Head to Cafe Monaka for Japanese breakfast, a compartmentalized spread of furikake-sprinkled rice, pickles, tamagoyaki (omelet), and more. Also take advantage of owner Fuminori Bun Fukuda’s dedication to tea. Originally from Shizuoka, one of Japan’s tea-growing regions, he serves cups of grassy sencha and roasted, honey-like hojicha, all brewed to precise temperatures and topped with roasted brown rice for extra flavor. Cafe Monaka sells its own loose-leaf range, as well as appealing teawares.

Flour Shop could simply coast on its reputation for having the best cinnamon scrolls in Sydney, but Anu Haran’s resourcefulness and community-building warmth also make her bakery exceptional. Locals drop off the glut of citrus from their backyard trees, which Haran ingeniously turns into lemon cream cheese pastries. Her sausage rolls are sweetened with apples that are slow-cooked until purple, while the leftover cores are donated to a regular who turns this waste into apple cider vinegar. Haran also lends the space to upcoming entrepreneurs to run pop-up events after the pastry counter closes.

Diners regularly head to Harris Park (Little India) for roti, naan, dosa, and the consistently crowded Chatkazz, which offers a fully vegetarian menu that’s epic in scope. There are multiple versions of vada pav (aka the Mumbai burger), various examples of Schezwan food (Chinese-influenced staples such as fried rice), South Indian uttapam pancakes worth stacking, and spiced drinks (like the creamy masala chaas, thick with buttermilk).

Your train ticket to Guildford Station comes with a bonus pitstop in Malaysia. Step across Railway Terrace and you’ll be transported to an Asian night market, thanks to Mamu Penang Coffee Stall and its clustered community of food stands. There’s the smoky pull of the char-grilled satay skewers, char kway teow with a wok-hot caramel edge, nasi ayam (Malaysian fried rice), bee hoon (noodle soup), and teh tarik (pulled tea). Roti, stretched and grilled to order, comes stuffed with onion and egg, or emerges sugar-laced and scrunchy from the hot plate.

Yum Yum Bakery has been open for over three decades, and over the years, the Lebanese man’oushe house has expanded its menu. The award-winning awarma (confit lamb) and egg pizza recalls how lamb would be preserved through winter in founder Toufic Haddad’s Lebanese hometown, but Toufic’s son Najib combined that influence with his daughters’ preference for sunny side up eggs to create a personal update on man’oushe. The haloumi spring roll also has multicultural layers: The concept is Chinese, but it’s filled with Greek cheese, sprinkled with Lebanese za’atar, and wrapped in deep-fried phyllo. Co-owner Jeremy Agha points out the epic cheese pull produced by the spring roll doesn’t hurt Yum Yum Bakery on social media either.

Ask locals about the Rocks district and they might describe cheesy souvenir stores and avoid any mention of food. This area by Sydney Harbour Bridge is emerging as a legit dining destination, though, and Le Foote has been an energizing addition to the precinct. The venue is courtesy of the Swillhouse team, who supercharged the bar scene with Shady Pines Saloon in 2010 and scored many awards for Restaurant Hubert, the portal to Paris they opened in 2016. Le Foote shares the glitzy, punk appeal of their projects. Seek a table by the restaurant out back, with its striking Etruscan-style mural and stylish delivery of Mediterranean dishes by bow-tied staff. Chef Stefano Marano has gotten attention for his rum baba and grilled meats and seafood, but don’t overlook understated gems like the house-made ricotta with charred figs or banana parfait rippled with toffee and sweet, gritty black sesame.

Since Maybe Sammy opened in 2019, it’s collected award after award, including the World’s 50 Best Bars’ top Australasian spot on four occasions. The glam yet good-humored venue is optimized for high-level fun. The dreamy Polar Stratospheric Cloud cocktail, developed by bartender Luca Goffredo, conjures pink sunsets and atmospheric haze with fizzy gin, peach cordial, cream soda, and vermouth, all clarified with yogurt and topped with a puff of ruby chocolate. Meanwhile, bartender Hunter Gregory’s Infinity drink, finished with a citrusy bubble shot from a Flavour Blaster, sums up Maybe Sammy’s signature razzle-dazzle.

In 1989, the late Amy Chanta opened her first Chat Thai restaurant. Many outposts followed, and her popular take on larb, noodles, and stir-fries made other Thai restaurateurs — like Yok Yor’s Mek Phungsamphan — realize there was a large audience for their cuisine. She helped launch Thai Town in 2013 and, with daughter Palisa Anderson, cooked the final staff meal for Noma Australia’s pop-up in 2016. On her farm, Anderson grows holy basil and multiple kinds of garlic, which add a fragrant punch to her dishes. Chat Thai’s success opened pathways for exciting Thai eateries across Sydney, from recent arrivals such as Porkfat to older favorites like Caysorn.

