The top fine dining restaurants in and around Sydney

Where best to begin then with the only Sydney restaurant to make the Top 100 World’s Best Restaurants list of 2017 and a regular fixture on the yearly best-ofs since.

Quay delivers some of the most exquisite food in all of Australia. So much so that dining at this esteemed 3 hat establishment is a bucket-list-worthy experience drawing foodies from around the globe.

Executive Chef Peter Gilmore’s award-winning, six-course menu is nothing short of jawdropping. Oysters with Oscietra caviar commence the night’s proceedings, followed by menu standouts including mud crab in golden umami broth, bone marrow noodles with southern squid and black garlic duck.

All paired with wines from the expertly curated list, featuring some of Australias best vineyard picks alongside international award winners.

Oh, and how could we not mention that view? It’s impossible not to be enchanted by the 270-degree panoramic prime views of Sydney Harbour.

Quay is modern, fine-dining in Australia at its absolute best.

Dish Cult recommends the slow-smoked pig jowl with fermented shiitake custard and black pig salami trotter broth (part of the $260 six-course menu).

The world of fine dining can be a bit daunting for newcomers. Some, shall we say, ‘extra creative’ dishes often look more ‘science experiment’ rather than a visually recognisable dish cooked in a kitchen!

If you’re after an approachable, fine-dining Sydney restaurant experience, Rockpool is the spot for you.

The atmosphere at Rockpool can best be described in one word: opulent. A green marbled, art-deco dining room interior combined with impeccable wait service makes for an impressive high-end experience overall.

Food-wise? It’s all about the steak. Rib-eye, sirloin, t-bone, topside, chuck roll. All dry-aged in house and all grilled to perfection.

A meal is never complete without sides! And let’s just say that these sides are a tad more dressed up than the ones at your Nannas Sunday lunch. Sebago potatoes sauteed with Wagyu fat, charcoal roast Japanese pumpkin, and zucchini with burnt tomato jam.

All washed down by an expertly curated wine list featuring a 1985 Domaine de la romanée-Conti at $33,000 a bottle. This is a wine list that means serious business!

Want the Dish Cult suggestion? You can’t go past the $39 house-made Cumberland pork sausages with mustard and pork jus.

Tetsuya’s is a name firmly ingrained in the minds of Sydneysiders who enjoy the finer things in life.

Executive chef Tetsuya Wakuda has set the benchmark for fine dining in Sydney since opening Tetsuya’s doors in 1989.

Wakuda’s eight-course degustation menu fuses French and Japanese cuisine with an emphasis on using only the freshest possible locally-sourced ingredients.

Each dish serves a purpose and is carefully considered. Snapper sashimi with pickled fennel, sand whiting with an oyster herb emulsion, full-blooded Wagyu with sesame leaf finished with an absolutely divine blueberry lavender cheesecake for dessert.

The aim here is all about generating peaceful tranquillity as you dine. The zen, art-filled dining room looks out over a beautiful Japanese-style traditional garden. Resulting in a serene dining enclave right in the heart of the bustling CBD

Dining at Tetsuya’s is a truly magical experience and not to be missed.

Dish Cult recommends Tetsuya’s signature (and most popular!) dish: confit of Tasmanian ocean trout with a salad of apple and witlof (part of the $285 eight-course menu).

Named after the ‘sixpence restaurants’ in 1800’s Sydney, Sixpenny is the creation of two Sydney Morning Herald Young Chef of the Year award winners, James Parry and Dan Puskas. And boy, do these two know their way around a kitchen!

Located in the Inner-West, Sixpenny serves up finessed fare with a farm to kitchen ethos. In fact, most of the ingredients used are pulled straight out of the ground from Parry’s family farm in Bowral. Now that’s fresh.

The degustation menu is absolutely mouth-watering to behold. Green tomato & cheese gougères are an irresistible starter with a perfectly salty crust. For your main? Spanner crab with clam butter & salmon roe or alternatively, chuck tail with mushroom & marsala will be sure to satisfy.

This is true fine dining without the extra million-dollar fit-out and devoid of any cynical kitchen-ego.

Who said fine-dining had to be pretentious? For exceptional fare with a flair (and without all of the stuffiness), head on over to Sixpenny.

The swordfish with green chard and salted red cabbage (part of the $215 tasting menu) gets the Dish Cult tick of approval.

Feeling famished after a night at the Opera House?

No guide to the top fine dining restaurants in Sydney would be complete without including arguably the most famous of them all.

The New York Times called it the “Holy Grail of Australian Restaurants”. And fittingly, this restaurant icon sits within the iconic Sydney Opera House itself.

Yes, you guessed right! We’re talking about the one and only, Bennelong.

Peter Gilmore’s sister restaurant to Quay delivers more of those dramatic harbour views and, of course, equally as exquisite food.

A three-course menu is offered. Southern octopus with salted lime aioli is a delectably zingy option to kick things off, followed by a main of john dory served with Japanese white turnips and a dashi emulsion. Now we’re talking!

Still hungry? Sweet tooths will have fun digging into Bennelong’s famous pavlova, a sugary replica of the Opera House with meringue recreating those world-famous white sails.

Dinner followed by a night of theatre makes Bennelong the perfect place to impress your out-of-town friends!

Our favourite? Dish Cult recommends the Sicilian-style three milk curd ravioli (part of the $180 three-course menu).