13 Best Restaurants in Sydney, New South Wales

Balmoral Beach is blessed—not only does it have an inviting sandy beach and great water views, but it also has one of the best eating strips north of the Harbour Bridge. Queen of the strip is Bathers' Pavilion, which includes a restaurant, café, and lavish private dining room. Here you'll find a menu packed with the best local ingredients no matter if you're dining for a casual breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea or dinner. There's a choice of fresh light salads, wood-fired pizzas, and seafood dishes. No reservations taken for the café.

Named after celebrity chef and cookbook author Bill Granger, this sunny corner café is so addictive it should come with a health warning. It's a favorite hangout of everyone from local nurses to semi-disguised rock stars, and you never know who you might be sitting next to at the newspaper-strewn communal table. If you're not interested in the creaminess of what must be Sydney's best scrambled eggs, try the ricotta hotcakes with fresh banana and honeycomb butter or the corn fritters. The coconut-poached chicken sandwich with cucumber and lime mayonnaise makes an ideal lunch. 

It's hidden behind huge black doors in one of the city's historic sandstone buildings, but once you're inside you'd swear you were in Paris. Dark-wood paneling, black-and-white photographs, and mirrors bearing the day's specials in flowing script lend a bistro feel. The fare is predominately Italian with a sprinkling of French and Mod Oz dishes. Try the Bambini spaghettini with sauté of Spencer Gulf King Prawns that has just the right amount of heat from chilies. A pre- or postmeal drink in the marble-lined, chandeliered Bambini Wine Room is a must.

Bondi is known for being the health epicenter of Sydney and, unsurprisingly, the cafés are all about packing as much healthy food into a dish as possible. Breakfast bowls packed with eggs, vegetables, toasted seeds, and gluten-free toast is a popular option here. There's also fresh juices, smoothies and kombucha, which most grab-to-go and take to the nearby grass bank opposite the beach.

One of eight or nine eateries in the buzzy café strip opposite Bronte Beach, this is a great place to refuel after the Bondi-to-Bronte cliff-top walk. All share the same postcard-perfect view, but Belo is worth seeking out for its consistently good coffee and spicy sticky chai. It has a little more elbow space between tables than some of its neighbors. The menu has all the standard breakfast and brunch selections, many with a slight Brazilian twist, like the poached eggs served with a spicy tomato ragù.

You have to seek out this Bondi Beach restaurant, as it's situated several hundred feet back from the beach. You'll quickly find out, however, why locals love this place: organic, seasonal, handcrafted food with an Asian influence. Start with dishes like Peking duck pancakes or salt-and-pepper squid, followed by mains such as char-grilled Angus beef or crispy skin barramundi. The menu also includes flavorful sides like fried rice and garlic broccolini, and desserts such as sticky date pudding. Complement your meal with a selection from their creative cocktails and curated wine list.

Fresh is the name of the game at this café. You'll find zesty avocado on toast, slow-cooked pulled-pork rolls, fresh juices, and rich coffee. There's limited seating inside but most grab their order to go, taking it to the nearby Bradfield Park, which has views of the harbor.

This hidden gem is the city offering of the popular Grounds of Alexandria, a dog- and kid-friendly eatery with a on-site urban farm that's found just outside of the city. This French-style café is less country rustic and more city slick. It's all low lighting, vintage interiors, with soft velvet seating and intimate booths. And the menu edges toward Parisian-bistro influence, with its croque monsieur a favorite dish. There's outstanding coffee, fresh juices, and breakfast and lunch cocktails. The service is always exceptional.

Fast but fancy fare, that's what this Darlinghurst café has become known for since opening in 2020—and has since expanded with three other locations, including Barangaroo. The crab omelet is a standout for breakfast and comes with avruga caviar. The cheese toastie comes topped with black truffle, there are poached lobster rolls and caviar sandwiches. The service is slick, the interiors trendy and the coffee rich, but it comes at a price. 

Pancakes on the Rocks was founded in the 1950s by two Australians who had returned from a road trip in the United States. Seven decades later and it's still an iconic eatery in Sydney. There's a huge array of pancakes available, and each are American-style, arriving with eggs, bacon, and syrup.

You'll probably have to wait to get one of the tiny tables in this rustic hole-in-the-wall café and wine bar on the northern end of Bondi Beach, but it's worth waiting for as it's one of the best (and healthiest) breakfasts in Bondi. Once you've got a seat and a cup of the fabulous coffee, the service is fast and efficient. Breakfasts range from porridge with flaxseed, amaranth, and quinoa to bowls of kale, spinach, coriander, mint, and avocado, with a couple of eggs thrown in for good measure. After sundown, the café morphs into a hip little wine bar on weekends.

Darling Harbour and Barangaroo are undoubtedly two of the busiest areas of Sydney so for a quiet reprieve step into this tucked-away café. With an impressive wooden art installation snaking around the ceiling, outstanding coffee and freshly baked croissants and muffins, this is the perfect place to recharge before more adventuring.

Found within the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, this is a popular choice from breakfast all the way up to a late dinner. The menus vary for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but each is Italian-inspired, with hearty risottos, wood-fire pizzas, and plenty of pasta dishes. On weekends, there's bottomless brunch, which is four courses and as many mimosas as your heart desires. And you can even pick up picnic boxes to take away and enjoy in the surrounding gardens.