You could easily walk by Kiosk and mistake it as another snack stand, but this canteen by the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s Sydney Modern entrance — meaningfully placed near the Yiribana Gallery of First Nations art — actually celebrates First Nations food and culture. The menu is overseen by Aunty Beryl Van Oploo, the Gamilaroi elder sought by renowned chefs (like René Redzepi and Kylie Kwong) for her expansive knowledge of bush foods. You’ll find native ginger-mango morning buns, damper rolls, and wattleseed ice cream.

To create the time-tripping, border-crossing menu at Aalia, Paul Farag drew inspiration from 600 recipes in a 10th-century Baghdadi cookbook, but also his Egyptian father’s eggplant mes’a’aha. Some of his references are more than 1,000 years old, but his ideas are inspired and ultramodern, like a sweet and smoky dip of buffalo labneh and beetroot molasses, or dulce de leche caramelized with colocasia leaves (a regional staple for several millennia) and layered with salted cashew and brik (brittle Tunisian pastry).

Back in 2019, Yellow served a sensational onion and stracciatella dish with tonburi, the “Japanese field caviar” that would later appear on a much-Instagrammed avocado dish when New York’s Eleven Madison Park staged a guest residency in Sydney. Like that former World’s Best Restaurant, Yellow also went vegan during the pandemic. And while its plant-based menu might not command the same international profile as Eleven Madison Park, the restaurant has provided pretty remarkable meat-free options at the fine dining level. Big credit goes to Yellow co-owner Brent Savage, who has offered meaningful and creative alternatives for over 15 years; his flagship Bentley restaurant presented inspired vegetarian tasting menus long before “plant-based” was a buzzword. Currently, head chef Sander Nooij is plating “beetstrami” at Yellow: slow-cooked beets seasoned with a classic pastrami spice mix, then dehydrated to intensify their flavor.

Glenda Lau and Alessia Bottini’s Bayswater Kitchenette offers a variety of Italian-ish dishes with all the unfiltered friendliness of your dream neighborhood restaurant. Lau’s banoffee pie — her spin on Andy Bunn’s version at much-missed Cafe Sopra — has rightly endured on the menu since day one. Meanwhile, Bottini, an Emilia-Romagna native who previously worked at nearby Fratelli Paradiso (the Italian institution that’s dished pasta and its signature calamari since 2001) presents tiramisu, calamari with balsamic mayo, and fish of the day al cartoccio (cooked in paper).

In 2010, a wave of acclaimed young chefs reimagined what a cooking career could be. Names-to-watch like Dan Hong (Ms. G’s), Claire Van Vuuren (Bloodwood), and Mitch Orr (Duke Bistro) proved you could play loud hip-hop, drizzle Kewpie mayo, or serve tater tots and still score a good restaurant review. At Kiln, which opened in October 2022 with quietly entrancing 18th-floor views, Orr slings snacks on Jatz crackers (a signature flex from his days at Acme). But he also puts in a lot of hidden work. For his tartlets, for example, golden beets are roasted in thyme, garlic, and vinegar, and left on Kiln’s showpiece grill to develop a smoke-kissed chew. Then they’re chopped and loaded in pastry shells with chives, verjus, and goat’s curd for maximum payoff. It’s just one way Kiln smartly uses its hearth, as wood and smoke light up menus across Sydney.

The dishes, postcard-sized menu, and everything else about this 20-seat sake bar might be tiny, but Kei Tokiwa extracts maximum joy from Amuro’s small dimensions, right down to the delightful chopstick rests shaped like miniature buttered toast slices, fried eggs, and Kewpie mayo bottles. Pickled tomatoes, held in protective shiso leaves and dusted with sesame seeds, are perfect one-bite snacks. Chawanmushi gets leveled up with smoked butter, sweet corn, and Yarra Valley salmon caviar. Grilled mochi is lavished with rich miso butter, while twice-cooked chicken karaage gets a warm, peppery hint of sansho powder and yuzu kosho mayonnaise. There’s a tight list of sake, including bottles from legendary brewer Noguchi Naohiko.

Good coffee is almost a birthright in Sydney, and Emma and Dion Cohen have taken care of the city’s caffeinated habit since 2003 (they aptly celebrated their anniversary by launching a fruity 20th-birthday blend). The beans from their specialty roaster, Single O, are brewed across town (from Home Croissanterie to Soulmate), and a quarter of Good Food Guide venues reportedly get their caffeine supplies from the brand. The flagship cafe features multiple ways to get your coffee, including an innovative brew bar (with single origins on self-serve tap), take-home packs of compostable drip bags, and espresso butter on banana bread. Single O’s eco-conscious approach includes backing climate-resilient coffee varieties, avoiding single-use cups and milk bottles, and supporting community initiatives.

