The Best Middle Eastern Food in Sydney
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The best Middle Eastern food in Sydney, according to the experts: the World's 101 Best, the Australian Good Food Guide, and Eater have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Aalia comes out on top.
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Coya Sydney and Nomad Sydney hold the next two places. The Australian Good Food Guide shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with Eater next.
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Rank 1. 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.
The awards
- World's 101 Best World's 101 Best: #14 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide Australian Good Food Guide: 15/20 · Two Chef Hats
- Eater Eater: The 38 Best Restaurants in Sydney, Australia
- World's 101 Best #14 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Australian Good Food Guide 15/20 · Two Chef Hats
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Sydney, Australia
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Rank 2. Coya Sydney
Middle Eastern
The awards
- Australian Good Food Guide Australian Good Food Guide: 13/20 · One Chef Hat
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Rank 2. Nomad Sydney
Middle Eastern
The awards
- Australian Good Food Guide Australian Good Food Guide: 13/20 · One Chef Hat
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Rank 2. Nour
Lebanese
The awards
- Australian Good Food Guide Australian Good Food Guide: 13/20 · One Chef Hat
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Rank 2. 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.
The awards
- Australian Good Food Guide Australian Good Food Guide: 12/20 · One Chef Hat
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Rank 6. El Jannah Granville
Lebanese
The charcoal smoke rolling out toward Granville Station has been redirecting commuters for decades. This is a Lebanese charcoal chicken shop, the original location of a Sydney institution, and the garlic sauce has generated enough devotion to spawn interstate outposts and genuinely long queues. Chicken, chips, and that sauce are the move, though the hot chips roll has its own following. Simple, cash-friendly, and absolutely not somewhere you walk past without stopping.
The awards
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Rank 6. Yum Yum Bakery
Lebanese
The awarma and egg pizza here tells a small family history: confit lamb preserved through Lebanese winters, combined with a daughter's preference for sunny-side-up eggs, folded into a man'oushe. This old-school Lebanese flatbread house in Guildford has been around forever, and the menu has grown to include things like a haloumi spring roll wrapped in deep-fried phyllo with za'atar, which is either an identity crisis or a perfectly reasonable Tuesday lunch.
The awards