REVIEW “Ingredient – dash – ingredient.” For some reason, this style of menuwriting often goes hand-in-glove with a particular school of cooking where the natural tastes and textures of said ingredients are subjugated to whichever fiddly technique happens to fascinate the kitchen at a given moment. Maybe all that dehydrating, puréeing and cooking things for […]

REVIEW Behold, a hotel restaurant that cares. From the house-baked sourdough to the understated interior, the whole package at the Sydney branch of Pei is impressively polished. It’s a level of finesse you’d expect with the culinary genius of Mark Best at the helm. His ethos is clearly delineated: the produce shines, the flavours are […]

REVIEW Why aren’t more people talking about Nel? In a glam basement off grimy Wentworth Avenue, this restaurant has flown largely under the radar. Chef Nelly Robinson’s eight-course set menu changes monthly and is as eclectic as it is inventive, including everything from Indian and South East Asian flavours to Eccles cakes. You might start […]

REVIEW There’s a running gag in Agatha Christie novels with characters mistaking her most famous detective for a Frenchman. “Belgian,” says Hercule Poirot, correcting everyone. The same misconception could apply to chef David Coumont, a Belgian native who takes cues from both Australia and Europe for his seafood-rich menu. This elegant restaurant, named after his […]

REVIEW Pity the couples who come alone instead of with a posse. One glance at the wood-burning beast of a smoker and they’ll regret their decision. Pitboss Luke Powell applies exacting technique to deliver down-home barbecued fare meant for a clan. Beef short rib is cooked low (85C, then at 77C) and slow (15 hours). […]

REVIEW Kent Street Kitchen is all about dreamy styling – luscious soft furnishings, generous padded chairs with armrests and magnificent slabs of unclothed white marble tables. It has photo shoot written all over it. Service, too, is polished, and food presentation highly curated, with irregular shapes, petals, flowers, leaves, droplets and foams providing interesting surfaces […]

REVIEW While the front bar of this clifftop restaurant and retreat evokes the property’s history, the terrace is more northern-beaches bling, perfect for savouring the tang of the Pacific. Chef Logan Campbell’s time at Italian landmark Lucio’s shows in a rustic black linguine, rich with prawn oil and cherry tomatoes, and flecked with New Zealand […]

REVIEW With its big-box design – eatery meets funhouse, bar, florist, ice-creamery and café – and popularity with families, the Pavilion can sometimes seem a bit like a restaurant-Ikea by the beach. But the diversity of spaces and dining options, sprawled over three big floors, keeps interest high and appetites piqued. For casual bites, snag […]

REVIEW Set inside The Star, Black is very much a product of its casino environs, but it plays the hand it is dealt well, offering attentive service in an amusingly blingy room. The Sydney outpost for Melbourne chef Teage Ezard, Black has a focus on steak, and it’s the grill that offers the most satisfaction […]

REVIEW The namesake humble concrete brick favoured by Italian-Australians building their suburban dreams in the ’70s is a trigger for long lost memories at this friendly eatery: of backyard gatherings, family meals, the comfort of home. They’re good memories, and the sense of fun is evident in a floor painted lawn-green, the retro plastic chairs, […]

REVIEW Does your average Bangladeshi listen to R&B, dine with Laguiole cutlery, or take her lassi with a slug of rum? Perhaps not, but that’s what makes Bang such a joy. The space caters to a fun-loving crowd with a sleek tiled bar, communal tables and red neon. An all-Portuguese wine list (a reference to […]

Automata and Silvereye are spearheading a brave new era of inventive and accessible fine dining, writes Pat Nourse. Unleash the snacks.

Surry Hills newcomer Master stands out in the field of modern Asian eateries with its often-inspired take on Chinese cooking, writes Pat Nourse.

Josephine Perry branches out from the family restaurant tree with a brasserie of substantial polish, writes Pat Nourse.

Bennelong is back and better than ever with a definitively Australian menu, stellar crew and fit-out worthy of its architectural origins, writes Pat Nourse.

The team from A Tavola serve up a generous helping of homely Italian cooking at Besser that speaks of retro good times, writes Pat Nourse.

It’s cooking with wood but not as we know it. At Firedoor, Lennox Hastie turns out food that surprises in its precision and subtlety, writes Pat Nourse.

Sydney’s latest authentic, ambitious yakitori bars raise chicken-on-sticks to new heights, writes Pat Nourse, and Sydneysiders are eating them up.

Café Nice has stayed true to its Provençal brief, but a talented new chef has made this sunny slice of the south shine all the brighter, writes Pat Nourse.