20 of Sydney’s most iconic restaurants to tick off your bucket list
At a time when any restaurant that keeps the lights on longer than five years almost deserves a standing ovation, longevity alone can attract tags such as “icon” and “institution”. These stalwarts, however, relatively unchanged from the day they opened, truly deserve that status. All have been open for at least two decades, but most for many years more with the same owners and signature dishes. Long may they prosper.
Abhi’s
Occupying the same site since Bob Hawke was PM, Abhi’s is perennially buzzing with regulars keen for excellent masala dosa, and families celebrating special occasions with mixed tandoori plates starring seekh kebabs and hariyali lamb cutlets. Indian food in Sydney is considerably more complex and fragrant thanks to chef Kumar Mahadevan and his family.
163 Concord Road, North Strathfield, abhisindian.com.au
An Restaurant
Day breaks and An Restaurant is firing, bowls of pho steaming as they’re ferried from the kitchen to a packed room. Bo or ga – beef or chicken – are the main choices, with extras to suit your taste: tripe, young eggs, beef tendon. Take your pick, slurp up the noodles and fragrant broth and be fortified for whatever lies ahead.
27 Greenfield Parade, Bankstown, anrestaurant.com.au
Ayam Goreng 99
A bustling, brightly lit Kingsford staple where the focus is purely on the chicken. But which chicken? The fried is crisp and juicy; the grilled, marinated and charcoal-grilled. Do both, then add a grilled skewer of giblets and the belachan-tossed water spinach. Just don’t skimp on the punchy house sambal or forget to grab a jar to go.
464 Anzac Parade, Kingsford, ayamgoreng99.com
Beppi’s
There were no time limits on dining when Beppi Polese opened his eponymous Italian in 1956, or restaurants serving “our take on tiramisu”. Golden days. Beppi’s has always been about good old-fashioned hospitality in a plush, cosy space, with Tuscan reds and straight-up renditions of classics. Thank goodness there’s no sign of the script changing.
21 Yurong Street, East Sydney, beppis.com.au
bills
Imagine a world where Bill Granger chooses to stay in art school and never opens a cafe in an old Darlo pub. A world, potentially, without avocado toast. Those ricotta hotcakes don’t become Sydney’s most iconic dish, and Granger never perfects his recipe for golden, curdy scrambled eggs copied at every second suburban cafe. Eh, no thanks. Bill, you made the right decision.
433 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, bills.com.au
Bistro Moncur
The Woollahra Hotel’s offshoot dining room was THE place to be seen in the early ’90s, when fashionistas would lunch over calf’s liver slow-cooked by Damien Pignolet. The legendary chef has since left the swish building, but there’s still plenty of tartare, steak and bernaise to hit the “good, honest and easily identifiable” brief that Pignolet set himself in 1993.
116A Queen Street, Woollahra, bistromoncur.com.au
Buon Ricordo
Much like Beppi’s, Buon Ricordo exists in its own private universe of la vera cucina, founded by Armando Percuoco in 1987 and sold to his long-time head chef David Wright five years ago. The truffled egg fettuccine remains a go-to for first-timers, but it’s Wright’s more modern creations that keep the regulars coming back.
108 Boundary Street, Paddington, buonricordo.com.au
Chat Thai
What the late, great Amy Chanta started in 1989 in Haymarket continues in an array of venues across Sydney. Swing past the Circular Quay, Chatswood or Neutral Bay outposts run by Chanta’s daughter Palisa Anderson, and that same intensity of flavour endures in dishes, from spicy som dtum through to fragrant salted mackerel fried rice.
Multiple locations, chatthai.com
El Jannah
For Granville locals, El Jannah has always been a beacon, the scent of chicken fat dripping onto charcoal in the air as they jostle for tables. While the brand may have expanded east of the Red Rooster line, the original still pumps. Go for the birds, but know it’s the pickles, pita and the prospect of way too much toum – or just enough – that really make it.
Multiple locations, eljannah.com.au
Frango Charcoal Chicken
It’s a well-known fact that the heart of Little Portugal pumps chilli sauce. It’s the closely guarded secret of the Fernandes family’s Petersham institution, where the butterflied charcoal chicken gets stuffed into foil bags with a flourish of the hot, garlicky elixir, and the burgers – featuring crumbed fillets, S&W mayo and lettuce – positively drip with the stuff. Soak it up.
