Where to Eat in the CBD When You Want to Feel Like the Boss
Places that are ideal for smart lunches with big groups of friends or colleagues.
Where to Eat in the CBD When You Want to Feel Like the Boss
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Places that are ideal for smart lunches with big groups of friends or colleagues.
Some days, the usual lunchtime salad or bento box isn't quite going to cut it. If you want to celebrate a promotion, impress a new client or are just in the mood to gather up your workmates for a cheeky midweek treat, you need somewhere that's a step up from your usual spot. Maybe that's a place with a degustation menu? A particularly impressive fit-out? Or, perhaps you're after a good wine list, for when it's the kind of lunch that includes a drop or two of vino?
To help you find the perfect place for a snazzy weekday lunch, we've teamed up with American Express to find the best restaurants in Sydney's CBD that will take your midday meal from zero to hero in one fell swoop. These stellar spots are all big enough for groups, have standout food and drink menus, and boast stunning interiors. In other words, they're the kind of place where you will literally feel like a CEO — so grab your Amex and head out for lunch.
Got yourself in another dining situation and need some guidance? Whatever it is, we know a place. Visit The Shortlist and we'll sort you out.
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Our patient wait for Neil Perry to bring his Italian fine diner, Rosetta, from Melbourne to Sydney was well-rewarded. This sprawling spot has three levels on which to eat yourself into an Italian food coma of the first degree.
With dishes from both the north and south of the country, the menu here is significantly more seafood-led than the Melbourne version, with options like the yellowfin tuna served with salsa verde, and the spaghetti alla chitarra with prawns and pistachio. There’s also incredible pizza (the prawn and pesto is particularly good) and an extensive mozzarella bar. Mamma mia! Leaving Rosetta without trying a treat from the dessert menu is just plain sinful so make sure to get your paws on the torta di ricotta or the pannacotta with strawberries and rhubarb, before heading back to the office totally, gloriously stuffed.
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For a lunchtime culinary excursion through South India and Sri Lanka, Indu is the place to go. Entering this subterranean spot is an immediate sensory explosion. The ambient space is constantly bustling, and the air is heavy with the aromas of coconut sugar, spice and fresh seafood.
The menu here is refreshing, with innovative dishes that are a far cry from the heavy Indian curries that characterise most Indian spots in Sydney. Still, traditionalists will not be dismayed by the inclusion of dishes like the Goan curry, where smoked goat’s leg dosa is topped with bacon and chilli jam. While the food here is relatively light, it’s also so delicious you’re probably going to end up eating a lot of it. So, before going back to work, grab yourself the coriander granita with coconut jelly: it’s the dessert equivalent of curling up in the shade and having your tummy gently rubbed.
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It’s obvious that the 12-Micron team have put an incredible amount of thought into every element of their restaurant. The dishes, decor and drinks all showcase native Australian elements, and the entire effect is as nice on the palate as it is on the eyes. Rare wool fibres (for which the restaurant is named) hang from the ceiling and the stunning ceramic crockery is the perfect backdrop for the gorgeous food.
The express lunch menu ($49 for two courses, $59 for three) is a good way to sample the chef’s specialities, including the juicy lamb with quinoa and purple carrot, and the kingfish with finger lime and fennel. While the mains are excellent, our favourite thing about 12-Micron is definitely the speciality dessert bar that serves decadent treats either a la carte or degustation style. The purple carrot cake with candied orange carrot, cream cheese frosting and purple carrot ice-cream is the stuff that dreams are made of.
Image: Ryan Linnegar.
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Long Chim is upscale, street-inspired Thai food at the very top of its game. You’re not going to find any spring rolls or moneybags served with sweet chilli sauce here. Instead, expect a mind-boggling selection of explosive, powerfully pungent plates that are unlike anything you’ve ever tasted in Sydney.
Avoid the long minutes of indecision that such a vast menu is bound to provoke and opt instead for the surprisingly affordable $45 set lunch option. For a restaurant that takes its cues from street food, Long Chim is an appropriately industrial space complete with brick walls, wall art and even a few disco balls hanging over the booths round the back. Perfect for a lunchtime treat that’s both incredibly delicious and a lot of fun.
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For some of the best seafood in Sydney, take yourself down to Barangaroo’s Cirrus Dining, which comes to you from the absolute legends behind Bentley, Monopole and Yellow. Save this one for a lunchtime where you can linger a little because, once you’ve sat down here, you’ll be hard-pressed to leave. Pro tip: on a sunny day, nab one of the outdoor tables with their sweeping harbour views.
Otherwise, you’ll be more than content inside with the beautiful timber tables, spectacular wine walls and that speedboat suspended from the ceiling. The menu here is designed for sharing, and as is always the case with the Bentley folk, everything is impeccably presented. Most spectacular are the grilled rock lobster with shellfish cream, and the mud crab from the Queensland with green garlic and spiced butter. The epic platter, crowded with oysters, strawberry clams, honey bugs and juicy prawns, is also a standout.
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Oh, Restaurant Hubert, how we love thee. Everything about this place is pure delight, from the classy fit-out to the beautifully designed food menu and the hefty leather-bound wine list. When you need a place to go for a particularly special occasion (like that long-awaited promotion), there is almost nowhere better than this spot.
Step through the impressive wooden doors and walk downstairs until you reach the Narnia-style wonderland that transports you from dreary Bligh Street to the resplendent opulence of post-war France. Grab a seat at one of the dark wood tables and treat yourself to a series of classic French dishes like the crab remoulade, oysters mignonette and steak frites. If this is the kind of celebratory lunch that can slip into the evening hours, definitely throw in a bottle of wine from that extensive list. Cheers to you.
As you drink and dine with your American Express, reap all the sweet rewards of being a Card Member. Explore the many ways American Express has your back here.
Top image: Katje Ford.
