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12 hatted restaurants: Catch up on every Good Food Sydney review of 2023 (so far)

Terry Durack and Callan Boys review the biggest new (and renewed) restaurants each week, as first seen in Good Food and Good Weekend.

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Whisky-aged wagyu Scotch fillet at The Sanderson in Sydney.
Good Food hat15/20

‘Completely over the top and ridiculous’: The Sanderson sells the sizzle and the steak

  • Terry Durack
Fred’s restaurant is home to Sydney’s most beautiful open kitchen.
Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

‘Supernaturally crunchy spuds’: We revisit Sydney’s most beautiful open kitchen, Fred’s

  • Callan Boys
Roasted duck breast with pickled kyoho grape.
14.5/20

Pretend you’re dining in an elegant Parisian ‘passage’ at bijou Bistro Nido in Sydney’s CBD

  • Terry Durack
Chicken inasal (marinated, coal-roasted chicken thighs) is a kaleidoscope of concentrated flavour.
14.5/20

‘A kaleidoscope of flavour’: Takam leads the pack as the Filipino food trend finally takes off

  • Callan Boys
Calamari fritti with saffron aioli.
14/20

Pretend you’re on an Italian summer holiday at Coogee hotspot Louie

  • Terry Durack
Killa Beez pizza at Braci Osteria & Pizzeria in North Willoughby.
14.5/20

‘This pizza makes me stupidly happy’: Braci’s Killa Beez creates a buzz in North Willoughby

  • Callan Boys
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The main 50-seat dining room is lined with an Etruscan mural, giving it the air of a basement crypt.
Good Food hat15/20

Does the Hubert team’s decadent new grillhouse Le Foote live up to the hype?

  • Terry Durack
Clam Bar is a New York-style steakhouse from the Pellegrino 2000 and Bistrot 916 team.
Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

New York could do with more steakhouses like Sydney’s new two-hatted Clam Bar

  • Callan Boys
Har mee at Malay Chinese Noodle Bar.
14/20

Malay-Chinese is serving ‘Australia’s best’ har mee noodle soup in Circular Quay

  • Callan Boys
Go-to dish: Chocolate bar with caramel and cookie filling.
Good Food hat15.5/20

Chocolate treasure chest a must-try at Surry Hills’ new brasserie Armorica

  • Terry Durack
The clamorous dining room has a 20-seat private room and a stool-lined bar saved for walk-ins.
Good Food hat15/20

Love Tilly team’s buzzy new Palazzo Salato serves up proper pasta and candlelit glam

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Steak with chimichurri.
14.5/20

Tempus Katoomba keeps things simple and cosy in the Blue Mountains

  • Callan Boys
Go-to dish: Mala chicken wings.
14.5/20

Searching for a midnight snack in the city? Hey Chu’s chicken wings are pretty much perfect

  • Callan Boys
The plush dining room at Nobu Sydney has back harbour views and rich textures.
13/20

Nobu Sydney is a rite of passage – but is its star power still shining?

  • Terry Durack
In another life, Amuro might have been an Aesop store.
14.5/20

No bookings, no drinks list but sake bar Amuro has charm (and chopstick pillows you’ll want to pilfer)

  • Callan Boys
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Me-Gal in the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga Zoo, Sydney.
14/20

Mosman’s Me-Gal restaurant is a room with a zoo (and a view)

  • Terry Durack
Where’s Nick is a friendly local bolthole for catch-ups.
14/20

Where’s Nick was always a good place to drink wine, but now it’s an excellent one

  • Callan Boys
Calamari fritti.
14/20

Coastal pub restaurant Lago Cucina puts Budgewoi on the destination dining list

  • Terry Durack
Toothfish skewers with prawn and lemongrass sambal.
Good Food hat15/20

‘Just like Mimi’s, but a bit cheaper’: Promenade Bondi Beach gets a hat

  • Callan Boys
Steak frites with Bordelaise sauce.
14/20

A beloved Surry Hills pub gets new French-ish bistro Chez Crix

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Whole roasted duck to share, $190.
Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

Bentley duo’s majestic new two-hatted venue Brasserie 1930 hits the heights of luxury and quality

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Gigli pasta with lamb ragu and ricotta.
14.5/20

Fabbrica’s Balmain pop-up is more inner-city panache than slapdash

  • Callan Boys
St Siandra at The Spit.
14/20

Soak up the endless summer at St Siandra at The Spit

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: A5 Kagoshima wagyu chuck roll set.
14/20

The verdict on Hanasuki, Sydney’s swishest (and first) Japanese hotpot restaurant

  • Callan Boys
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Aquna Murray cod, chickpea panisse, vongole and bourride sauce at Bistro Moncur.
14/20

Same, same, but different as Bistro Moncur celebrates 30 years

  • Terry Durack
El Primo Sanchez in Paddington.
14.5/20

El Primo Sanchez is not a bar for everyone, but gee, it is fun

  • Callan Boys
New laneway spot Beau Bar is a moody, shadowy space built around a swish black granite island bar.
14.5/20

A walk down culinary lane at Beau Bar in Surry Hills

  • Terry Durack
Dan-dan noodle soup is a hug and a slap in the face.
14/20

The dan-dan soup is back at TBC by Grape Garden Beijing Cuisine

  • Callan Boys
The north shore scales up at Josh and Julie Niland's Petermen in St Leonards.
Good Food hat15.5/20

Seafood stars north of the bridge at Petermen in St Leonards

  • Terry Durack
The Te Quiero cocktail combines gold kiwifruit, tequila, apricot brandy and Yellow Chartreuse.
11/20

'Sydney's most premium cocktail bar'? Only in Wonderland, Alice

  • Callan Boys
Norma's Deli evokes all the good times you've ever had in the southern Mediterranean.
14/20

Greece is the word at Norma's Deli in Manly

  • Terry Durack
Steak frites with Cafe de Paris butter and pommes allumettes.
14/20

'Queen St Eatery is my new favourite bistro on the NSW South Coast'

  • Callan Boys
Restaurant Ka is a 10-seat degustation diner from a first-time chef-restaurateur.
Good Food hat15/20

Restaurant Ka in Darlinghurst is the next big small thing

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: Nick's fisherman's pie.
14.5/20

The Rover's gratin-topped dish is a fish pie for the ages

  • Callan Boys
The Lucky Bee's cheeky mix of art, friendliness and good food makes it feel more than a place to eat, pay and leave.
14/20

Ettalong Beach's Lucky Bee is a mix-and-match Asian adventure

  • Terry Durack
Go-to dish: the Diner Burger is a spectacular, straight-up example of the craft.
13.5/20

The Surf Deck's burger is hard to beat on a summer afternoon

  • Callan Boys

Continue this series

Sydney dining is sizzling: The trends, the dishes and the restaurants you need to know about now
Previously
Spatchcock and scarpinocc (pasta) at Palazzo Salato.

Sydney’s most exciting new restaurants and bars of 2023 so far (and the ones to look forward to)

The bulk of the year’s hottest openings may be behind us, but there are still plenty of upcoming restaurant launches to file away for later.

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