Four Sydney restaurants awarded three Chef Hats for 2024

  • The Good Food Guide Chef Hats have been announced for 2024.
  • Only four Sydney restaurants scored three hats each.
  • Josh Niland’s Saint Peter has been named Restaurant of the Year.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide has once again revealed its annual snapshot of Sydney’s dining scene, marking excellence with chef hats in a similar fashion to how Michelin stars are used over in cities like London and Copenhagen.

With the 40th edition of the Good Food Guide now available, the publication’s sizeable team have collated their findings after visiting over 500 restaurants across New South Wales and the ACT in the past eight months.

And of those 500, the ultimate award, Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year, goes to Josh Niland and his pioneering seafood restaurant, Saint Peter, which recently reopened in Paddington’s Grand National Hotel.

Saint Peter is one of just four restaurants crowned with three coveted chef’s hats, with the others being Sixpenny, Quay and Oncore by Clare Smyth.

While those four restaurants sit at the top of the food chain, according to the Good Food Guide panel, there are plenty of others who performed impressively well.

A great number of Sydney restaurants have been award two chef hats each, including:

  • AALIA
  • Allta
  • Aria
  • Bathers’ Pavilion
  • Bennelong
  • Bentley Restaurant & Bar
  • Berowra Waters Inn
  • Bert’s Bar & Brasserie
  • Cafe Paci
  • Ester
  • Firedoor
  • Fred’s
  • Icebergs Dining Room & Bar
  • King Clarence
  • LuMi Dining
  • Margaret
  • Mimi’s
  • Monopole
  • Mr. Wong
  • Ormeggio at the Spit
  • Petermen
  • Pilu at Freshwater
  • Porteno
  • Rockpool Bar & Grill
  • Sean’s Panorama
  • Shell House Dining Room & Terrace
  • Spice Temple
  • Sushi Oe
  • Ursula’s
  • Yellow
  • Yoshii’s Omakase

While I’d personally argue for AALIA to get three hats, the Middle Eastern restaurant’s chef, Paul Farag, did walk away with a very deserving nod for Oceania Cruises Chef of the Year.

Other notable wins include Enmore’s food-truck-cum-restaurant Firepop picking up Best New Restaurant, while Cafe of the Year goes to Marrickville’s Ona Coffee. Double Deuce Lounge in the CBD took out Best Bar.

The following restaurants got a nod with one chef hat each, pointing to an increasingly impressive dining scene for the Harbour City.

  • 10 William St
  • 20 Chapel
  • a’Mare
  • Abhi’s Indian Restaurant
  • Ammos
  • Ante
  • Armorica Grand Brasserie
  • Attenzione!
  • Baba’s Place
  • Bar Copains
  • Bar Louise
  • Bar Totti’s
  • Bar Vincent
  • Bastardo
  • Bistro Geroge
  • Bistro Rex
  • Brasserie 1930
  • Buon Ricordo
  • Catalina
  • Chaco Bar
  • Cho Cho San
  • Civico 47
  • Clam Bar
  • Comedor
  • Cricca
  • Da Orazio
  • Esteban
  • Firepop
  • Fontana
  • Gildas
  • Good Luck Restaurant Lounge
  • Haco
  • Ho Jiak Town Hall
  • Hotel Centennial
  • Ito
  • Jane Kiln
  • Kindred
  • Kisuke
  • Kuon Omakase
  • Lana
  • Lankan Filling Station
  • Longshore
  • Loulou Bistro
  • Maiz Martinez
  • Matkim
  • Maydanoz
  • Morena
  • Ms G’s
  • MuMu
  • Nour
  • Oborozuki
  • Osteria di Russo & Russo
  • Palazzo Salato
  • Parlar
  • Pearl
  • Pellegrino 2000
  • Poetica Bar & Grill
  • Poly
  • Porcine
  • Porkfat
  • RAFI
  • Restaurant Ka
  • Royal Palace Seafood Restaurant
  • Sala Sinclair’s
  • Sokyo
  • Song Bird
  • Soul Dining
  • Sydney Common
  • Taste of Shunde
  • The Apollo
  • The Charles Brasserie & Bar
  • The Dining Room by James Viles
  • The Gidley
  • Uccello
  • Viand
  • The White Horse
  • Woodcut
  • Yan

This is the first year the Good Food Guide has also launched an app to coincide with the awards, featuring more information about all the restaurants and a handy guide on where to spend your hard-earned dollars if you want to maximise your spend and avoid disappointment.


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