As Korean cuisine spreads across Sydney, with restaurants like Hansang and Soul Dining expanding with new businesses, Sáng By Mabasa remains entirely singular. When it opened in 2018, the menu featured items you didn’t see everywhere, such as the yassam (pickled radish wraps, sweetened with nashi pear shreds and zingy with wasabi). Even the fried chicken was different, the meat marinated in fresh milk to enhance its scent. Newer dishes have also become popular, like the yangbokkeum (stir-fried honeycomb tripe with gochujang and perilla leaves). Kenny Yong-soo Son’s designs for his family’s restaurant have won over diners, too; the Studiokyss creator has crafted beautiful sauce spoons, pendant lights, and the most elegant broom in existence for Sáng By Mabasa.

The sourdough starter at Sixpenny is older than the restaurant (which opened in 2012). Nicknamed Bob, the fermented culture came from Oscillate Wildly, where Sixpenny owner Daniel Puskas previously worked. Beyond fresh loaves, it shows up in Sixpenny’s Yesterday’s Bread – blitzed leftover slices smartly refreshed with coffee. The chef also created the mead vinegar custard with strawberry consomme and frozen raspberries, first introduced in 2016, which is unlikely to ever exit the menu given its hold over diners. While Puskas continues to offer guidance, current head chef Tony Schifilliti (Cirrus Dining) has put his creative signature on the menu, injecting his love of fermented ingredients into items like roasted koji ice cream or ink-sauce garum with fish. Since Sixpenny was awarded three hats in the 2019 Good Food Guide, landing a booking can be tricky. But you can always buy Schifilliti’s Cura seasonings from P&V Merchants, the city’s best bottle and pantry shop (try the mushroom shio koji, which is like the Sydney alternative to Noma’s mushroom garum).

When Angie Hong opened Thanh Binh in 1993, she put Cabramatta on the map with her landmark Vietnamese restaurant. Although she stopped running the kitchen in 2005, her legacy continues today at Phu Quoc, a restaurant started by Be Le, her former head chef at Thanh Binh. The spring rolls at Phu Quoc attract weekend queues; Hong explains their extra-thick, glossy, ultra-crunchy pastry is only achievable with a style of rice paper that’s especially hard to find. Podcaster and food writer Andrew Levins, who describes Cabramatta as one of the city’s most quintessential destinations, claims Phu Quoc has the best spring rolls in Australia, and they make a great prelude to Levins’s Cabramatta Happy Meal, which includes roast chicken banh mi from KK Bakery and a bracing glug of sugarcane juice from Thu Phung N.

In the inner city alone, there are many thrilling Chinese restaurants. There’s the award-winning glamour of Mr. Wong; fiery, wok-tossed Hunan food at the Chairman; remixed Yunnanese noodles at Yunn; and specialties from Wuhan at Grain Gallery. But there’s nothing else quite like Lucky Kwong in South Eveleigh. The restaurant combines Kylie Kwong’s Cantonese cooking with Indigenous ingredients grown by Clarence Slockee, a Cudgenburra and Bundjalung educator who oversees the precinct’s gardens. Kwong’s spanner crab and prawn dumplings with Sichuan chile dressing are garnished with his bush mint, and he’s collected budding Geraldton wax for the soda Lucky Kwong created with Matt Whiley from neighboring bar Re (where bartenders cleverly transform the restaurant’s leftover rice into sake).

Tokyo Lamington’s owners have reimagined the classic chocolate-coconut sponge in a rainbow of flavors. Start with the original version with a raspberry jam filling, which sparks memories of co-founder Eddie Stewart’s grandmother; or for flashbacks to childhood parties, try the fairy bread version, with its popcorn buttercream center and coating of hundreds and thousands (nonpareils). There are Asian remixes of the lamington too, such as the cloudy citrus swirls of the yuzu meringue flavor or a nutty-sweet black sesame.

Soulmate is aptly named because it offers everything you’re looking for (in a brunch, anyway). Co-owner Mitch Jones’s menu features greatest hits with unique twists. The mushroom toastie benefits from a gentle sizzle of chile oil and rich kale butter made with sunflower seeds. The Soulmate Bae roll is gooey with house-made sambal, herb mayo, and Nanna’s cheese (the Red Leicester Jones always saw in his grandmother’s fridge). Even the vegan tofu scramble, which can be criminally rubbery and flavorless when done wrong, is outstanding. There’s good coffee, sunny spots, and friendly staff who’ll efficiently pack your order if you’re opting for takeaway.

