prawns, salmon, and whole fish of the day. The fancy fish fingers, fish burgers, and classic beer-battered fillets are musts.
120 Ramsgate Ave., Sydney, New South Wales, 2026, Australia
Known For
- Busy and popular spot
- Oceanfront location
- Fun atmosphere
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$$ | Eastern Suburbs |
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.
Area 8, Sydney, New South Wales, 2011, Australia
Known For
- Great waterfront location
- Buzzy weekend atmosphere
- Incredible pasta
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$ | City Center |
Started as a specialty coffee creator, Pablo & Rusty opened a sit-down café back in 2010 and it has been a popular spot for coffee meetups ever since. The interiors are stylish and hip, there are single-origin espressos and sophisticated breakfasts and lunches. There's also outdoor seating.
161 Castlereagh St., Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia
Known For
- Exceptional coffee
- Trendy interiors
- Outdoor seating
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed weekends
