Australia's best restaurants: Terry Durack's top picks - Restaurant critic Terry Durack picks his 12 best restaurants in Australia right now. Sydney Morning Herald 3 March 2015
2016
12 January 2016 Annata - "Finessed food in a fun setting." Our summary HERE
19 January 2016 Stanbuli - "Turkish food with Enmore attitude." Our summary HERE
2 February 2016 Kensington Street Social - "... the very practised kitchen is acing it already. ... no button un-pressed with a high/low menu that straddles snacks, flatbreads and hotdogs alongside more upscale dishes." Our summary HERE
23 February 2016 Indu - "Indu's raging enthusiasm for colourful, fragrant Indian and Sri Lankan food is instantly contagious. ... It's all a bit hyperactive and needs an edit." Our summary HERE
8 July 2016 Acre - "... there is good cooking and real charm here – with more to come, when the farm grows to be as important as the table." Our summary HERE
13 July 2016 The Resident - "clever, contemporary food, lots of seasonal and vegetal dishes, consistently excellent sauces, one major (1 kg dry-aged rib-eye) steak hit, realistic prices and polished staff." Our summary HERE
21 July 2016 Balcon by Taparino - "Balcon is about Spanish wine first, and Spanish food second; about relaxing over Rioja, nibbling almonds, not giving a damn about fat, salt and cholesterol, and staying too long over lunch on the vast al fresco balcon to the rear. In other words, it's just as it should be." Our summary HERE
2015
13 January 2015 Saké - "... raw fish still rules, ... there's genuine effort and good craft here." Our summary HERE
20 January 2015 Hawker - "Essentially mid-market,street-food diner." Our summary HERE
27 January 2015 Chiswick at the Gallery - "... a simple, small and share-plated list of crowd pleasers". Our summary HERE
3 February 2015 Foveaux St Dining - "Fine dining getting more flexi. ... the simpler single minded dishes work best over the nattractive compositions of fashionable, seasonal ingredients." Our summary HERE
10 February 2015 Cottage Point Inn - "It's like all the food here - fresh, bright and notable for its well-played acidity and balance." Our summary HERE
17 February 2015 Bang - "... this is not your average curry den ... most of the cooking here is good. The basics are excellent." Our summary HERE
24 February 2015 Kent Street Kitchen - " The well-crafted food and prime ingredients flow smoothly (if slowly) without any great ups and downs; and the staff play along, with a slight whiff of old-retainer eccentricity reminiscent of London's dottiest and most charming old hotels." Our summary HERE
3 March 2015 Attica, Ripponlea - "New Zealand-born Ben Shewry channels his own childhood, forages along local railway tracks, and tends a massive garden plot in the nearby Ripponlea Gardens to produce a highly personal cooking style that is utterly spell-binding." Our summary HERE
3 March 2015 Sepia - "... a meal at Sepia is like a poetic and pinpoint-precise new-age kaiseki, running from a freakishly clever frolic of Yasa caviar, smoked bone marrow, horseradish cream and umeboshi, to cooked-to-the-second miso black cod with silken tofu and nasturtium flower butter dashi." Our summary HERE
3 March 2015 Esquire - "There is always a tension between the fickle nature of nature, and the printed menu – how does a chef promise the very best produce of the day, when diners insist on knowing what they're in for? At this stripped-back, sculpted, wood-and-stone riverside Brisbane dining room, owner/chef Ryan Squires flips the dilemma into a thrill-a-minute ride into the unknown. You won't know if dinner is 12 or 25 courses (between $120 and $160 pp) until you get there – because neither will he." Our summary HERE
3 March 2015 Magill - "The mission ... is for the food to match the living history in the exalted wine cellars. They succeed by keeping things simple, witty and damn tasty." Our summary HERE
3 March 2015 Rockpool - "The measured, multi-course dining is confident, polished, and thoughtful," Our summary HERE
3 March 2015 Momofuku Seiōbo - "Team [Ben] Greeno kept on pushing the gastronomic boundaries, finding edifying new ways to feed hearts and minds. Witness the chicken bum nuggets, black truffle cheese toasties, and deep-fried honeycomb tripe on braised daikon. Now, as a new Momofuku general moves to head up the Australian battalion and Greeno heads to pastures new, we hope – and expect - great things from both." Our summary HERE
3 March 2015 Quay, Sydney - "... if you want to see some of Sydney's most articulate and striking food, then slide in to a table at Quay. Flower-powered chef, Peter Gilmore's food is ever-evolving, as textural, floral, new dishes appear with every new crop of baby vegetables, and old favourites are re-visited and re-thought." Our summary HERE
