The best new restaurants in Sydney

Josh Niland’s revolutionary seafood restaurant has found a beautiful new home in Paddington’s Grand National Hotel, but the game-changing dishes remain. Dinner is set-menu only, while à la carte options are available at lunch. Plus, we love the Saint Peter Bar, a walk-in-only classy spot for Frosty Martinis and Niland’s legendary tuna cheeseburger.

Table Manners is Bronte’s fun, playful and classy new kid on the block. The interiors are dreamy, the vibe at night feels like a roaring dinner party, and there’s a luxe bug club sambo on the menu.

An ambitious three-storey, multi-venue Japanese precinct by the Azabu Group (also Charlotte Bar & Bistro, Kame House, Hanasuki) has opened in a heritage-listed building in Sydney’s CBD. So if you’re thinking of booking flights to Tokyo, we say: save your pocket money and come here instead. Drawing inspiration from Japan’s 47 prefectures (or regions), Prefecture 48 – or P48 for short – is game-changing six-in-one hospitality hub on Sussex Street housing four slick Japanese restaurants, a handsome whisky bar, and a patisserie – with the drinks list across all venues curated by the award-winning Maybe Sammy team. Go check it out stat.

The heritage-listed former post office, previously home to One Penny Red in Summer Hill, has transformed into a charming Italian diner with chef Alessandro Pavoni of Ormeggio, A’Mare, and Chiosco leading the kitchen. He’s joined by his business-and-life-partner, Anna Pavoni, and co-owner Bill Drakopoulos. Called Postino Osteria (it's a play on words: "Postino" means both ‘postman’ and ‘small but cosy place’ in Italian), the restaurant is inspired by the simple and traditional trattorias found all over Italy. The team wants it to be a spot where locals can drop in for a bowl of pasta, a glass of wine after work, and where the staff know your favourite aperitivo by heart.

The Shire is heating up just in time for summer with the opening of Benny’s, a relaxed waterfront restaurant overlooking Gunnamatta Bay. RJ Lines, the former chef of Summer Hill’s award-winning One Penny Red, is behind the Mediterranean-and-Australian-inspired menu. In your swimmers? No worries. Benny’s offers takeaway beer-battered fish and chips with mushy peas and tartare sauce, plus gelato and ice cream cones – perfect for enjoying on the grassy knoll just outside in the sunshine.

What do you get when you combine four mates who have worked at some of Sydney’s hottest restaurants, a cracking home in Redfern (the former palace of The Sunshine Inn), and feel-good Euro vibes? You get Attenzione Food & Wine, that’s what. The fun and breezy diner promises to bring yum plates and top-notch vino to Redfern Street. Safe to say it’s got our attention.

The Cut Bar & Grill, a subterranean steakhouse and wood-fired grill in The Rocks, has reopened with a fresh look and menu by the team behind Sydney's award-winning Rockpool Bar & Grill. Expect New York steakhouse classics on the menu, along with quality produce cooked over wood fire and, of course, top-notch steak. The Cut’s signature slow-cooked prime rib – sliced and served tableside – remains on the menu. Located on Argyle Street, the heritage-listed underground space features a smart dining room with wooden and forest-green booth seating and large marble tables. There’s also a bar, perfect for an after-work snack and a The Cut’s Gibson (made with house-made Gibson mignonette and Oyster Shell Gin, served with a Sydney rock oyster) or an end-of-night Negroni.

The team behind the boundary-pushing Pleasure Club (plus other Sydney favourites including The Old Fitz, the Duke of Enmore, and the eponymous Odd Culture Newtown) has opened their latest venture: a French-inspired bistro now open in Newtown. Bistro Grenier has taken over the mezzanine level above the Odd Culture bar, bringing a Euro-style dining experience to King Street.

Pino's Vino e Cucina al Mare – the second coastal iteration of Alexandria’s beloved trattoria Pino's Vino e Cucina – is now open. Al Mare means "by the sea" in Italian, a nod to its location on Surf Road, just a few minutes from Cronulla Beach. The Italian restaurant is housed inside a 1908-built former church and community library that’s cloaked in trailing ivy. Standouts of the opening menu include things like a mixed seafood platter, lobster pasta, pici cacio e pepe and build-your-own charcuterie platters with Italian cheese, salumi and antipasti. Post-swim oysters and Spritz, anyone?

20 Chapel, a neighbourhood bistro with a focus on wood-fired cooking and farm-fresh produce, is now open in Marrickville. Corey Costelloe, the former culinary director of Rockpool Bar & Grill – recipient of Time Out Sydney’s Legend Award 2023 – is behind the 64-seater Chapel Street spot. Costelloe has teamed up with David Allison, an old friend, chef and owner of Stix Farm, as well as Rockpool’s former maître d' Anthony Qalilawa, to bring 20 Chapel to life. As you’d expect from the team’s impressive CV, the menu features premium proteins alongside locally grown, seasonal and organic fruit, vegetables and herbs. We’re told Negronis are on tap, too.

Song Bird, Neil Perry’s latest and said to be his last restaurant, is now open in Double Bay. The 240-seat, three-storey restaurant is housed within the mid-century, heritage-listed Gaden House, and is an ode to Perry’s lifelong love for Cantonese cuisine. Perry, who won the Icon Award at this year’s World's 50 Best Restaurants ceremony, says to think of it like a Chinese version of Margaret, his nearby flagship fine diner. There's more than 70 dishes on the menu, Perry's greatest hits.

Nick and Kirk know how to run a banging restaurant – they’ve run crowd-favourite Ezra (Ashkenazi, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavours) in Potts Point for years. Now they’ve opened Teddy, a “modern Aussie bistro” in the former Raja site next door. Nick tells us that they’re having a bit of fun with Teddy, serving up nostalgic menu items with a mod twist. Starters include a prawn cocktail, a French onion dip with chopped radish, and pork and crayfish sausage rolls with “fancy tom sauce”. Think: sophisticated takes on the types of things granny used to whip up for a cocktail party.

A 100-year-old warehouse in Newtown is now home to a modern Mexican restaurant and bar with a seriously good chef at the helm. Called Comedor, which means dining room in Spanish (it's a nod to gathering around a table and sharing delicious food and good times), the restaurant is led by head chef Alejandro Huerta, who has drawn on his Mexican heritage to create the menu, as well as his time on the pans at some of the world’s best restaurants: Pujol in Mexico City and Noma in Copenhagen.

Peter Conistis, the founding chef of Sydney’s Alpha and Ploos restaurants, who is widely regarded as the pioneer of Greek cuisine in Australia, has opened Ammos in Brighton-Le-Sands. Meaning sand in Greek, the breezy, sun-drenched 160-seat diner is located on level 3 of the Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach and has a spacious terrace with pretty views of the bay. With dreamy coastal interiors, a fresh seafood station, mezze bar and wines sourced directly from Greece, guests can enjoy a taste of the Med without leaving the tarmac.

Located on the upper level of the Rozelle pub, Bistro Red Lion by Manu (yep, the same one from My Kitchen Rules) is a joint venture between Manu and owners Laundy Hotels, who also have Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel, Woolly Bay Hotel and Woolwich Pier Hotel under their belt. Manu is joined by Laundy Hotels’ group executive chef Jamie Gannon in the kitchen, and says the menu will be focusing on "delicious, approachable food rather than aiming for the stars." “I want guests at Bistro Red Lion by Manu to forget the outside world and feel as though they're dining at my home, enjoying a good bottle of wine,” he adds.

Surry Hills stalwart the White Horse has reopened after a massive renovation with a fresh, new team holding the reins. The 170-seat venue features a stylish ground-floor restaurant, an upstairs bar and a sun-drenched garden terrace complete with lush plants – the perfect place for sinking a couple of cold ones in the afternoon. Giddy up. As for the food, expect to find ethically sourced produce from respected producers, as well as a spotlight on native ingredients.

Holy guacamole: Mami’s is an all-day cantina serving up delicious and authentic Mexican fare on Bondi Road  – and if you haven’t been, you really need to go. Nothing on the menu costs more than $20, the tacos took me right back to scoffing them standing up in Oaxaca City, and it’s BYO. Plus, if you head to The Royal across the road you can score 10 per cent off beer and 20 per cent off wine. How good is that?

Good Luck Restaurant Lounge, Merivale's new restaurant, is now open. Located in a hidden basement below the historic Burns Philp & Co building in Sydney's CBD, this head-turning venue is a project three years in the making by executive chef Mike Eggert (also of Totti’s) and CEO Justin Hemmes. Come for pan-Asian cuisine, big, bold flavours, and lots of seafood, fresh herbs and punchy sauces and sambals. And fun. It's Very Fun.

