The Top 100 Places to Eat Near Carte
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A Victorian terrace on Glebe Point Road that was once a private investigator's office, which may explain why the atmosphere feels like it has something to hide. It's a wine bar and restaurant loosely inspired by Mexican flavours, though the menu roams freely: dry-aged sirloin, barramundi, tres leches cake. Whitewashed walls and open fireplaces keep things easy, and the Australian Good Food Guide gave it a Chef Hat.
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Rank 3. Ester Restaurant and Bar
Italian
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Rank 4. Chez Beckett's
Modern French
Softly lit and tucked into Chippendale's Kensington Street, Chez Beckett's is a modern French bistro where the industrial bones of the building meet white-tablecloth formality without feeling stuffy. The menu leans into the classics, escargots, tartare, duck, done with Australian seasonal produce threaded through. The wine list is curated and the cocktails are genuinely considered, which the after-work crowd in the corner seems to have figured out already.
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Rank 6. Kindred
Italian
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Rank 7. Firedoor
Modern Australian
Every morning the menu is written from scratch based on what came in and how the fire is burning, because Firedoor runs on Australian hardwoods alone, no gas, no electricity. Lennox Hastie's Surry Hills restaurant is a serious, sit-down affair where the open kitchen keeps the work visible and the point is restraint, not theatre. It sits at number eleven on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list, which tells you something about the aged ribeye.
- World's 101 Best #11 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats
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Rank 8. Kuon Omakase
Sushi
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Rank 9. Attenzione Food & Wine
Italian
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Rank 10. Cafe Paci
Modern Australian
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Rank 11. Fontana
Italian
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Rank 12. Atelier By Sofitel
French
South of France cooking in a Darling Harbour hotel, with wine racks lining the walls and a menu that leans on local produce shaped into something unmistakably French. The kitchen uses coal and char alongside classical technique, so there's smoke and richness alongside the bright, coastal flavors you'd expect. A polished, unhurried kind of dinner, the sort where you dress up a little and nobody feels self-conscious about it. The Australian Good Food Guide awards it two Chef Hats.
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Rank 13. ANTE
Modern Australian
- Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best International Restaurant Bar
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Rank 14. Ennui
Modern Australian
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Rank 15. BTWN
Modern New American
Darling Harbour views frame every table at this theatrical modern Australian share-plates restaurant inside W Sydney. The menu leans on local growers and coastal producers, with wild-caught seafood making a strong case for itself as the room fills and the energy climbs toward something noticeably louder than dinner. The Australian Good Food Guide awarded it a Chef Hat.
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Rank 16. Porteño
Tapas
The open grill is the room's focal point, its smoke threading through exposed brick and vintage clutter to announce that this is an Argentine asado restaurant, not a steakhouse cosplaying as one. Surry Hills regulars fill the long tables for dry-aged beef cooked over fire with patience rather than theatre, and a wine list that runs Buenos Aires and Barossa in easy company. It placed 36th on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list.
- World's 101 Best #36 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat
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Rank 17. Nel Restaurant
Modern Australian
Fine dining that occasionally serves fried chicken and doughnuts without any apparent shame. Nel runs a rotating 11-course degustation in a moody CBD room of exposed brick and open kitchen, where the theme changes entirely and regulars come back to see what the kitchen has cooked up next. The format is unmistakably tasting-menu serious; the attitude is something else. Three Chef Hats from the Australian Good Food Guide.
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Rank 18. Allta
Korean
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Rank 19. Bastardo
Italian
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Rank 20. Gildas
Spanish
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A Surry Hills spot where Australian and Asian cooking get folded into each other in ways that feel less like fusion and more like a genuine point of view. The menu shifts familiar territory into something harder to categorize, which is either exciting or unsettling depending on your mood. The room is small enough that the kitchen's curiosity feels personal. It holds a Chef Hat from the Australian Good Food Guide.