3 March 2015 Vue de Monde - "... excellence, disciplined skill ... turns Australian indigenous ingredients into stars" Our summary HERE
3 March 2015 Franklin - "... all flavour-first; all with a raw honesty that connects them back to air, land and sea." Our summary HERE
3 March 2015 Biota - "waves of sophisticated, and quite dramatic, contemporary plates." Our summary HERE
10 March 2015 Pilu at Freshwater - "... everything that hits the table has that little extra sense of refinement." Our summary HERE
17 March 2015 Cafe Nice - "The young chef concentrating on he kitchen, lifting the food from the everyday; the older restaurateur concentrating on infrastructure , so that the systems work everyday." Our summary HERE
24 March 2015 Subcontinental - "... the test of a good Indian restaurant isn't in the star dishes, it's in the simple things. You should be able to eat just rice, dahl and raita and go home happu. And you can." Our summary HERE
31 March The Gantry Restaurant and Bar - "Produce is the real star." Our summary HERE
7 April 2015 Tim Ho Wan - "So, yes, Tim Ho Wan is over-hyped and over here, but it's still worth a visit for the curiosity factor,the undeniable freshness of the food, and The Bun. I'm just not convinced it's worth the queue." Our summary HERE
14 April 2015 Moxhe - "Local hero in the making... a neighbourly, welcoming -mere-et-pere diner." Our summary HERE
21 April 2015 Nel. - "Robinson's cooking is interesting, well-crafted and likeable, in that mod-regional British way. The no-choice format is ideal for those who reckon they've made enough decisions at work and don't need another one in their lives, but me, I'd prefer either fewer things on each plate, or fewer plates. Your choice." Our summary HERE
26 May 2015 Besser - "For me, it's the fundamental, straightforward modesty of the cooking, the good-humoured skill of sommelier Ennio Di Marco and the savvy Italian floor staff, and the respect paid to tradition while at the same time subverting it. La cucina Australiana. Brilliant." Our summary HERE
2 June 2015 Toriciya - "... a treasure trove of Japanese goodness. It is one of the most refreshing, restorative and true Japanese experiences in Sydney. They have no agenda here, other than to do their job properly and rigorously." Our summary HERE
9 June 2015 Regatta - "While the something-for-everyone menu might send out mixed messages, everything on it is well done, and the setting is the thrill it always is." Our summary HERE
16 June 2015 The Emporium - "The two larger plates have style to burn, classically composed and bursting with flavour." Our summary HERE
23 June 2015 Riley Street Garage "Riley Street Garage isn't anything new, but it works. It's fun, buzzy, interesting, convivial, fast-paced and eager to please. And it seems to do what it does without a problem in the world." Our summary HERE
7 July 2015 Kepos and Co - "... channelling Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and North African food into a confident , classy mix of small plate feasts." Our summary HERE
14 July 2015 Bennelong - "Already, this is one of the most delicious restaurants in Sydney, with its beautifully judged menu of vivid, distinct flavours and elegant solutions to various logistical challenges. What I wasn't expecting was the sense of joy, the pride, the warmth and generosity that comes from the Fink family's patronage, the inspirational Gilmore and chef de cuisine Robert Cockerill, and the friendly young staff. If you want to feel good about Australia's place in the world of food and hospitality, go. Just go." Our summary HERE
21 July 2015The Boathouse Shelly Beach - "... fleshes out the Boathouse favourites on the menu with serious main courses." Our summary HERE
28 July 2015 Drake Eatery - "... there are more hits than misses here, with a good kitchen, well-sourced (and sauced) produce, decent service and thought-through food with lots of flavour. Just ducky, really." Our summary HERE
4 August 2015 Lotus Galeries - ""This is not the place to go for Cantonese finesse or Shanghainese family-style, but it is a clever synthesis of hot-ticket dishes, fashionable ingredients, western favourites, cocktails and contemporary ideas, brought together – rather like a dumpling – in one attractive package." Our summary HERE
11 August 2015 Bellevue - "Mains are big on flavour and high on style ... So far, t's not sure if it's a pub or a restaurant. But given that this sort of hard working food normally comes with a higher price tag and less fun; here's to having one just like it on every corner." Our summary HERE
