Sydney’s 19 must-eat dishes

Bills is as synonymous with Sydney as that pool in Bondi. And the must-order at this sunny eatery is the ricotta hotcakes. Light, fluffy and served with a sweet honeycomb butter and slices of banana, the hotcakes are verging on dessert territory. The sweetes possible start to the day. A classic for a reason – get amongst it.

Of course 10 William Street’s pretzel with whipped bottarga is on the list of Sydney’s most iconic dishes. Of course! We’re not monsters. A Sydney staple, a life-enhancing snack, heaven on a plate. Call it what you want, but 10 William Street has been knowing what’s up since 2010 – and us Sydneysiders are so lucky to have witnessed the sky-high magic.

Clams. On a pizza. It sounds too crazy to work. The little tender clams are steamed and pried from their shells, while the broth is cooked down with white wine and cream until it achieves an intense concentrated chowder flavour. They spread it over the top and then apply a liberal sprinkling of parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice before it slides into the shiny red wood-fired oven that is radiating heat out from the centre of the restaurant. The resulting wafer-thin, charred, bubbling disc gives spaghetti vongole a run for its money as the gold-standard carb/shellfish combo. 

There are lots of places in Sydney that make excellent banh mi – and Marrickville Pork Roll has got to be the most popular. So popular that there are now two Marrickville Pork Roll stores in Marrickville – and other stores dotted all over the city. There’s always a line snacking out the door, and after one bite you’ll get why. Crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, the baguette is loaded with crackling, pork belly and pâté with fresh salad, herbs and chilli. It’s so good you’ll want two.

Josh Niland is as much of a wizard as the folks down at Hogwarts – he's transformed how the world thinks about (and eats) seafood. Case in point: his yellowfin tuna cheeseburger, layered with cheese, mustard, pickles and fermented onion burger sauce, which legit tastes like a rocking beef burger. You can add smoked Murray cod bacon if you want to amp it up – and we reckon you should.

There's lots of incredible Lebanese food throughout Sydney, but when it comes to delicious value, you can't go past Jasmin 1's Mixed Plate. It depends how big an appetite you have, but the $20 Mixed Plate (with flavour-filled falafels, chicken, kafta skewer, kibbeh, grilled chillies, hommus, baba ganoush, tabouli, grilled chillies and bread – just the way Sitti made it) is pretty much enough to feed two. There are also hearty veggie and seafood options.

Totti’s bread is more famous than Sydney's real housewives. It arrives puffed up like a football, blackened and charred, ready for you to rip it open and let the hot steam rise (and get a budget facial at the same time). It’s a cracking bread – and the perfect thing to pair with creamy burrata, salty prosciutto and sweet melon, plus a coupla glasses of rosé.

The roast chicken at Sean’s is as glorious as the Bondi institution’s surf views and homely dining room. The brined and roasted chook have been on the menu for nearly 30 years, and it’s not hard to see why. Succulent, flavourful and juicy with a golden skin, the chook is served with a glossy jus and roast vegetables. It’s an unpretentious and utterly delicious plate of food, and one we’re keen to eat for another 30.

The Woon family first opened Malay Chinese in 1987. There have been iterations of the eatery around the city ever since, and nowadays outposts are found in Ashfield and Circular Quay. We reckon their chicken and prawn laska is one of the best in town. Rich, creamy and layered, the broth is fragrant thanks to galangal, ginger and garlic and sweetened with palm sugar. It surrounds a mountain of vermicelli noodles dotted with silky chicken, plump prawns and tofu puffs that look like honeycomb. Our tip? Don’t wear white.

With a double beef patty, cheddar and pickles, The Gidley’s burger is a thing of beauty. Which makes sense, when you consider that the handsome subterranean steakhouse is by the team behind Bistecca – one of the world’s best steak restaurants. You can go all out and add bacon and egg to your burg, and why the hell wouldn’t you?

From the pork and fennel or lamb and harissa sausage rolls to the buttery pies, bolognese sandwiches, perfect loaves of sourdough and trays of assorted sweetcakes (we dig the sugar scrolls and the teeny ginger brulee tarts), there’s a lot to love at Bourke Street Bakery. But our heart is forever set on the chocolate ganache tart. Velvety milk chocolate ganache on the inside, with a buttery, crumbly shortcrust pastry, it’s heaven in a bite.

Both the flavour and texture of these chewy, hand-pulled noodles are bang on at Xi’an Eatery. Named after the noise the noodles make when you slap them against the table, these wide ribbons are handmade daily; folded with pork, scrambled egg, tomato and potato; and doused in chilli oil (if you dare). You can also order the biang biang cold with cucumbers or in bright green form (courtesy of blended spinach). The best part? A umami-packed bowl will cost you less than $20.

For more than 14 years, Gumshara has been stealing hearts and gaining fans for its collagen-enriched noodle soup made using a traditional Japanese method. It takes a whopping seven days to make the pork stock for the tonkotsu ramen and just three ingredients: water, miso and 120kg of pork bones. The result is a rich, soul-warming bowl with an incredible porky flavour and enough guts for two.

You’ll want to reserve a seat at legendary chef Kylie Kwong’s lunchtime-only joint, Lucky Kwong. Here, Kwong serves her trademark Cantonese-Australian cuisine with native herbs plucked from the nearby garden with native Australian ingredients. Her dishes are gorgeous, bold and harmonious – take the plump spanner crab and prawn dumplings with a Sichuan chilli dressing and South Eveleigh native bush mint. We shared a serving with our date – but we don’t recommend doing so (get your own).

Matt Lidney’s potato bread – served warm and lathered with kefir cream and pops of salmon roe that burst in your mouth – is one of the best breads around town. It’s been on the menu ever since the Chippendale restaurant opened in 2013, and we hope it’s not going anywhere soon.

All of Ragazzi's pastas are perfection on a plate, but there's good reason the cacio e pepe is their most-ordered dish (it's so popular that the restaurant team even created a 'Cacio e Pepe' tote bag for purchase). Al dente spaghetti is tossed in a sauce of pecorino cheese and pepper bound with pasta water and butter. It has just the right levels of warmth and sharpness, plus some sweet heat from Espelette pepper. Creamy deliciousness.

You can never go wrong with a perfectly cooked duck, blushing pink, with thin, crisp skin, and Mr Wong serves some of Sydney’s best (see them hanging in the kitchen). Dan Hong’s peking duck pancakes (which are enjoyed between dim sum and your main course) are even better. Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in.

This banging bakery and café from the Porteño crew serves scrumptious baked goods that are anything but Humble. We will forever have a soft spot for Humble’s finger bun. The bread is soft, pillowy and spiked with dried fruit, with ribbons of pink icing piped perfectly on top, and a thick layer of salted butter in the middle. Nostalgic and seriously yum.

Dishes made or finished tableside will never not be thrilling, and the pesto pasta at A’Mare gets top marks in our books. Your waiter will come to you and, in a gorgeous marble mortar and pestle, pound fresh basil, pecorino, macadamia nuts and pine nuts right in front of you – fragrant and hunger-inducing. Dinner with a side of theatre? Sign us up. Bonus marks that A’Mare’s pesto pasta is on-point, too.