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Rank 22. Prefecture 48
Japanese
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Rank 23. Restaurant Garaku
Japanese
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Rank 24. PELLEGRINO 2000
Italian
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Rank 25. Sokyo
Japanese
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Rank 26. The Blue Door
Modern Australian
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Rank 27. Omakase by Prefecture 48
Modern Australian
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Rank 28. Ibushi Robata Grill
Japanese
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Rank 29. Nomad Sydney
Middle Eastern
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Rank 30. Bar Copains
Modern Australian
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Rank 31. Haco
Japanese
Charcoal grilling and tempura in the same omakase menu sounds like a contradiction until you sit at the counter and watch the chef make it feel inevitable. Haco is a compact Japanese fine dining room in the Sydney CBD, built around a single tasting progression you watch unfold in front of you. The name means theatre in Japanese, which the room leans into without apology. It holds two Chef Hats from the Australian Good Food Guide.
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Rank 32. Shaffa
Middle Eastern
Sandwiched between two heritage sandstone buildings down a Surry Hills laneway, Shaffa is a Middle Eastern restaurant and bar built around shared plates and a deliberately festive mood. The space pulls from the energy of a bazaar, all bold spices and low lighting, and it suits a long table of friends more than a quiet Tuesday. The Australian Good Food Guide awarded it a Chef Hat.
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Rank 33. SOUL Dining
Korean
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Rank 34. Mister Grotto
Seafood
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Rank 36. Osteria Mucca
Italian
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Rank 37. Kuro Bar & Dining
Japanese
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Rank 38. Bessie's & Alma's
Modern Australian
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Rank 39. LuMi Bar & Dining
Italian
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Rank 41. White Horse
Modern Australian
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Rank 42. Ito Restaurant
Japanese
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Rank 43. Palazzo Salato
Italian
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Rank 44. Edition Roasters
Coffee
- Asian Coffee Map Essential Coffee Shops in Sydney
- Asian Coffee Map Where to Drink Coffee in Sydney
- Asian Coffee Map 10 Best Specialty Cafes & Coffee Shops in Sydney
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Rank 45. Nour
Lebanese
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Rank 46. Clarence and V
Modern Australian
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Rank 47. Armorica
French
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Rank 48. Kiln
Modern Australian
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Rank 49. R by Raita Noda.
Japanese
An open kitchen doubles as a stage at this omakase and theater dining restaurant in Redfern, where two chefs work in near-silence while guests sit close enough to hear the knife. The rain-inspired interior tilts quiet and contemplative, which sets the right mood for a meal built around precision and patience. Chef Raita Noda has been running omakase in Sydney for years, and this is his latest, most considered room.
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Rank 50. Aalia
Middle Eastern
Open-fire Middle Eastern cooking in the Sydney CBD, where ironbark wood and charcoal from the Blue Mountains do the structural work rather than playing atmosphere. The kitchen pulls from Levantine and North African tradition, including medieval Arabic manuscripts, and the debt shows in the layering of spice rather than any museum-piece earnestness. It landed at number 14 on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list, though it behaves nothing like a steakhouse.
- World's 101 Best #14 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats
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Rank 51. Esteban
Mexican
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Rank 52. The Grill at The International
Modern Australian
Harbour views through floor-to-ceiling glass, leather banquettes, and Australian art on the walls set the tone at this upscale steak restaurant inside Sydney's International Hotel. The kitchen dry-ages Wagyu and pasture-raised beef in-house, then cooks over wood and charcoal with the confidence of people who don't need to explain themselves. It landed at number 33 on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list, which tracks.
- World's 101 Best #33 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat
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Rank 54. Amuro
Japanese
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Rank 55. Sydney Common
Modern Australian
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Rank 57. The Charles
French
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Rank 58. Jane
Modern Australian
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Rank 59. Sala
Italian
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Rank 60. Infinity at Sydney Tower
Modern Australian
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A neon-lit basement off York Street designed to feel like a gambling den, which sets the mood pretty squarely. Hustlers. Syd is a shared-plates Asian restaurant built for late nights, with a menu that roams across the continent and a cocktail list that keeps pace. The Australian Good Food Guide gave it a Chef Hat. Come with people you like sharing with, and don't schedule anything early the next morning.
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Rank 62. Maiz Mexican Food
Mexican
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Rank 63. arthur
Modern Australian
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Rank 64. Eleven Barrack
Modern Australian
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- Asian Coffee Map Where to Drink Coffee in Sydney
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Rank 66. Shell House
Modern Australian
A beautifully restored heritage building in the CBD sets the stage: high ceilings, original detailing, and a terrace that opens toward the skyline. Shell House is a contemporary steakhouse where the kitchen dry-ages Australian beef before it meets an open fire grill, with the wider menu showing the same restraint. It landed at number 85 on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list, which should tell you roughly what the room expects of you, dress-wise.