18 August 2015 Berta - "... wine becomes the thing you enjooy most here - the thing that inspires, satisfies amd intrigues. Berta is still a warm, welcoming buzzy inner-urban dining experience, but for me it has shifted along the spectrum to be wine first, food second." Our summary HERE
25 August 2015 Momofuku Seiobo - "So what has changed in Monofuku land? ... If anything, it’s a more chilled, relaxed dining experience, with assertively sweet/sharp flavours from a different tropical zone. It may not be the game-changing, take-us-to-your-leader, cultural shift it was, but in its own quiet way, Momofuku Seiobo is once again bringing something new to Sydney dining." Our summary HERE
1 September 2015 Missy French - "[Chef Chris] Benedet brings some classy cooking skills and a lighter bistronomic twist to the usual French bistro fare." Our summary HERE
8 September 2014 The Bridge Room - "The Bridge Room is both expensive and excellent. ... Now more than ever it's a complete package." Our summary HERE
15 September 2015 Master - "The cooking is intelligent, and flavours are distinct. ... this is seriously good cooking that in't overly serious." Our summary HERE
22 September 2015 Beccafico - "It's a friendly, welcoming place; low on attitude, with eager-to-please Italian comfort food ..." Our summary HERE
29 September 2015 Automata - "A degustation menu that doesn't drag." Our summary HERE
6 October 2015 Silvereye - "There are some truly great young chefs cooking in Sydney at the moment, and Miller is one of them. Silvereye is a beguiling mix of Scandinavian ethos, Australian produce and culinary derring-do delivered by engaging staff in a charmingly blond, new-age dining room. Never mind that it offers the longest degustation in Sydney. It only occasionally feels like it." Our summary HERE
13 October 2015 Rosso Antico Pizza Bar, Newtown - "... intent on doing its own thing and doing it well, with a strong voice, a simple menu, and honest prices." Our summary HERE
20 October 2015 Buzo - "Main courses are hearty and well executed. ... What you can expect is comfort-driven, well serviced, wine-friendly Sydney/Italian dining, that kicks off with a bowl of gently warmed olives, same as it always did." Our summary HERE
27 October 2015 Hello Auntie - "It slots happily into the current new-school Vietnamese movement ... Add Hello Auntie to your ‘‘must-have pho’’ list ..." Our summary HERE
3 November 2015 La Puerta - "Latino favourites with a Colombian accent ... Be it madness or integrity it's delightful to see in a little family-run diner" Our summary HERE
10 November 2015 New Shanghai - "... no matter how much I tell myself not to eat all the pan fried pork and crab buns, I do. ... The main kitchen has its own skill-set." Our summary HERE
17 November 2015 Continental Deli - "Deli meets easygoing saloon bar. Brilliant." Our summary HERE
8 December 2015 The Paddington - "Best bit: Anything from the rotisserie." Our summary HERE
15 December 2015 Salaryman - "Salaryman is something new for Sydney ... ramen realised with top produce and surprisingly serious and elegant skill. It's also likeable, theatrical and fun ..." Our summary HERE
2014
29 April 2014 Berowra Waters - "Clearly, people are still willing to make a massive effort to come here. And yes, the same effort is coming back two-fold from the kitchen, given the eye-catching, artfully arranged dishes that come in orchestrated waves to the double-clothed tables." Our summary HERE
28 October 2014 ACME "A mash up of Italian craft ... with ramen joint attitude in a neighbourhood bar" - 15/20 Our summary HERE
4 November 2014 Pei Modern "This place is going to fly" 15.5/20 Our summary HERE
11 November 2014 Mama's Buoi - "The Holt Street corner is now a cheeky, nostalgic evocation of the cafes of old Saigon. ... The menu is long, the prices reasonable (nothing over $24) " Our summary HERE
18 November 2014 The Lemon Tree "inspired by Italy's sun-drenched Amalfi Coast, the menu is bikini brief ... Chef Peter Strekfuss has ... a brief to keep things fresh and simple and sticks to it". Our summary HERE
25 November 2014 Stockroom at Hotel Intercontinental - "It’s a recognisable, almost institutionalised idea of hotel dining that, for me, misses a lot about how we eat today." Our summary HERE
2 December 2014 Civilian - "... a place serving all kinds of food". Our summary HERE
9 December 2014 The Butler - "... a confident fusion of Kings Cross' party vibe with Pott's Point food, delivered with style". Our summary HERE
16 December 2014 Billy Kwong - "There's a lot to like about this food ... Billy Kwong is back, bigger and better." Our summary HERE
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