Jasmine Pirovic

It’s time to discard the tired image that solo diners are friendless weirdos. And instead embrace the perks of eating alone. Maybe it’s skipping the queue, or not having to compromise on what you really want to order. Or perhaps you like a little alone time that comes with wine and good food. Whatever it may be, if you’re in Sydney for business, travelling solo, seeking your next food adventure or just looking for some down-time, these are the places that’ll help you finesse your solo-dining ventures, and make you glad you didn’t have to share dessert. Always up for a snack? Here are 50 of Sydney's best cheap eats, not to mention our best ramen (because soup is not a sharing food) and CBD coffee spots.

There's a whole lot of foamy fun to be had over Sydney Beer Week, but to save you having to trawl through the program of hundreds of events we've done the hard yards and put together our top five ace events that you'll want to lock down tickets to in order to avoid severe FOMO. Want more craft beer action year round? Check out Sydney's best brewery bars. Or maybe go on a pub crawl around the Rocks.  RECOMMENDED: The 50 best bars in Sydney.

It was dubbed 'Melbourne’s whitest suburb' by Stuff White People Like author Christian Lander, and nine years later you still need cojones to fly an exotic culinary flag in Fitzroy North. But this 'hood better known for fish and chip shops and an art deco McDonald’s has put out the bunting for a Chilean-Peruvian-Argentinian joint jumping with pisco sours and ceviche. Olé. Citrico inhabits a stretch of Queens Parade criminally under-represented in the decent restaurant stakes. It was once Chianti, a red sauce joint that tottered along for 29 years before being briefly hipsterised. In the hands of new owners Nan Kroll and partner Julio Forteza the tight snug of red brick-lined rooms, now bejewelled with a candy-striped bar and yellow bar stools, blown-glass light pendants and pots of succulents, is the kind of place that finds it remarkably easy to conjure the feeling of a neighbourhood redoubt. It's a place to forget peak hour traffic woes and the office psychopath with the help of a pisco Maria and easy-cheesy quinoa and manchego croquettes with chilli-spiked mayo. Citrico was initially going to be a ceviche bar (Citrico means citrus, after all) but Kroll and Forteza, perhaps wisely, decided to give their new baby broader parameters. Triangulating the food of Chile, Argentina and Peru – the south of South America - might sound like a broad agenda to any natives but to an Aussie audience it translates happily enough to ceviche, and empanadas, and griddle-marked meat flavoured

Higher Dimension Coffee is bringing a different approach to breakfast in Sydney’s CBD. The menu sports dishes with Norwegian, Calabrese and Taiwanese influences, most notably their ‘cloud toast’ which is a popular breakfast dish in Taiwan. The dish features house-made butter on fig and raisin sourdough. The cafe uses beans from Canberra’s Ona roasters and has a rotating ‘top-shelf’ coffee list. Their menu also includes plenty of gluten free and vegetarian options.

The Chinese food chain Beijing Impression has 21 stores across China, Japan and Sydney with its most recent having opened in Haymarket. The 160 seater restaurant will be serving dishes heralding from Beijing, including two-day prepared duck served three ways and a Chinese patented dessert dubbed ‘Honeycomb Briquette’. The dessert is said to be a standout, comprised of fried black rice, it is soaked in fruit and brandy then lit on fire for your entertainment.

The newly refurbished McKinnon Hotel is the place to go if you’re looking for a laugh. They host comedy nights on the last Thursday of every month, featuring Australian comedians like Dave Hughes, Lehmo and Fiona O’Loughlin. With the recent addition of a beer garden and outdoor bistro you have a choice of dining areas for a counter meal of beef pies, chicken schnitzels and cheeseburgers.

The family-owned Italian restaurant chain has extended to Cronulla, serving Caprese salad, calzones, lamb leg ragu and a range of charcuterie and cheese. The new venue has opened in the heritage-listed Commonwealth Bank building and can seat 87, which means you can come in a group, or just drink solo at the bar. On a beautiful day, why not grab take-away and take it down to the beach.

Vecino are fusing the unlikely pairing of Mexican and Korean cuisine in this Canterbury all day eatery. With a menu boasting bulgogi tacos, korean fried chicken and kimchi loaded fries, you can cover two snack destinations in one sitting. The cocktail list does not shy away from theme either; promising tequila and korean rice wine hybrids, as well as frozen Margaritas. If you’re craving something closer to home, don’t worry, they offer red velvet pancakes, avocado toast and other brunch favourites.

Australia’s only brewery dedicated to IPA’s (Indian Pale Ales) has opened its doors to the public in their latest project dubbed the ‘Incubator’. It’s a tasting room where you can enjoy their beers straight from the tanks. The new space is right in the thick of the brewery, so for those wanting to learn more about the hoppy drink, no tours are necessary. Just plonk yourself down at the bar and you’ll be taken through the brewing process while throwing back your pick of any classic or seasonal Fixation beers. And if you’re drinking on an empty stomach, feel free to bring in a meal, with the eateries of Collingwood at your fingertips, choosing is the hard part.