This small pasta and wine spot is centrally located in a buzzy corner of the city, and it’s perfect for a glass of wine, pre-theater pasta, or just a break from the hustle of Sydney’s CBD. On the regularly changing menu, you’ll find handmade pasta paired with its perfect sauce, like cavatelli with squid ink, urchin, and chickpeas, gigli with pork and fennel sausage and chicory, or a classic bowl of spaghetti cacio e pepe.

Alberto’s Lounge—which works just as well for a quick cocktail as it does for an all-night date—feels unique. Located between two city laneways, the leather banquette seating and close quarters ooze with ‘70s cool, but what really makes this place special is the Australian-influenced Italian menu. Kingfish crudo might come with fermented tomato, rainbow trout gets served up with pippies, and it all goes well with a wine list of of local and Italian options.

If there’s one place in this city to go for ramen, it’s Gogyo. The Surry Hills location is known for the charred kogashi style, or burnt miso ramen, which is a dark, clear soup, and the best thing here. They also serve the more traditional tonkotsu ramen, and a chilli shoyu with habanero pork mince and tomato (another favorite of ours), all of which are best with a pint of Asahi on draft.

Pizza is a big deal in Sydney, and it’s not unusual to get into a heated debate over the best spot, the best crust style, and whether blotting is sacrilegious. But you’ll be far too distracted by how good the food is at Bella Brutta to comment on the way your friends fold their slices. This Newtown spot serves thin, wood-fired pizzas with toppings like mortadella, fior di latte, and clams and has a wine list full of local, natural wines.

Lankan Filling Station opened in 2018 in a narrow converted garage and there’s never been a better reason to hang out in a space where they used to change tires. The menu at this Sri Lankan spot is made up of traditional dishes like sambols and curries, along with creative starters like devilled cashews and crab cutlets. It gets pretty lively, so come here with a group (make a reservation), order a bunch of colorful dishes to share, and soak it all up with rice and hoppers (rice-flour crepes).

Chaco is a yakitori joint in Potts Point with long communal high tables, a cocktail bar, and a few seats up to the island kitchen. The a la carte menu (served during the week) has small plates, Fukuoka-style skewers, and many things cooked over charcoal, including the Horumon Yaki of chicken hearts, giblets, and soft bones. On weekends they serve a $95 seven-course tasting menu of greatest hits, but whenever you’re here, definitely dive into the sake and shōchū menu.

Sure, rooftop bars are pretty great, but AP Bakery is something even better: a rooftop bakery. On top of the Paramount House Hotel in Surry Hills, you’ll find trays filled with freshly baked baguettes and bagels, flaky pies, focaccia, buttermilk croissants, buckwheat dark chocolate croissants, cream-filled donuts, and sweet fruit danishes. It’s the perfect place to enjoy one of Sydney’s (almost always) sunny mornings, with a coffee (Reuben Hills supplies the beans) and city views.

Owned by a father and his sons, Shenkin is a true Sydney mainstay. This casual Israeli cafe started small and has grown to three locations with full kitchens. Even with all that expansion, each location has kept the warmth of the original, with a true local feel and the family still running the show. Shenkin’s menu includes things like flaky pastries filled with cheese, meat, and spinach, green and red shakshuka, and large plates of housemade dips with flatbread.

There are a few things you must do when you come to Sydney: see the Opera House, lie out on Bondi Beach, and, if you’d like to spend a lot of money to be semi-terrified, climb the Harbour Bridge. Eating a lamington—cube of sponge cake dipped in chocolate and covered in coconut—should also be on that list, and Flour and Stone’s version (they soak theirs in panna cotta) is the best one in the city.

The cafe culture in Australia is unique: these places are fast, fresh, and often very serious about their coffee. Cornersmith in Annandale is a relaxed, seasonally-focused option that’s entirely vegetarian. If it’s a nice day, there are a few small tables outside, or Cornersmith offers DIY picnic boxes, and they’ll even let you borrow a picnic blanket to take to the small park right across the street.

You’ve seen approximately 89 people’s photos of the iconic Icebergs concrete pool, and while it might be the most famous, it’s not the only one of its kind. About a 15-minute drive away is the coastal eastern suburb of Clovelly where you’ll find a similarly beautiful beach and attached concrete pool area. After a swim, make sure you head up the hill to Tuga, a tiny pastry shop. Their pasteles de nata are some of the best you’ll find, so get a few and one of their incredible almond croissants.

Prince Alfred Park has basketball and tennis courts, large open fields, and an outdoor heated pool, so it’s a great place to spend an afternoon. And since that afternoon should also involve food, pick up something nearby at Brickfield’s. This tiny corner cafe in Chippendale is a quick walk from the park and has a regularly-changing menu of salads, sandwiches, and pastries, and a famous sourdough ciabatta loaf.

A fun spot in Haymarket (at the top end of the city), Boon Cafe is a Thai restaurant inside a grocery store. You could head here for a breakfast of crab congee, baked eggs with smoked fish, and pandan custard toast, plus a matcha or turmeric latte. Or you could come for a lunch of rice bowls, spicy noodles, and sandwiches. Either way, don’t leave without wandering through the aisles and buying something sweet for later.

