Sydney 

Canvas Restaurant

Just like a gallery rotates artists, Canvas rotates concepts and chefs. The new experimental venue atop the Museum of Contemporary Art, Canvas, sees a new concept fill the dining room every lunch for six months, while in the evening the restaurant turns into an events space. Run by The Big Group (they put on the Grand Prix, Melbourne Cup and the Australian Open), the restaurant’s current artist-in-residence is former Tetsuya’s executive chef Josh Raine. The next is a mystery, but while the chefs change, the views, featuring the harbour’s most exciting sights, will remain the same.

Song Bird 

Australian culinary icon Neil Perry’s newest restaurant is a grand, 200+ seat Double Bay take on Cantonese food. Rather than the traditional cooking found in Sydney’s Cantonese hubs, at Songbird you can expect a new iteration based on induction cooking and the premium Australian produce Perry has celebrated throughout his career. Before (or after) you settle in for a feast of roast duck, dumplings, and ginger and shallot coral trout, head downstairs to Bobbie’s, a bar run in collaboration with the owners of 2019 World’s Best Bar winner Dante in New York City. 

Allta

A restaurant with two Good Food Guide hats and a chef who’s most recent posting was Michelin-starred Seoul restaurant Jungsik is going to book out quickly regardless of how big it is, and this CBD restaurant is only 12 seats. If you can get one, a seat at Allta’s long U-shaped bar ensures a 15-course journey into Korean cuisine that is sometimes delicate and sometimes bold, but always creative. But, instead of the stereotypical fine dining service, Allta presents its artistic dishes with a friendly, casual service. 

Firepop

Alina Van and Raymond Hou might be the only restauranteurs in NSW who have gone from opening a Chinatown food stall to the 2025 Good Food Guide’s Best New Restaurant in under a year. Their plaudits are a result of their unique, Chinese-influenced take on modern Australian cuisine that sees skewers of live-flame barbecued meat peppered with anything from kiwi fruit to cumin dukkah and chilli. That menu, plus a plush, velvety dining room and a “joy, discovery, and deliciousness”-driven drinks list that combines classics and new age makers, make this Newtown restaurant one of the most exciting openings in the state. 

Ammos Brighton

The view from the window at Ammos is nothing but ocean, treetops and the faint outline of Kurnell on the other side of the bay. The smell from the kitchen is barbecued lamb, baked pastry and honeyed cheese. The taste is Greek, not quite classically so, but an Australian version helmed by renowned restauranteur Peter Conistis. Set within the Novotel in Brighton-Le-Sands, this summery restaurant is just a minute walk from the calm waters and thriving beachside community.

King Clarence

Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt have a culinary Midas touch. After opening award-winners Brasserie 1930, Yellow and Bentley Restaurant and Bar, their latest city-centre restaurant, King Clarence, invites innovative Melbourne chef Khanh Nguyen to explore the cuisine of East Asia with the most premium produce Australia has on offer. The broad, bold menu serving everything from reimagined fish fingers to dry-aged duck served with native Davidson plum, plus the exhaustive drinks list and level of service to match, saw the restaurant bring in Gourmet Traveller’s new restaurant of the year. 

Saint Peter at The Grand National Hotel

Josh Niland is already one of the most famous chefs in the country but, until this year, one title evaded him: the award of three hats in the Good Food Guide. The coveted honour was distributed to only four restaurants across the state this year, with Saint Peter being the only newcomer. The Paddington restaurant is the most evolved version of Niland’s signature sustainability and head-to-tail seafood cookery but this time in the beautiful, restored dining room of a historic Paddington pub. 

Neptune’s Grotto

With Clam Bar on top and Neptune’s Grotto opening underneath, 44 Bridge Street is now one of the city’s most exciting eating palaces. That’s thanks to Dan Pepperell, Mikey Clift and Andy Tyson, the restaurateurs who run Pellegrino 2000 and recently closed Bistro 916. While Clam Bar channels up-market New York City bars, downstairs Neptune’s Grotto is a homage to the cuisine and hospitality of northern Italy, the land of Parmigiano Reggiano, tortellini and Lambrusco. Expect rich ragus, wines to match and an underground style and colour palette that eschew the usual minimalism in favour of colour, fun and vibe. 

Joji

A rooftop bar open til 2am with live DJs, quality booze, good food and views of the city sounds like a unicorn. ESCA (the same restaurant group responsibly for Nour, Aalia, Henrietta and Ito) has made the dream happen, and it’s called Joji. Good Food Guide Chef of the Year winner Paul Farag is behind a Japanese-influenced menu divided into raw, robata grilled and not-raw (mostly snacks like karaage, Japanese sandos and curry bread). If you’re there late, dig into the bar menu that includes a Japanese burger with a layer of Bolognese. 

