Potts Point has seen many restaurants and bars come and go in its time, with upscale digs moving into sites previously home to the dives of The Cross’s colourful yesteryear. 

“This is an actual restaurant in a warehouse. Where else is that happening in Sydney?” Baba’s Place co-owner Alexander Kelly queries. Following a series of pop-ups, Kelly and the Baba’s team found a permanent home in Marrickville.

Cafe Paci, the highly lauded Darlinghurst pop-up, made its grand return in 2019. Award-winning Finnish chef Pasi Petänen (Quay, Four In Hand, Marque) opened the permanent iteration of the Sydney restaurant along one of the city’s busiest strips — Newtown’s King Street.

A Chippendale mainstay, Ester pairs the best of Sydney’s dining scene with the laidback energy of its Chippo surrounds. The space is simple and sparse — done in concrete tones and darkish wood. 

In the six years since Brasserie L’Entrecôte opened in Pymble, there’s been a bit of a French boom in the Sydney restaurant scene. 

Lilymu is the Parramatta Square outpost from the team behind Nour, Henrietta and AALIA. For their first Western Sydney restaurant, the team linked up ex-Mr Wong chef Brendan Fong for a contemporary take on Chinese and Southeast Asian dishes. 

Rolling down King Street looking for somewhere to dine can be a daunting task, but Newtown’s Maiz is here to make that choice easier. It is easily one of the best restaurants in Sydney.

In one of Sydney’s main thoroughfares, where Oxford Street meets Crown amid a flurry of quick-fix fast-food, clubs, pubs and bottle shops, lives this surprisingly authentic Japanese experience. 

Filled to the brim with lively drinkers and diners, 10 William St seems more like a brand-new opening than an 11-year-old establishment. 

At Bennelong, one of the very best restaurants in Sydney, Peter Gilmore ditches the more extravagant elements of Quay and offers up brilliantly to-the-point dishes. 

Since it opened as the first full-service restaurant from the Swillhouse Group in 2016, Restaurant Hubert has built a reputation as a true gem of the Sydney restaurant landscape. It even has the Jack Harlow tick of approval. 

A longstanding Sydney stalwart where everyone is welcome. Located on Campbell Parade overlooking the iconic Bondi Beach, this breezy eastern suburbs icon pairs a laidback, friendly atmosphere with plentiful dishes made from the freshest produce. 

After building a cult following for her show-stopping hoppers, O Tama Carey flung open the doors to her first permanent restaurant in 2018. A shrine to Sri Lankan cuisine, the East Sydney venue features a hands-on menu of hoppers, sambols and curries. 

City workers, theatre-goers and pasta-lovers should all have this romantic Italian restaurant at the top of their hit list. Ragazzi comes from the duo behind Love, Tilly Devine, bringing a passion for carbs and minimal-intervention wines to Angel Place. 

Josh Niland is one of Sydney’s great culinary innovators. His nose-to-tail ethos around sustainable seafood has seen him named in the world’s top 100 best chefs and be listed among the world’s 50 best next-generation hospitality leaders.