Restaurant recommendations while in Sydney (Australia)?

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I’m flying up to Sydney in a couple of months time with the Mrs for a couple of nights. Staying in the CBD on York St, (no car, but can navigate with PT / taxis), and I need some restaurant recommendations to book.
Looking for recommendations that are nice enough to take the Mrs to (she’s not as much of a fan of dirty street pies, like me), but not too fancy that I’ll need to take out a second mortgage. Not fussed on style of food, I’ll try anything once!
Great food is mandatory though, something to put Melbourne to shame!
 
Oh hell yes.
I went to Tetsuya’s, which was expensive but exquisite as expected.
But the next night we went to Restaurant Hubert: https://swillhouse.com/venues/restaurant-hubert/
Which was about a third of the price and rollicking good fun.
So it’s a dodgy door at street level that leads you down two floors to what could best be described as a Parisian Speakeasy. Live Jazz on stage, intimate seating, a banging drinks menu, French Bistro style menu that is executedwith precision. Speedy service, and a vibe that’s just for kicks. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but nailed everything it did.
We had a hoot.
Bookings mandatory, and the sittings are timed so if you’re looking for a longer dining, maybe consider the later sitting.
Check it out.

This thread has a lot of solid options though
 
A range of budgets and types of dining here as I am not sure what you’re into: Firedoor (this one is in Chef’s Table in Netflix if you want to check it out), Nomad, Nel (depending on the menu - changes minthly), Ms G’s, Apollo, Ch Cho San, Ragazzi, Spice Temple, Porteño.

Been to ester and didn’t think much of it.
 
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I came here to suggest Hubert for a nice night out on the spicy end, but not too destructive to the wallet. Glad to see it mentioned! Once you've been down there for 30 minutes you'll forget what century you're in. You can do walk-ins for the bar, and they have happy hour between 5 and 6pm for a great burger and some other things off the bar menu.

I agree on Ester, and preferred Poly, its more chill sister restaurant. In the same block as Poly is AP Bakery, which is worth a visit for a brunch or pastry. On the other end of the city, but in the pastry world - a lamington from Flour and Stone.

On Charcoal Fish, Josh Niland's Saint Peter just reopened and if it's anything like the OG should be worth a visit if you can get in. I haven't tried Petermen, but it's a less fancy approach in the burbs and has a bar menu as well.

Sydney's food scene has really grown in the last few years, and there's a heap of great casual restaurants and cafes on the affordable end especially.
 
Keithpaints said:
Was wondering is Polynesian food available down under?
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In NZ it's not widely available, but one thing you can find sometimes especially at some community events/festivals is hāngī, food cooked in a pit oven (which I'm sure must share history with Hawaiian food). Meat, root vegetables such as sweet potato, vegetables, and it can include a stuffing which is seasoned similarly to American Thanksgiving stuffing. There's also some Samoan food. But these aren't commonly available in restaurants. Wellington had a high end Māori restaurant called Hiakai, but I never managed to get a reservation (they got snapped up instantly), and it has closed.
 
Thanks a lot for the tips everyone, and keep them coming please if there are any more! I'm sure they'll be helpful for other readers too, not just me. I'm headed to Sydney tomorrow. Hubert doesn't seem to have bookings available, but maybe I'll try a walk-in on a weeknight. Saint Peter is super intriguing but gave me some sticker shock when I saw the price has gone up to AU$275 per person. Will be looking more at the other places mentioned too, much appreciated.

(EDIT: By the way I would be into Japanese/sushi suggestions, on my one previous visit it seemed to be a good city for that. Also into Lebanese, Greek... well all kinds of food really!)
 
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Would add 10 William as a super strong recommendation - not in the CBD, but only a little way up Oxford St. Bistecca in the CBD and Pellegrino 2000 in Surry Hills are both also great. And to round out an unintentionally Italian-influenced list, Alberto’s lounge on the CBD/Surry Hills border is very good also imo.

Also can’t go wrong with pretty much any of the suggestions so far (and too many more to mention)
 
Beerzebub said:
Thanks a lot for the tips everyone, and keep them coming please if there are any more! I'm sure they'll be helpful for other readers too, not just me. I'm headed to Sydney tomorrow. Hubert doesn't seem to have bookings available, but maybe I'll try a walk-in on a weeknight. Saint Peter is super intriguing but gave me some sticker shock when I saw the price has gone up to AU$275 per person. Will be looking more at the other places mentioned too, much appreciated.

(EDIT: By the way I would be into Japanese/sushi suggestions, on my one previous visit it seemed to be a good city for that. Also into Lebanese, Greek... well all kinds of food really!)
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I have heard good things about Kuon in Haymarket for kaiseki/omakase, although haven’t tried it personally, but can def recommend Chaco (either Surry or Potts Point) as a less formal/expensive (but still not super cheap) option.

For Lebanese the best options are out in the western suburbs, but Emma’s in Enmore is pretty great, and there are some old school mainstays on Cleveland St. There’s also Nour which gets a bit of buzz but which I know nothing about.
 
enchappo said:
Alberto’s lounge on the CBD/Surry Hills border is very good also imo
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Went there tonight and it was excellent, had the cecci fritti with white anchovy (tiny but delicious); linguine al nero with Spencer Gulf king prawns, saffron and cuttlefish ink; and a glass of Timorasso. Cheers!
 
Beerzebub said:
Went there tonight and it was excellent, had the cecci fritti with white anchovy (tiny but delicious); linguine al nero with Spencer Gulf king prawns, saffron and cuttlefish ink; and a glass of Timorasso. Cheers!
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Glad to hear it! Sorry about the grim weather we’re laying on for you…
 
enchappo said:
Glad to hear it! Sorry about the grim weather we’re laying on for you…
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Haha, coming from Wellington I'm not complaining at all, it's like a mini summer here. I just looked up the weather, it's 4 degrees there and 13 here. And it was pouring when I left; at the airport in Sydney some of the baggage was dropping onto the carousel still dripping.
 
Rockpool Sydney is actually good (not like the Melbourne one).
Buon Ricordo is really nice
 
enchappo said:
I have heard good things about Kuon in Haymarket for kaiseki/omakase, although haven’t tried it personally, but can def recommend Chaco (either Surry or Potts Point) as a less formal/expensive (but still not super cheap) option.

For Lebanese the best options are out in the western suburbs, but Emma’s in Enmore is pretty great, and there are some old school mainstays on Cleveland St. There’s also Nour which gets a bit of buzz but which I know nothing about.
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Nour is meh. Been a few times for various occasions. Nothing special.
 
Chops Burtington said:
I don't know if you guys saw the blowup about Swillhouse this week (original SMH article / behind a paywall), good timing after we suggested so many of the places
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enchappo said:
Was thinking exactly the same thing
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Thanks for posting this, I was on the bus to Hubert when I saw it and just got off at the next stop and went to the closest Japanese place. It turned out to be pretty decent actually, place called Kazan. Had veg tempura, scallop and kingfish nigiri (double order of the kingfish), and glasses of tengumai yamahai sake and an aged Hunter Valley Semillon. The kingfish was especially good, and it had a green chili garnish on it that paired well with the Semillon I thought. And the sushi came with real grated wasabi which I'm a bit of a sucker for.
 
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