African cuisines have been gaining attention in Sydney; consider the diners enjoying jollof rice from Little Lagos and generous spreads of Ethiopian stews and injera at Gursha as proof. At Cairo Takeaway, you’ll see them enjoying platters of grilled meats, pickles, bread, and fried cauliflower. Some people are drawn by the falafel, which is deep-fried and bright-green with mashed broad beans, but the eatery showcases other foods of Hesham El Masry’s heritage as well. Koshari, the rice, pasta, and spiced tomato specialty that’s Egypt’s national dish, is topped with a glorious pile of caramelized onions, and is a must-order.

Yu Ozone developed the menu at her Japanese cafe in response to her own allergies, and everything, including the eggplant teriyaki sushi rolls and the sweet potato doughnuts, is vegan and gluten-free. She took six years to develop an eggless, wheatless tempura batter, which she now showcases in her lunch set of crisp vegetables seasoned with matcha salt. Comeco Foods is part of Newtown’s vegan mile, which is dotted with meat-free eateries, such as Khamsa (Sydney’s only Palestinian cafe), Le Gourmand (a plant-based patisserie), La Petite Fauxmagerie (a dairy-free cheesemonger), and Vandal (a vegan taqueria).

To make the beers at Wildflower, located in the industrial heartland of Marrickville’s brewing scene, Topher Boehm collects wild yeasts from flowers across the state, a precarious activity he compares to collecting dreams. The resulting brews feel hyper-local and personal, like the St Phoebe ale produced from Ebony Sun plums and named after the daughter of Chris Allen, his brother-in-law and brewery co-founder. Boehm has aged locally made soy sauce in his barrels with Mat Lindsay of Ester restaurant and Jeff Lusis of Poly wine bar, while cheesemaker Colin Wood sells his Goldstreet Dairy goods at the brewery and provides the spectacular grilled Jersey cheese that’s served with hot honey in a bun. All Purpose Bakery’s Dougal Muffet and Lindsay can be credited for the pies and pizza on Wildflower’s current menu.

You’ll find enticing scoops all over Sydney, from the Persian saffron ice cream at Shiraz in Merrylands to the Hong Kong milk tea gelato at Small Joys in Five Dock. But Gelato Messina HQ in Marrickville might be the most blockbuster sweet tooth-sating venue out there. Gelato specials can include favorite flavors like pavlova or Robert Brownie Jr., alongside regular offerings like pistachio praline, all churned from Jersey milk from Messina’s 500-strong dairy herd on its Victorian farm. There are also frozen cakes (like tiramisu tarts) and a chocolate cabinet displaying artisan takes on Iced VoVos, Wagon Wheels, and other Australian supermarket sweets sculpted with single-origin cacao from Ecuador. Look out for the launch of Messina’s Creative Department, which will serve six-course, gelato-inspired degustations.

In January 1987, Xuan and Hiep Phan opened An (named for their 7-year-old daughter) in Bankstown, steeping beef and chicken bones for hours to create deeply flavored pho. Over the years, Sydney’s appetite for Vietnamese noodle soup has magnified, but newcomers haven’t shaken the city’s love for this stalwart. The restaurant regularly appears in the Good Food Guide and earns praise from award-winning chefs like Dan Hong, who has dined here for over three decades. Although the recipes for the nine types of beef pho and five kinds of chicken pho remain the same, there’s one big difference: An now helps Xuan run the business.

Co-owner Sam Luo is from Shunde, a Chinese town with a significant history of Cantonese cuisine and earned UNESCO status as a city of gastronomy. The menu at Taste of Shunde features dishes that aren’t so regularly seen in Sydney. Fried milk (which tastes like a snowy egg custard) can be served savory with fish cakes, roe, and pine nuts, or sweet with mango, while the fried milk rolls are like a coconut-laced hybrid of spring rolls and cannoli. The blockbuster item is the lavish roast goose (sometimes made with duck). The restaurant is located in Hurstville, one of the alternative Chinatowns that thrive across Sydney (like Chatswood and Eastwood in the north, the Little Shanghai strip of dumpling shops in Ashfield, and the neon-lit Burwood Chinatown in the city’s inner-west).

Siblings Amani and Huss Rachid and business partner Sal Senan know how to handle dough, as is clear at My Mother’s Cousin, their popular pizzeria. Their dexterity with carbs also justifies the queues for Self Raised Bread Shoppe. The team bakes ciabatta rolls for their hoagies, which they stuff with halal-friendly meats, such as turkey ham and beef mortadella, while their milk buns contain American cheddar, egg, and potato hash drizzled with a dill-heavy tribute to McDonald’s Big Mac sauce. Their underrated four-cheese toastie with mustard, mayonnaise, smoked salt, and herbed, garlicky mushrooms deserves attention, too.