This is where we were trying to get a table in 2014.
Looking for our most current top 10? Check out our 2018 list of the best restaurants in Sydney
Momofuku Seiobo
How good can a windowless restaurant next to a food court that only takes bookings online and has its toilets off the scullery really be?
Quay
Book now, and you might just get a table this season. In some ways, Quay’s popularity is easy to understand: is there a better perch from which to take in the full sweep of the harbour than this large and shining restaurant at lunch?
Marque
The mostly rocking new approach to music at Marque might say “midlife crisis” (Tears for Fears we can roll with, but Counting Crows? Suzanne Vega’s “Luka”?), but it shakes up an otherwise hushed and muted room, and the food announces loud and clear that Mark Best is as confident as ever in the kitchen.
Sepia
The à la carte prices at this most businesslike of Sydney fine-diners have shot up, but so has the buzz.
Rockpool
Marking 25 years on the Sydney fine-dining scene, the latest incarnation of Neil Perry’s Rockpool is this year’s Big Deal Restaurant.
Est.
Yes, that’s a $45 entrée. But make no mistake: at Est., perhaps more than any other restaurant in its rarefied class, it’s clear where the money goes.
Tetsuya’s
The party hasn’t stopped at Tetsuya’s, even if the man himself now divides his time between Sydney and Singapore.
Rockpool Bar & Grill
To call Bar & Grill a steakhouse would be an undersell. If the Art Deco grandeur of the dining room or the precise service of the Mad Men-esque wait-staff don’t clue you in, the poster-sized menu will.
The Bridge Room
You know those occasions where you need style but also substance? Where a statement is required, but you can’t face fine-dining’s full box and dice?
Porteño
It looks like you’ve stepped back in time at Porteño, with its cool retro styling in both fit-out (much of it Argentine and vintage) and staff (tatts, slicked-back hair and ’50s sartorial flourishes).