Golden Century

When Golden Century closed in 2021, the hospitality industry mourned their post-service hang out, the Cantonese community mourned a three-decade-old institution, and the dining public mourned the death of one of the great Sydney restaurants. In early 2025 the legend returns, opening on the third floor of Crown Sydney with an updated dining room but the same menu of classics featuring live seafood tanks, yum cha and, of course, the famous XO pippies. 
 

NSW

Harkham Restaurant

At Harkam, the views are bucolic, but the menu is approachable – homemade pastas, pizzas, a ripper steak and a family tiramisu recipe (you can also splash out with picks from the caviar cart), but what makes this restaurant such a desirable Hunter Valley spot is the experience. The restaurant trades on atmosphere, designing their menu, experience and dining room to make an evening by the fire or a lunch looking out onto the vineyard green as relaxed and convivial as possible. Of course, Harkham’s minimal-intervention wines are on the menu but so are a range of other international and local natural drops. 

Rowlee Dining and Bar

The recipe for Rowlee’s restaurant is simple: take the same spirit and qualities of the vineyard – the sun-drenched tasting rooms, commitment to quality, warm hospitality and vibrancy of the Mount Canobolas surrounds – and combine it with the culinary styling of Simon Furley, a chef who won plaudits in Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe. What you get at this dining room just outside Orange is a menu that explores and experiments but never tips into the confusing. That might be a burger at the bar, or a plate of charred, air-dried pork spiced with locally made miso.

Umi-ko

Walking into Umi-ko is like a portal to central Japan, the place of head chef Kaoru Ito’s birth, but still with a local touch – the South Coast charm, pace and personalities. The Merimbula opening, designed with the izakaya atmosphere and menu in mind, comes from Jamie Sverdrupsen and Brett Kryskow, two locals who learnt their trade in big-name Sydney venues. Although there are classic ramens and snacks on the menu, it’s not all traditional (find a kimchi poke bowl with sashimi added-in, furikake fries, and a vegan ramen with corn and bamboo) but improvisation and creativity are within the spirit of the izakaya. 

Fire Kitchen

In 2022, Osborn House, Bundanoon’s heritage luxury lodge launched Fire Feast, a weekly, outdoor lunch inspired by the asado barbecues of South America. Its popularity convinced the Osborn House team to ditch the acclaimed restaurant they already had and make Fire Feast a permanent fixture. At Fire Kitchen, you start with empanadas, ceviche and slow-cooked chorizo, move onto the South American barbecue – maybe a rack of ribs or a whole barbecued lamb shoulder – order a glass of Argentinian red to match and finish up with a flan while looking onto Morton National Park. 

Byron Bay Oyster Bar and Seafood Restaurant

The name says it all – this luxury New York-inspired bar within five-star Hotel Marvell takes oyster service to the next level. A specialised oyster tank keeps hundreds of local oysters as fresh as possible, with the molluscs only shucked (at a live shucking station no less) to order. Diners choose the oyster variety and pick from more than ten toppings, alongside a wider menu that offers more North Coast-focused raw seafood options, a grill menu and a selection of classic desserts. 

Bertie’s

Bertie’s is the new neighbourhood dream from Tim Coleman, a former Rockpool and Iceberg’s sommelier, and Rhianne Contreras, a stylist who’s worked for Vogue and Gourmet Traveller. They call it a wine bar but with a 7am open time, a menu mixing cafe classics and bar snacks, it’s neither cafe nor bar, but its own thing. The vibe is relaxed and the fit-out humble, and the shortlist of wines are all, bar one, available by the glass. Come early for coffee from Byron roasters Beam or late on Friday to lean into the wine bar side.  

Spare Restaurant Lounge and Bar

Jamie Shepley is Wagga Wagga’s food baron. After opening riverside cafe Mr Lawrence and the dry-aged-specialised Hide Steak & Bar, the chef has transformed the dining room of 1860s pub Prince of Wales Hotel into a martini bar and bistro. While the atmosphere harks back to bars of the past, the menu is ambitious, set-menu only and explores a broad range of cuisines and techniques, including a signature beef wellington. 

Blak Cede Gunyah Cafe and Shop

For diners, Blak Cede might just be a great hang out spot and a rare opportunity to try Australia’s native produce, but for the Shoalhaven Aboriginal community it’s much more. The women-run cafe and grocer in Nowra operates as a social enterprise, empowering women from the area with cultural knowledge, work experience and community. Already, the cafe has won local acclaim not just for its community initiatives but the quality of the coffee, the welcoming atmosphere and the unique menu that includes kangaroo burritos, native produce tapas plates and strawberry gum scones.