Monday, August 31, 2026

The Top 100 Places to Eat Near Lilymu


  1. Rank 2. Oribu

    Japanese

    A live olive tree strung with fairy lights sits at the center of the room, which tells you immediately that Oribu is playing a longer game than your average Japanese restaurant. This is fine dining, rooftop, Parramatta's first of its kind, built around omakase platters and wagyu with choppped wasabi and sansho salt. The Australian Good Food Guide gave it a Chef Hat. Theatrics are part of the deal, and the bar is a reasonable place to start.



  2. Rank 4. Quoi Dining

    Modern French

    A lakeside dining room tucked beside Norwest Lake in the Hills District, Quoi Dining runs a modern French menu with Australian produce woven through it. The setting is quiet enough that conversation doesn't compete with anything, which suits the careful, technique-forward cooking. It's a fine-dining room that draws the special-occasion crowd, and the Australian Good Food Guide has given it a Chef Hat.


  3. Rank 5. Newmarket Room

    Modern Australian

    The dining room at this Warwick Farm restaurant sits inside the Inglis bloodstock complex, and the horse-world setting is not subtle. It's a Modern Australian restaurant where the alfresco terrace looks out over riverside stables, which makes for a more distinctive backdrop than most. The menu runs to butter-poached lobster and pressed lamb shoulder, and the cocktail list takes itself seriously enough to earn its own paragraph in the menu.


  4. Rank 6. MAGMA by Dany Karam

    Flame-led Steakhouse

    The open grill at the center of the room sets the agenda here: this is a flame-led steakhouse inside a Western Sydney club, and Dany Karam runs it with the kind of seriousness that earns a spot on the World's 101 Best Steak Restaurants list. The kitchen dry-ages beef with patience, has access to whole-carcass Wagyu, and doesn't pretend the grill is the only idea. The copper-and-marble room seats six meters high but still reads warm.


  5. Rank 7. Saint Peter

    Modern Australian


  6. An Italian restaurant set inside a converted house on the edge of Sydney's Hills District, with bushland visible from the dining room and a sommelier who takes the wine list seriously. The kitchen turns out modern Italian cooking that keeps one foot in tradition, and the room is warm enough that a long dinner here feels like a reasonable way to spend an evening. The Australian Good Food Guide awarded it a Chef Hat.


  7. Rank 9. Brasserie 1930

    Modern Australian


  8. Rank 10. Sixpenny

    Modern Australian


  9. Rank 11. 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.


  10. Rank 12. 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.


  11. Rank 13. Seven Spices

    Modern Indian

    A tandoor and a dosa menu in the same room as chilli saffron foam tells you everything about where Seven Spices is headed. It's a modern Indian restaurant in Lane Cove that pulls from street food, slow curries, and flame-cooked classics without treating any of them as lesser than the others. The room skews toward families and celebrations, and the Australian Good Food Guide awarded it a Chef Hat.



  12. 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.


  13. 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.


  14. Rank 17. 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.


  15. Rank 18. 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.


  16. 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.


  17. Rank 20. 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.



  18. Rank 22. ARIA Sydney

    Modern Australian


  19. Neil Perry's Italian restaurant in Double Bay is built around the aperitivo rhythm: Martinis and spritzes arrive first, then antipasti, housemade pasta, seafood, and steak. The beef program leans into rare Australian breeds, including grass-fed Chianina, cooked simply enough that the sourcing does the talking. Ranked 27th on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list, though the room reads more like a generous Italian trattoria than a temple to beef.





  20. Rank 27. Bennelong

    Modern Australian


  21. Rank 28. 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.



  22. 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.


  23. Rank 31. Yellow

    Vegetarian


  24. Rank 32. Coya Sydney

    Middle Eastern


  25. Rank 33. Annata

    Modern European New American

    The wine list runs to over 200 bottles, with forty-odd available by the glass, which tells you what Annata is really about before you've even looked at the food menu. It's a modern European bistro on the Lower North Shore, the kind of neighbourhood place where the kitchen sends out precise seasonal cooking and the room genuinely expects you to linger. The alfresco garden is dog-friendly, the set menu comes with wine pairings built in, and locals treat it like a second living room.







