The Top 100 Places to Eat in Sydney
The best places to eat in Sydney, by the professional record: 50 Best, Australian Good Food Guide, and World's 101 Best have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Saint Peter comes out on top.
Aalia and Firedoor hold the next two places. Australian Good Food Guide shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with World's 101 Best next.
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Rank 1. Saint Peter
Modern Australian
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Rank 2. 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 2. 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 2. 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 5. Gran Torino
Italian
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.
- World's 101 Best #27 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide 12/20 · One Chef Hat
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Rank 5. 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 5. 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 5. 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 9. 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
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Rank 9. ARIA Sydney
Modern Australian
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Rank 9. 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 9. Sixpenny
Modern Australian
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Rank 14. Bennelong
Modern Australian
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Rank 14. LuMi Bar & Dining
Italian
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Rank 14. 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 14. Pilu At Freshwater
Italian
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Rank 14. Yellow
Vegetarian
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Rank 14. Yoshii’s Omakase
Japanese
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Rank 20. Allta
Korean
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Rank 20. Arrana
Modern Australian
Native Australian ingredients anchor the menu at this fine dining room in Springwood, where the Blue Mountains are less a backdrop than an active ingredient. The kitchen leans into the landscape, pulling flavors from country the Gundungurra and Darug peoples have known far longer than any restaurant critic. The room is intimate and unhurried, the kind of place where the service notices things. Two Chef Hats from the Australian Good Food Guide.
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Rank 20. 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 20. Bathers' Pavilion Restaurant
Modern Australian
Floor-to-ceiling windows frame Balmoral Beach from every seat, which makes the nautical theme feel earned rather than decorative. This is a fine-dining restaurant on the Sydney Harbour foreshore, all French blue linen and an open kitchen that spills into a lounge furnished with Moroccan rugs. The chef came up through Sixpenny, and the seasonal menu leans into the harbour setting without hammering the point. A 350-bottle wine list and two Good Food Guide Chef Hats.
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Rank 20. Catalina Restaurant
Modern Australian
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Rank 20. Civico 47
Italian
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Rank 20. Franca Brasserie
Mediterranean
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Rank 20. Gildas
Spanish
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Rank 20. 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 20. Kuro Bar & Dining
Japanese
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Rank 20. Lana
Italian
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Rank 20. Matkim
Korean
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Rank 20. Mimi's
Modern Australian
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Rank 20. Prefecture 48
Japanese
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Rank 20. Restaurant Garaku
Japanese
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Rank 20. Restaurant Ka
Modern Australian
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Rank 20. Sushi Oe
Sushi
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Rank 20. White Horse
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. 10 William Street
Italian
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Rank 41. a'Mare
Italian
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Rank 41. Abhi's
Indian
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Rank 41. Amuro
Japanese
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Rank 41. 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.
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Rank 41. 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 41. Antica Dining
Italian
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.
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Rank 41. Armorica
French
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Rank 41. arthur
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. Attenzione Food & Wine
Italian
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Rank 41. Bar Copains
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. Bar Infinita
Italian
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Rank 41. 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.
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Rank 41. Bastardo
Italian
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Rank 41. Bessie's & Alma's
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. Besuto
Japanese
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Rank 41. 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.
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Rank 41. Bistro Rex
French
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Rank 41. Brasserie 1930
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. 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 41. Cafe Paci
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. 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 41. Cho Cho San
Japanese
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Rank 41. Clarence and V
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. Coya Sydney
Middle Eastern
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Rank 41. CRICCA
Italian
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Rank 41. Eleven Barrack
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. Ennui
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. Entrata
Italian
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.
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Rank 41. Esteban
Mexican
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Rank 41. Figo Restaurant & Bar
Italian
Velvet booths, wine racks floor to ceiling, and exposed concrete that somehow pulls it all together: Figo is an Italian restaurant and cocktail bar in Rushcutters Bay doing the kind of old-school Roman trattoria thing Sydney never tires of. Pappardelle with osso buco ragu is the move, and the tiramisu arrives exactly as it should. A One Chef Hat from the Australian Good Food Guide keeps the regulars feeling quietly smug about their standing reservation.
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Rank 41. Fior
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. Firepop
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. Fontana
Italian
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Rank 41. Fred's
Modern Australian
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A share-plates restaurant on a quiet Neutral Bay street where the menu leans into modern fusion and the room splits the difference between date night and group dinner with equal comfort. The wine list is considered and cocktails get proper attention. It holds an Australian Good Food Guide Chef Hat, which tracks with the polish on the plate without tipping the mood into somewhere you'd feel underdressed in a nice jacket.
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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 41. Ibushi Robata Grill
Japanese
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Rank 41. Infinity at Sydney Tower
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. Ito Restaurant
Japanese
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Rank 41. Jane
Modern Australian
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Floor-to-ceiling glass frames an unbroken view over Whale Beach, and every table in the dining room faces it, which sounds like a marketing promise until you're actually sitting there. Jonah's is a European-leaning coastal restaurant with a seasonal menu built around local produce, the kind of place where the ocean does a lot of the heavy lifting and the kitchen is polite enough to keep up. Smart enough for a long lunch, a little dressed-up for dinner.
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Rank 41. Kazan Dining
Japanese
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Rank 41. Kiln
Modern Australian
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Rank 41. Kindred
Italian
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Rank 41. Kisuke
Japanese
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Rank 41. Kuon Omakase
Sushi
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Rank 41. L'Heritage
French
A converted Navy drill hall on a Mosman wharf, with national park on one side and harbour on the other, is doing a lot of the heavy lifting before the food even arrives. L'Heritage is a French bistro and brasserie that leans into the classics, escargot, beef tartare, duck à l'orange, dry-aged steak, cooked with Australian produce and served without the stiffness those dishes sometimes attract. The setting alone tends to silence the table.
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Rank 41. Loulou Bistro
French
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Rank 41. Maiz Mexican Food
Mexican
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Rank 41. Maydanoz
Turkish