Multiple locations frangos.com.au
Happy Chef
If you’re into Happy Chef, odds are you’re really into it, with your favourites from the enormous backlit menu of this Chinatown staple on lock. The fan favourite laksa shines even more when made with your choice of noodle, while wonton noodle soup loaded with offal is a steadying bowl of goodness. A simple noodle house, they call themselves, but that’s not even the start of it.
Shop F3, 401 Sussex Street, Haymarket
Icebergs Dining Room and Bar
Two decades in and Icebergs still feels timeless. Put it down to the swell, the salt air, but most of all, to Maurice Terzini’s continued spirit of evolution, his collaboration with a line of name chefs who bring inventiveness to Italian classics. XO koshihikari risotto with spot prawn crudo? Only at Icebergs.
1 Notts Avenue, Bondi Beach, idrb.com
Mother Chu’s Taiwanese Gourmet
A three-decade-old Chinatown essential where eating is guided by cravings far more than the clock. A late afternoon pork pepper bun enveloped in sesame-encrusted pastry? Can do. Mid-morning fried youtiao dough stick to dip in warm soy milk? Come on down. Crisp-fried chicken is a crowd favourite too, plus the beef noodle soup, shallot pancakes and congee.
1/84-88 Dixon Street, Haymarket
Paul’s Famous Hamburgers
As old-fashioned surf-club, chip-shop burgers risk being drowned out by so many smash patties, Paul’s feels essential. It’s a white roll, a dense patty, a slice of beetroot, a squeeze of tomato sauce. It’s iceberg lettuce, a fried egg, hot chips spilling out of a paper bag, bare feet on the footpath, endless summers. And it’s still as busy as ever.
12 Princes Highway, Sylvania, paulsfamoushamburgers.com.au
Ryo’s Noodles
The first thing that stands out is the line. Ryo’s locals and pilgrims regularly stand outside on this unremarkable strip of residential road in Crows Nest waiting their turn. Inside it’s squeezy, fast-paced and strikingly yellow but the ramen – milk-white 12-hour tonkotsu – just rocks. Juicy chashu, jammy eggs and springy noodles bring it home six days a week, 20 years and counting.
125 Falcon Street, Crows Nest
Sean’s
A person’s mood is improved by exactly 150 per cent when they have a booking at Sean’s to look forward to. True fact. It’s that favourite cable-knit jumper you reach for every winter; it’s the balm after a long day at the beach (or office). Sean Moran has been nourishing Sydneysiders with smart, generous cooking for more than 30 years, and we hope he never stops.
270 Campbell Parade, North Bondi, seansbondi.com
Sun Ming
Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng cafes traditionally offer Cantonese-European fusion cooking based on nostalgia, comfort and value, and this humble diner is Sydney’s original version of the form. Since 1993, it’s been a haven for sticky rice with lap cheong sausage, sizzling tofu and the signature pork chop. Cheese on top is optional for the baked chop, but not really. Everyone gets the cheese.
173A Forest Road, Hurstville, sunminghurstville.com
Tan Viet Noodle House
All are welcomed by massive tabletop tea urns and brisk, friendly service at this house of crispy skin chicken and flat egg noodles (but really, it’s all about the chicken). Each chook maryland is tremendously juicy under its salty, moreish, shattering skin, and only needs a big glass of iced tea on the side (maybe a little soup, too.)
100 John Street, Cabramatta, tanviet.com.au
Temasek
Susan Wong opened her Singaporean-Malay restaurant in 1992 after working in securities for National Australia Bank and realising she preferred cooking more than dealing with debentures. It’s still in the same half-hidden spot on a low-rent laneway, the laksa forever complex and balanced, and the Hainanese chicken rice a gold standard.
71 George Street, Parramatta, temasekrestaurant.com
Tetsuya’s
A move is on the cards, but as longtime regulars who were introduced to Tetsuya Wakuda’s singular and seminal blend of French and Japanese cooking in Rozelle in the ’80s know a restaurant is less about the where than about a feeling, a tone. Be assured that what’s currently on offer – sophistication, subtlety and a master’s touch with seafood (the confit ocean trout still hits hard) – will continue.
529 Kent Street, Sydney, tetsuyas.com
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