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Sydney restaurant reviews

Catch up on The Sydney Morning Herald chief restaurant critic Terry Durack's reviews.

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Oysters grilled in the shell and dressed with a rich yuzu miso cream.
Good Food hat15/20

Put Gaku Robata Grill on your radar

  • Terry Durack
The Tayim plate, with small share-friendly appetisers.
13.5/20

The 'thing' about Tayim in The Rocks

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Bay lobster with lemon and garlic.
Good Food hat15.5/20

Pipit, the new toast of the NSW north coast

  • Terry Durack
Potato gnocchi with tomato sugo and deep-fried capers.
14/20

Peppe's vegan Italian plants itself in Bondi

  • Terry Durack
Strozzapreti with pistachio pesto and pangrattato.
Good Food hat15/20

Right place, right time at 10 William Street

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: a reimagined bouillabaisse.
Good Food hat15.5/20

Could this revamped beachside icon be Sydney's summer hot spot?

  • Terry Durack
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300g grass-fed Brooklyn Valley rib eye with grilled lemon and black garlic barbecue sauce.
14/20

Bopp & Tone steaks a claim in Sydney's CBD lunch market

  • Terry Durack
Pizza marinara scattered with optional Ortiz anchovies.
14/20

Beauty in simplicity at Newtown's Bella Brutta

  • Terry Durack
Totti's Neapolitan ice-cream sandwich.
14.5/20

Soak up the sunshine at Totti's in Bondi

  • Terry Durack
Pappadum and naan platter served with zippy chutneys.
13.5/20

Dialled-up colour and spice at Don't Tell Aunty

  • Terry Durack
Mango, nectarine, blueberry, lemon myrtle, aquafaba meringue and macadamia.
Good Food hat15/20

Vegan dining we've been waiting for at Paperbark

  • Terry Durack
Hopper set (one egg, one plain) with green pol sambol and kata sambol.
Good Food hat15/20

Tick the box for eat-with-your-hands goodness at Lankan Filling Station

  • Terry Durack
Tender sugarloaf cabbage is skewered with guanciale.
14.5/20

Etelek in Potts Point for a good time, not a long time

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Smoked pig jowl, fan shell razor clams, shiitake, sea cucumber crackling.
Good Food hatGood Food hatGood Food hat19/20

Say hello to Quay 2.0

  • Terry Durack
Smoky, charred and salty bistecca alla fiorentina.
14.5/20

Rules rule at Sydney's T-bone-only restaurant

  • Terry Durack
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Garlicky Typhoon shelter mud crab.
13/20

Chatswood's designer China diner

  • Terry Durack
Next-level prawn toast with sesame seeds and yuzu mayonnaise.
14.5/20

Boronia, Gladesville's textbook neighbourhood restaurant

  • Terry Durack
The muffuletta, a pressed baguette of olive, mortadella, salami, ham, provolone, peppers and artichokes.
Good Food hat15/20

New-mood canteen food at Clayton Wells's new all-day diner

  • Terry Durack
Marron with sweetbreads, pumpkin and vanilla.
Good Food hatGood Food hat17/20

Generation next is on song at Aria

  • Terry Durack
Roast chicken with corn and leeks from the bistro menu.
Good Food hat15/20

Step in from the cold at Taralga's warm Argyle Inn

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: the Old City platter at Lillah.
13/20

A wealth of flavours on a silver platter at Lillah

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Chocolate, dulce de leche, buckwheat and cocoa nibs.
Good Food hat15/20

New chef, new buzz at The Gantry

  • Terry Durack
Potato damper on eucalyptus skewers, cooking on hot coals at your table.
Good Food hatGood Food hatGood Food hat18/20

The revolution continues at Orana

  • Myffy Rigby
Moon's pad Thai with king prawns.
14/20

Thai food, but not as you know it, at Restaurant Moon

  • Terry Durack
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Southern calamari with saltbush and sriracha mayo.
14.5/20

Easy, breezy does it at Dunes Palm Beach

  • Terry Durack
Peposo of braised ox cheek with mashed potatoes.
Good Food hat15/20

Bistrode becomes Little Bistro

  • Terry Durack
Blue spirulina tagliatelle is pliable and silky.
13.5/20

Mark + Vinny's is full of surprises (and blue pasta ain't one of them)

  • Terry Durack
Clockwise from left: Tempura oba with smoked ama ebi (prawn); egg white tofu and smoked eggplant dashi; saikou salmon with smoked roe and sudachi (citrus); bonito, dashi cream, purple yam; tuna with yuzu kosho.
Good Food hatGood Food hatGood Food hat19/20

The clock is ticking, and Sepia's still clicking

  • Terry Durack
Scallop carpaccio makes a comeback.
14/20

Classic meets fusion at Mortlake's Katsumi

  • Terry Durack
A plant bowl with quinoa, black lentils, pumpkin and preserved lemon tahini.
14/20

You'll go nuts for Alibi's plant-based menu

  • Terry Durack
Deep-fried to order: Signature crispy duck at Castlecrag.
11/20

Holy Duck! Castlecrag: This little duck needs more pluck

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Pozole rojo braised pork soup.
14.5/20

Come for the $100 margarita, stay for the $12 soup at Bar Patron

  • Terry Durack
Three sorbets - charcoal coconut, mango lychee and yuzu passionfruit.
14/20

Nu Bambu: The suburban RSL club serving grilled champagne lobsters

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Prosciutto di Parma Principe and parmigiano reggiano with carasau crispbread.

AcquaFresca by Pilu review

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Slow-roasted lamb shoulder.
Good Food hat15/20

Humble Greek fare from the heart hits Ramsgate at Ble

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Roast suckling pig (lechon).
13/20

Filipino favourites rebooted at Rey's Place

  • Terry Durack

Continue this series

Sydney restaurant reviews 2021
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