bensyd

I would agree with boring. It's so safe; like a 1990s "Asian influenced modern Australian" sort of thing before Australians were truly comfortable eating real Asian food. It's catering to a crowd – the one that judges food by the fit-out of the restaurant – and it knows it. I agree it reads like an airline menu where it needs something for everyone. But Neil Perry has mastered that sort of restaurant.

IMOA

A quick heads up for the inner and east crowd - Nomidokoro Indigo. I'm a bit biased as it's owned by the group that own our local and one of the owners goes to our dogpark but it is a very very good take on an authentic japanese izakaya and bucking the recent sydney trend its pricing is more than reasonable. It is somewhat booked out for a while but they do have a couple of tables outside for walkins and when we were there last night at 8:30 they were both empty. Just up liverpool from the green park. And order the miso cream cheese, best drinking snack ever.

https://www.broadsheet.com.au/sydney...r-darlinghurst

JClasstraveller

Full and frank disclosure, I know one of the owners (admittedly haven’t seen them for probably at least 10 years).

Very talented.

MCIUnitedGuy

My wife, a vegetarian, and I ate at Pellegrino 2000 in Surrey Hills at the beginning of this month and both the food and service were stellar. I’d highly recommend it. (I don’t know the owners!)

sydunipete

A had a pretty special meal at the Bankstown Sports Club (don't laugh). Canton Kitchen is probably their flagship restaurant and I'd describe it as Asian fusion. Open Wednesday to Sunday evenings.

The wine list is typical club (rubbish) but the food is excellent. I highly recommend the eggplant chips.

bensyd

Burrata with XO sauce sounds pretty good.

bob12403

Hi once again, folks. A while back I had a number of posts and replies with the good folks on this board about dining in Sydney. The focus at that time was primarily restaurants for dinner, and between your help and my research I think I've managed to assemble a pretty good list of the top Sydney dinner offerings, with a nice wide range of cuisines. I'm returning here for a Part 2: Lunches.

Several of you suggested that we not overlook pubs and cafes, which is an idea I totally embrace. I also embrace finding spots that are easier on the wallet than some of our places booked for dinner, although price is not the primary consideration. So with that in mind, I'm wondering if anyone would care to offer up a few suggestions for places for casual, somewhat moderately priced lunches during our trip next month. All cuisines welcome, a good list of Australian wines by the glass a plus.

My only request is that you try to restrict the locations to the general area where a first-time visitor might be headed during the day. I'm thinking roughly The Rocks to the north, Darling Harbour to the west, Haymarket to the south and Woolloomooloo to the east. A couple of spots that are already under consideration: Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel at The Rocks on our first day, as it's terribly convenient to the Marriott Circular Quay, so we can decompress after our flights; Old Fitzroy Hotel after visiting the Art Gallery; XOPP while in Chinatown; and the Palace when visiting the Tower Eye. I'm also very intrigued by the lunch express offering at Aalia, even though it's higher priced. Any thoughts on Fishmongers at Manly? Or anywhere in the CBD for excellent fish & chips?

Also want to add that when our exchanges on dining started months ago, there had been a discussion about Le Foote, which was supposed to have been open what seems like decades ago. Although they've acknowledged a host of construction issues, they've gone into radio silence, and several emails to both the restaurant and Swillhouse have not brought a response. Fingers crossed that they open by mid-April, would love to give it a go, but not terribly optimistic.

BTW, I'm posting a similar request on the Melbourne dining thread, if anyone cares to share recommendations over there. Many thanks--and I promise a full report when we return!

bensyd

I don't think such a place exists, tbh. I could name a handful of places doing great fish and chips, but none of them are in the CBD. The best you could probably find is a pub that puts it on their menu to satisfy the pescatarians.

bob12403

Interesting observation, thanks, I'll keep that in mind. But you do mention pubs--any recommendations that are in/near the CBD with notable non-pescatarian offerings?

Chessboxin

A bit left field but you could potentially check out the Sydney Fish Market. I haven't actually eaten there but there's a few places to eat and it's also an interesting place to visit in general if you're into that sort of thing.

JClasstraveller

I keep hearing good things re Aalia (I’ve not been yet).

Bopp and Tone in Wynyard is good.

Industry Beans for cafe food on York St.

A few good places in Bulletin Place down near Marriott. Cabrito Coffee Traders the pick there.

Belles Hot Chicken not far away (I’ve not been but survived and reviews good).

La Renaissance patisserie cafe in the Rocks is very good.

Morrison Oyster Room and Bar is also quite good as a watering hole.

Bowery Lane on O’Connell St good too.

JClasstraveller

Not been in a while but it’s a bit average food wise which is a shame because the produce is top notch.

sydunipete

My recommendation is the Australian Hotel at the Rocks. They serve a fabulous beer called Scharer's Lager and offer pizzas at lunch time including kangaroo, crocodile and emu. All are excellent - particularly the crocodile. There is outdoor seating on the foot path but I would highly recommend booking ahead.

For my ultimate tourist day out, catch the train to Milson's Point, walk across the main deck of the bridge and the stairs at the city end take you out right opposite the Australian Hotel. From there, the Rocks is yours to explore - although you may want to stay and enjoy a few more Scharer's.

bensyd

Good list. I just don't get into the city often enough for pub lunches to really know where is good these days.

Yeah I agree. It's pretty expensive as well because it tends to be all about the tourist bucks. On the other hand, like you say, the quality of the fish available is excellent. I head out to Claudio's at least once a week to pick up some seafood.

JClasstraveller

I’m not a huge CBD pub person either but I think the best pubs with “grub” are in the suburbs.

In the CBD, there’s the ones mentioned in the Rocks. Otherwise there’s not really good pubs with good grub I feel, the better stuff tends towards wine bars.

I guess there’s Verandah Bar which is ok, Paragon down at Circular Quay.