  26. Rank 39. Firepop

    Modern Australian



  27. Moored at D'Albora Marinas with water views in every direction, this is a fine-dining Italian seafood restaurant where the cocktail and gelato bar sits centre stage like it owns the room. The menu skips meat entirely, leaning into sustainable seafood prepared with enough technique to keep things interesting without taking itself too seriously. A Three Chef Hat winner from the Australian Good Food Guide, it draws a crowd that dresses up slightly but still orders dessert without guilt.


  28. Rank 42. Lana

    Italian




  29. Rank 45. Sala

    Italian




  30. Rank 48. 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.


  31. Rank 49. Allta

    Korean


  32. Rank 50. Gildas

    Spanish


  33. Rank 51. Sokyo

    Japanese



  34. 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.


  35. Rank 54. Cafe Paci

    Modern Australian


  36. Rank 55. ANTE

    Modern Australian


  37. Rank 56. White Horse

    Modern Australian


  38. The open kitchen sends smoke and char into a sleek dining room of soft light and dark wood on Miller Street in North Sydney. Toki is a fusion bistro and bar where the menu leans toward big-format sharing, think tomahawk steaks and beef tartare dressed with tendon crisps and caviar. The cocktail bar pulls its own weight. The Australian Good Food Guide awarded it a Chef Hat.


  39. White tablecloths, chandelier lighting, and walls hung with artwork set the tone at this Italian restaurant in North Sydney, where the menu leans on tradition without pretending the last few decades of cooking didn't happen. The room is housed in a heritage building that gives it the kind of bones a fit-out budget alone can't buy. It holds an Australian Good Food Guide Chef Hat.


  40. Rank 59. RAFI

    Modern Australian


  41. Rank 60. a'Mare

    Italian


  42. Rank 61. Restaurant Ka

    Modern Australian



  43. Rank 63. Sails on Lavender Bay

    Modern Australian


  44. Rank 64. Poetica Bar & Grill

    Modern Australian


  45. Rank 65. Franca Brasserie

    Mediterranean


  46. Rank 66. Woodcut

    Modern Australian



  47. Rank 68. Bar Lettera

    Italo-Australian Italian

    Marble counters meet raw hardwood on the fifth floor of a North Sydney hotel, setting the scene for a wine bar and all-day Italian restaurant that leans into Italo-Australian cooking: pasta with native Davidson plum, burrata alongside local persimmon. The room is polished without being stiff, and the menu moves comfortably from a working breakfast through to sharing plates over a bottle in the evening.


  48. Rank 69. 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.




  49. Rank 72. Mode Kitchen & Bar

    Modern Australian New American

    Polished wood, statement pendants, and banquette seating set the tone at this CBD bistro, which sits somewhere between a long working lunch and a proper dinner out. The kitchen leans Modern Australian, wood-roasting and slow-braising its way through a menu that reads relaxed but cooks with more ambition than the room lets on. An Australian Good Food Guide Hat for the effort.


  50. Rank 73. Clarence and V

    Modern Australian







  51. Rank 79. Bistro George

    European-Australian New American

    A European-Australian bistro a short walk from Circular Quay, Bistro George holds an Australian Good Food Guide Hat and pitches itself at the full range: solo bar snacks, work lunches, leisurely dinners. The menu leans on local produce and lands somewhere between Continental and modern Australian, with a wine list broad enough to keep both the table orderer and the sommelier-curious happy.


  52. Rank 80. Mr Wong

    Chinese


  53. 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.


  54. Rank 82. Eleven Barrack

    Modern Australian



  55. Rank 84. Besuto

    Japanese


  56. Rank 85. Morena

    Modern Australian


  57. Rank 86. Esteban

    Mexican


  58. A share-format Modern Australian restaurant near Circular Quay, Silvester's sits on a corner that's had butchers and serious produce on it for generations. The menu moves from smaller plates through to bigger dishes, building in a way that feels designed rather than accidental. The room leans convivial rather than hushed. An Australian Good Food Guide Chef Hat.









  59. Rank 95. Kiln

    Modern Australian


  60. Rank 96. 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.






Recents

  • No recent searches yet.

Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

    How we score →

    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

      How we score →

      Stay Score

      The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. It runs on the scored places nearby: more good stuff within reach, higher score. If it looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.