- World's 101 Best #85 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat
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Rank 68. Morena
Modern Australian
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Rank 69. Rockpool Bar & Grill
Modern Australian
The Art Deco banking hall on Hunter Street sets the stage: marble columns, dark timber, and a warm golden light that makes a Wednesday feel like an occasion. This is a steakhouse, and the beef programme is the point, with dry-aged cuts cooked over a wood and charcoal grill. The wine list is one of the more serious in the country. Ranked 38th on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list, which seems about right for a room this sure of itself.
- World's 101 Best #38 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide 13/20 · One Chef Hat
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Rank 70. Saint Peter
Modern Australian
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Rank 71. Firepop
Modern Australian
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Rank 72. Vineria Luisa
Italian
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Rank 74. Beta Coffee
Coffee
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- Asian Coffee Map Sydney Coffee Map for First-Time Visitors
- Asian Coffee Map Where to Drink Coffee in Sydney
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Rank 76. Maydanoz
Turkish
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Rank 77. Restaurant Leo
Italian
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Rank 79. Sixpenny
Modern Australian
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Rank 81. Woodcut
Modern Australian
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Rank 82. Al Taglio
Pizza
Roman-style pizza by the slice in a small, pretty room on one of Surry Hills' better streets, with a courtyard that fills up when the weather cooperates. The dough gets a long ferment, which gives it the structure to carry serious toppings drawn from Italian regional traditions without going soggy. Appetizers, salads, a pasta or two, and desserts round things out. The cocktail list gets more attention than you'd expect from a slice shop.
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Rank 83. Yoshii’s Omakase
Japanese
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Rank 84. Reuben Hills
Coffee
- Asian Coffee Map Your Guide to Coffee in Sydney
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Rank 85. Kazan Dining
Japanese
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Rank 86. Normcore Coffee
Coffee
- Asian Coffee Map Essential Coffee Shops in Sydney
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Rank 87. a'Mare
Italian
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Rank 88. Restaurant Ka
Modern Australian
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Rank 89. Leible Coffee
Coffee
- Asian Coffee Map Sydney Coffee Guide for Travelers
- Asian Coffee Map Essential Coffee Shops in Sydney
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Rank 90. Viand
Thai
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Rank 91. Spice Temple Sydney
Chinese
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Rank 92. Mr Wong
Chinese
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Rank 93. Restaurant Hubert
French
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Rank 94. Matkim
Korean
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Rank 95. ARIA Sydney
Modern Australian
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Rank 97. Skittle Lane
Coffee
A specialty coffee shop tucked into King Street in the CBD, Skittle Lane keeps things spare and deliberate, the kind of minimalist fit-out that makes you notice the coffee instead of the furniture. The focus is on single-origin brews alongside pastries for when a flat white alone feels insufficient. Office workers on a tight clock and laptop regulars settling in for the afternoon tend to coexist without much friction.
- Asian Coffee Map 10 Best Specialty Cafes & Coffee Shops in Sydney
- Asian Coffee Map Sydney Coffee Guide for Travelers
- Asian Coffee Map Sydney Coffee Map for First-Time Visitors
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Rank 98. Margaret
Modern Australian
Neil Perry's wood-fired grill restaurant in Double Bay sits at number two on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list, which is about as specific an endorsement as the universe offers. The open kitchen keeps the focus on dry-aged beef and whatever came off a boat that morning, and the room follows the same logic: nothing is there to impress you, which is exactly why it does. Australian producers run the whole show, pasture to coast.
- World's 101 Best #2 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide 14/20 · Two Chef Hats
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Rank 99. Lana
Italian
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Rank 100. 20 Chapel
Steak
An in-house dry-ageing room in an old industrial space in Marrickville sets the tone for what this open-fire steakhouse is about: Australian beef handled with patience, then finished over live flame with more discipline than drama. The room keeps the building's bones exposed, the service keeps the formality in its pocket, and the whole place carries the quiet confidence of somewhere that doesn't need to explain itself. It landed at number 59 on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list.
- World's 101 Best #59 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat