Sydney Festival Feasts return in January

Barangaroo House Bar is offering its views of Cockle Bay along with a cocktail jug to share between two and a charcuterie board to boot. It’s priced at $55 and features cured meats and cheeses so you can graze while deconstructing the show you've just watched with a friend. The House Bar also makes for the perfect people-watching spot. If you fancy something more to eat check out the range of seasonal salads, burgers and bar snacks or spice things up with a pint of craft beer or let loose with some bubbly. 

A spin-off of restaurant and cocktail bar Big Poppa's, Bartolo in Surry Hills is where you’re assured a fun time in an intimate setting along with a wide array of Italian-inspired meals and an extensive wine list. The restaurant and wine bar is now offering a special deal for Sydney Festival: twirl some of its fresh housemade pasta around your fork and pair it with a glass of wine from its extensive list for just $30. 

The multilevel, hive-like Barangaroo House has a lot to offer this festival season, including Bea restaurant. Chef Tom Haynes  champions locally sourced ingredients and showcases the woodfired grill. This is where you can sample a whole roast duck served with charred fig and pear sauce, grilled tiger prawns with bursts of lemon and dill, or a butterflied pink snapper with blistered cherry tomatoes. Bea welcomes you to sample their à la carte menu during Sydney Festival. 

Wrap your night up at award-winning restaurant Big Poppa’s. The brother venue of Bartolo is perfect for those post-show hunger pangs and is situated on the main strip of Oxford Street. The venue takes a contemporary approach to classic Italian fare with hip-hop tunes sounding through the speakers all night and massive lists of wine and gourmet cheeses. It’s open until 3am every day and has a special late-night chef’s selection of cheese and salumi for $55 so you can graze and rap along to music with a drink in hand. 

Come to Cafe Sydney for its sweeping views of Sydney Harbour, and stay for its fresh seafood. The longstanding venue is perched on top of Customs House at Circular Quay and is well-known for offering top quality dishes. Browse its daily à la carte specials, which can include plump Sydney Rock oysters, Moreton Bay bugs, grilled Humpty Doo barramundi or Coffin Bay octopus. There’s also tender cuts of meat from some of Sydney’s best suppliers on offer. Or pair your shellfish with a silky white wine like a glass of 2018 Josef Chromy sauvignon blanc.

This contemporary Chinese restaurant combines art with traditional fare and its walls are decked out in paintings that you can purchase yourself. Watch the chef skilfully pulling noodles by hand behind the glass-walled kitchen, or breathe in the aroma of a spicy mala hotpot spiked with Sichuan peppercorns. Or take advantage of its festival special: a small share dish plus one serve of noodles or rice with a glass of house wine for $30. 

Chefs Gallery, which is also located in Regent Place Shopping Centre, offers the same menu at the Parramatta restaurant. There’s also the chance to take advantage of the festival deal. Spend $30 and get a small share dish plus one serve of noodles or rice with a glass of house wine. 

Chi by Lotus brings a taste of Beijing’s famous Ghost Street night markets to Sydney. The restaurant boasts a substantial drinks list featuring wine, beer and Chinese-inspired cocktails (including a Negroni using Davidson plum) and is designed to be enjoyed with share food – such is tradition at the night markets. The menu lends itself to bar-style food with a strong shaokao-style (Chinese barbecue) influence. Marvel at the flaming woks, and the meticulous folding of dumplings, and enjoy the shaking of tumblers as your drinks are made. Delve into multiple courses of street food designed to share for $55.

Step into a New York-style supper club and saunter on over to the dark oak bar lined with mosaic and tasteful parquetry flooring. Situated on the second level of the renowned Queen Victoria Building, this is the spot for a long lunch or dinner, or a post-show drink or feast. The modern Australian menu will include a festival special for $55 featuring a main of barramundi, charred onion, zucchini, sherry caramel, puffed grains and wakame. It also comes with a side of charred broccolini topped with Meredith feta, shaved almonds and preserved lemon. Polish it off with a glass of white wine and you’re set.

Lotus the Galeries features a rich offering of new world Shanghainese cuisine and also draws inspiration from Cantonese cuisine, evident in dishes like wok-fried king prawns versus a steamed fish fillet cooked with ginger. Not to mention there’s everything from bursting pork xiao long bao to steamed duck egg yolk buns. Peer into the seafood tanks and take your pick of live seafood, or go on a tour of Shanghai’s street food with six share courses and top it off with a drink for $55. 

Lovers of a good charcuterie board, hear our call. Based in Redfern, bar and dining space Misfits is here to offer a $30 Festival Feasts deal that you can’t refuse. The package comes with cured Australian-grown meats and salami, pickles, toast and two glasses of wine with your choice of either Bird in Hand Sauvignon Blanc from Adelaide Hills or Wynn’s Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra. Add on a cheese plate for $20. All you need to do is follow the neon lights, sashay past the Twiggy mural, and you’re there. There’s also a rotation of more than 20 craft beers, and other nibbles on the bar menu. 

Parlour Cucina is a Milanese-style trattoria with terrazzo floors, dark wood panelling and plenty of moody ambiance. And it’s best to come here for the aperitivo hour. Order a Negroni and settle in as you sample a menu that includes fresh gnocchetti sardi – little shell-shaped pieces of pasta inspired by the Italian island of Sardinia – or scallop crudo, raw scallops jazzed up by a light, citrusy dressing. The festival feast deal is only $30 per person and comes with its signature pasta, a side and a glass of wine or beer. Buonissimo.

Step into the Great Gatsby-esque Champagne parlour and bar that is Reign, located on level one of the Queen Victoria Building. Cast your eyes upon its grandiose chandelier, round archways, art deco-style dividers and marble tables as you enter. It’s brightly lit and rightly so as it’s a place to be seen. Enjoy a main meal and a glass of wine for $55 as part of its Sydney Festival offering. Otherwise, the menu also offers an extensive beverage menu of Champagnes and sparkling wines, curated artisan cocktails and its seasonally driven share plates. 

The Dining Room at Park Hyatt Sydney shares centre stage with unrivalled harbour views of Sydney Opera House. There’s a modern Australian menu that includes fresh Lebanese cucumber served with Queensland scallops, salmon pearls and black garlic, and confit Aylesbury duck leg and creamed almond, black barley and preserved lemon on the side. The chef has designed a $55 two-course menu for Sydney Festival. It’s available for lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday and is the perfect way to share an elegant meal with your significant other. 

Award-winning Gantry Restaurant offers modern Australian alfresco dining with waterside views overlooking Walsh Bay and Sydney Harbour. Come through for a specially curated two-course menu priced at $55 per person. Head chef Thom Gorringe takes pride in sourcing the best local and sustainable ingredients that champion Australian suppliers and providores. The venue is also located a short walk from Barangaroo Reserve.