Saint Peter is one of the hardest reservations to get in Sydney, but a meal at this fine dining spot is a seafood experience like no other. Billed as “fin to scale” dining, Saint Peter serves a set menu of sustainable seafood prepared carefully by chefs right in front of you at a marble-top bar. And as serious as that sounds, it makes for a theatrical experience that’s a whole lot of fun.

On a residential corner block in the charming backstreets of Paddington, it’s hard not to fall in love (or at least, lust) with Ursula’s. A few other celebrated Sydney restaurants were in the same space over the years, but this latest iteration has a very distinct, bistro-influenced feel. Ursula’s spills over two elegant floors and is filled with sunlight, making it perfect for a long, romantic lunch, although dinner here is fantastic too.

Sitting up on a North Bondi hill with spectacular ocean views, this 45-seater restaurant has a small, regularly-changing menu focused on locally-sourced ingredients and produce grown on the owner’s farm in the Blue Mountains. Think scallops, yabbie tails, kingfish carpaccio, and seafood linguini, with a wine list made up of exclusively Australian wines. And for those who like to look at the water, but not eat from it, there are always a few non-fish options.

This cafe, restaurant, and bar has been serving classic Italian food on the sidewalks of Potts Points since 2001. Come for a coffee and pastry while you read the paper and pretend to be a local, or settle in for a long lunch or dimly-lit dinner. The menu is scrawled on a blackboard inside and often includes dishes like calamari fritti and housemade scampi pasta. Order a spritz and work your way through the long wine list, or get the waiter to surprise you with something that’s already open.

Restaurant Hubert opened in Sydney in 2016, but it feels like it’s been there for much longer. Make your way down a set of stairs into this underground cavern and you’ll think you’re in a mansion hidden somewhere in Europe. The space is split into a cocktail bar and dining room, where you’ll eat comforting French food like steak tartare with fries, chicken fricassee, and crème caramel. It’s hard not to love this one.

The Apollo serves upscale Greek food, which means a menu focused on shared plates like taramasalata and saganaki covered in honey, as well as larger ones like a whole lamb shoulder served with Greek yogurt. The restaurant is housed in an art-deco space full of granite pillars and gold finishes and is a great spot for a long, slow Sunday lunch or a big group dinner.

Located in an industrial-style space that was previously a parking lot, Ester is one of the best spots in Chippendale—a neighborhood with tons of exciting spots to eat and drink. The food mainly comes out of the wood-fired oven (your family-style dishes will sometimes arrive with a dusting of charcoal), including things like abalone and chicken skin with mandarin kosho, and pork belly. But no matter what else you order, start your meal with the roasted oysters and a blood sausage sanga.

This Chinese restaurant pulls out all the stops: the massive space spans two levels, with big tables, moody jazz, painted brick walls, and lazy Susans. Bring a big group for dim sum (lunch only) or a dinner of dumplings, Peking duck pancakes, live mud crab, and big plates of noodles. Though since they offer the duck pancakes and a few other dishes in half portions, you could just as happily come with one or two other people who are down to share.

10 William Street is a pretty shopping strip in Paddington where furniture showrooms sit next to suit tailors, artisan jewelers, and clothing boutiques. On the other side of the neighborhood strip is this Italian wine bar, one of our favorite spots for a casual dinner. It’s a bar first and restaurant second, but the food here is just as fantastic as the wine. You’ll eat bowls of handmade pasta, giant pretzels dipped in whipped roe bottarga, and daily specials like sardines on toast.

There are some things you don’t want to have to search for, like alcohol at your brother’s roommate’s art show. But other times, the search is part of the fun. Love, Tilly Devine is hidden down an alleyway in the backstreets of Darlinghurst, and you’ll feel both accomplished and like a local once you find it. This split-level wine cellar—full of hanging plants and tables for two—has a small food menu and a huge drinks list with cocktails, local beers, and over 300 wine options.

Poly is located in an old furniture showroom in the bottom of the Paramount House Hotel and despite there being no mattresses or living room sets leftover from its early days, we still want to move in. This dark 80-seat bar/restaurant is run by the same people as Ester and the food menu includes lots of snacky things, such as octopus with carrot and chili oil, and anchovy toast with egg butter.

Sydney is known for its big burly boozers and swanky city bars, but some of its best are the ones you’ll find hidden down lanes and in basements. One of the prime examples is Charlie Parker’s, an underground cocktail bar with a lively speakeasy feel, that sits below iconic restaurant Fred’s. The bar works with local producers to source native ingredients for cocktails that get flavor from every part of the plant, so we usually focus on those, though there’s also wine and beer.

With its exposed brick and low lighting, Arcadia Liquors is a comfortable and casual place to try a couple schooners (a specifically Australian beer glass size that's between a half pint and a pint) of the beers on tap. Though if you’re looking for a bit more vitamin D, grab a seat out in the courtyard, and switch to spritzes. And since Arcadia often hosts pop-up food vendors and live music, it’s the kind of place you go for a knock-off with a mate and end up staying until late into the night.

Just when you thought the night was over, someone dragged you into a random doorway down an alley in Darlinghurst and now it feels like you’ve fallen down a rabbit hole. Shady Pines Saloon is a world of cowboys, taxidermied buffalo heads, peanuts everywhere, and an overall damn good time. Your first move? A shot of bourbon and a beer at the bar. There are plenty of cocktails too, but use this for what it is—a truly excellent dive bar.