Think there’s not much action happening north of the bridge? Think again. Genzo, a fun and modern Japanese restaurant and sake bar, is now open in Etymon’s new supercharged Walker Street precinct. Lit up by rainbow neon lights and works by Tokyo artist Masanori Ushiki, it’s a cool space, and features a 28-seater cocktail and sake bar (with its own temperature-controlled sake room), a 90-seat dining room and an all-weather terrace. Executive chef Rhys Connell (ex-The Gantry and Sepia) is heading up the kitchen at Genzo alongside Tuan Colombo (ex-Sokyo, Nobu London) serving riffs on Japanese dishes and flame-kissed skewers.

The talented duo behind Time Out favourites Jane and Arthur have opened Fior, a breezy and casual Italian diner in the Sutherland Shire. Come for an Australian riff on Italian cuisine laced with charm, nostalgia and good times. The menu features rustic antipasti, handmade pasta and casual plates at affordable price points, made from mostly local ingredients. Oysters are freshly shucked to order, there's a roaming gelato trolley, and “the Shire’s best aperitivo hour”. We're there.

Whatever way you flip it, Sydney’s pizza game is strong, encompassing everything from NY-style slabs so big you can fold them in three to Neapolitan-style slices loved for their charred blisters and puffy crust. Now, there’s another pizza joint entering the chat: 170 Grammi, the sibling to Lane Cove favourite Via Napoli, is now open in Surry Hills on the corner of Crown and Foveaux streets. Don’t come expecting the same offering as Via Napoli, though. Here, chef-owner Luigi Esposito will be firing up the hand-made Italian wood-fired oven to serve Roman-style pizza, with a thin and crisp base. At 170 Grammi, each pizza is made using only 170 grams of dough (hence the name), so there’s a delicious crunch. Plus, you can eat more.

Good news for the golf, surf and food lovers among us: The Mona Social, a bar and bistro located on the lush grounds of the Mona Vale Golf Club, is now open. Situated in the coastal town at the northern end of Sydney's Northern Beaches, The Mona Social is run by The Boathouse team, who also have The Boathouse Shelly Beach and Manly Pavilion under their belt (among others). Don’t worry if golf’s not your jam. Everyone is welcome to check out The Mona Social – members and non-members alike – so if you’re hungry and in that salty neck of the woods, you have a new good-looking option.

It’s one of life’s universal truths that things on sticks are just more delicious. Wife-and-husband duo Alina Van and Raymond Hou know this well. Since 2019, they have been serving flame-licked skewers to hungry folks all across Sydney including festivals, breweries and the Royal Easter Show. They've now opened their first bricks-and-mortar venue – a two-storey restaurant on Enmore Road – right next door to Bar Louise. With an intimate chef’s table, chic seats and colourful art, it’s a sophisticated step up from their beloved red food truck. And though you may now enjoy their flame-cooked eats alongside a glass of wine – as opposed to scoffing it standing up – their delicious food remains. 

After a big build up, highly anticipated Latin American restaurant Morena is finally now open. Headed up by esteemed chef Alejandro Saravia – the executive chef and owner of Melbourne’s award-winning restaurants, Farmer’s Daughters and Victoria by Farmer’s Daughters – the 200-seat diner is located in the gorgeous, heritage-listed GPO Building in Martin Place. The menu pays homage to Saravia’s home country of Peru, as well as the flavours found in Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and more.

North Sydney’s dining scene keeps getting better, thanks to newish spots Rafi and Poetica (and there’s a new food and drink precinct currently getting built). Now, we’ve got another one for you. Bar Lettera, a modern Italian/Australian restaurant and wine bar, is now open in the Citadines Walker North Sydney hotel. The kitchen is headed up by head chef Ryan Perry, who has worked at highly regarded Sydney restaurants including The Bridge Room and Momofuku Seiobo. Expect riffs on classic Italian dishes. Decked out in a Negroni-inspired palette, the space is all warm lighting, ceramic sculptures, striking marble and soft curves.

Sydney’s hotel scene just got a little more delicious, with the launch of woodfire grill and bar Sydney Common, now open in the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park. Backdropped by lush views of the verdant park, the elegant space is headed up by head chef Jamie Robertson, who spent time on the pans at top Sydney spots The Bridge Room and Ester. Prior to the opening, Robertson was mentored by one of Australia’s most talented chefs, Martin Benn, who was behind the accolade-collecting Sepia to curate the woodfired menu. In short: Whatever your thoughts are on hotel restaurants, you can leave them at the park, because Robertson's menu is anything but beige.

All hail the King. King Clarence, to be exact, which is the name of the new contemporary Asian restaurant found on the corner of King and Clarence Streets in Sydney. The 100 seat restaurant is by the award-winning Bentley Restaurant Group – whose impressive restaurant empire includes Bentley Restaurant and Bar, Monopole, Cirrus, Yellow and Brasserie 1930 – and, it's now open. Star chef Khanh Nguyen is the executive chef of King Clarence. Most recently, Nguyen had been heading up the kitchens at Melbourne’s award-winning restaurants Aru and Sunda. And prior to his move to Melbourne, Nguyen spent years working with the Bentley Group, and had a stint at the always-pumping Mr Wong.

Tita Carinderia is a Filipino café on Marrickville's main drag. And it’s easy to see why people are flocking here: The vibe is homely, the food is tasty and generous, the service is friendly – just like visiting your favourite aunt. Be sure to try the drool-worthy and Insta-worthy vibrant purple ube soft serve.

Brendan King says his nanna never cooked while he was growing up, and instead always remembers his grandpa in the kitchen, preparing spiced tandoori wings and fiery pork vindaloo. Derrel’s – the new late-night Indian diner by Public Hospitality (also Maybe Sammy, El Primo Sanchez) and Baba’s Place Creative (a new hospo creative agency by the Baba’s team) – is named after King’s grandpa, and is a nostalgic ode to his food and the dishes that King loves to cook and eat himself. We'll have one chip butty with a side of butter chicken gravy, please.

Balmain has welcomed a fire-hot Argentinian-inspired grill from the team who brought us Paddington-favourite Tequila Mockingbird and Mexican CBD restaurant Esteban. Casa Esquina has taken over a historic building on the corner of Elliott Street in Balmain, previously home to L'Unico and Efendy. Anchored by two gorgeous 80-year-old camphor laurel trees, the site has transformed into a white-washed and sun-drenched Argentine dream. Come down on Sundays – the custom-made parrilla grill will flame-cook suckling pig and lamb.

The Barrenjoey Boatshed was originally built in 1947 to store and maintain boats in the local area. Over the years, it became an iconic Sydney destination, partly thanks to its idyllic waterfront location, and partly due to its starring role on Home and Away. Most recently, the historic building was known as the relaxed coastal café, The Boathouse. Now, after being acquired by hospitality professionals Rob Domjen and publican Ben May – and undergoing a whopping $7 million rebuild and refurbishment – it’s reopened under its founding name, The Barrenjoey Boatshed. Though, everyone’s calling it ‘The Joey’.

A tiny Korean omakase restaurant has opened in Sydney, welcoming just eight guests a night to sit down and enjoy 18 courses of innovative Korean cuisine. Decked out in charcoal, the dark and moody spot features an open kitchen, so diners can take a seat at the chef's table and watch the action up close. The team is headed up by executive chef Jacob Lee (ex-Kobo, Soot, Tokki), who has drawn on his heritage in Korea’s Jeolla province, as well as his grandmother’s cooking and his travels throughout his home country, to craft the technique-driven and fire-powered menu.

Double Bay has welcomed a modern Japanese restaurant called Tanuki. It’s by the Matteo team, and is dotted on swish and happening Bay Street. There are many things to like about Tanuki, named after the Japanese raccoon dog, which in folklore is believed to have powers to shapeshift. But in short: on-point sushi, a multifaceted space, Midori-spiked cocktails, Wagyu sambos, and matcha tiramisu. Dress up.

Yana stands for ‘you are not alone’. It’s a fitting name for a restaurant designed to bring the community together. The concept was spearheaded by chef Sam Lane (ex-The Corner House) who wanted to recreate the feeling of sitting around a campfire, telling stories and tucking into delicious, honest food. This is pretty much what you can expect to find at the new 120-seater in Coogee. Though, you can forget about the dirt – located a shell’s throw from the beach on the main promenade, Yana is chic, decked out with sandy tones, warm wood and exposed brick. If camping had a stylish eastern suburbs’ sister, this would be it.

A wine bar with a Southeast Asian twist is what you can expect from Double Bay's new kid on the block, Bartiga. Come for flavour-packed plates like the butter-poached bug roll with red curry pesto, and barbecue prawn tom yum spaghettini.