20 iconic signature dishes you must try in Sydney

Steak alla Fiorentina at Bistecca 

Sydney steakhouse Bistecca is guided by the ethos: do one thing and do it well. In this case, that means NSW Riverina T-bone, cooked Florentine-style over coals to medium rare. The hard-to-find dining room – accessed via a laneway near Circular Quay, down a flight of stairs and through a cocktail bar – champions the dining experience. Before steak meets fire, it’s cut, weighed and presented to diners. Only then does chef Pip Pratt and his team sear the meat over ironbark and charcoal. Choose from sides like radicchio with woodfired grapes and feta; brussels sprouts with pecorino; or fregola sarda with confit fennel, select a bottle from the wine list of exclusively Italian grape varieties and put away your phone. Bistecca has a strict no-mobiles policy so you can stay in the moment.  

The OG Lamington at Tokyo Lamington

The lamington is an Australian icon. The first recipe for this deceptively simple, sweet treat appeared in Queensland Country Life newspaper in 1900 and has remained largely unchanged for more than a century. Tokyo Lamington in Newtown has a range of cool and quirky flavours on the menu (like fairy bread popcorn and yuzu meringue) but you can’t go past The OG. Classic sponge cake filled with raspberry jam and vanilla cream, dipped in chocolate sauce and coated with toasted coconut. Your nanna would be proud.

Tokyo Lamington, Newtown

Char kway teow at Ho Jiak

"Ho jiak" translates to "good eats" in Hokkien, and this home-style Malaysian restaurant in Haymarket lives up to its name. The menu is inspired by the street food head chef Junda Khoo grew up cooking with his amah in the family kitchen, and while it's impossible to order wrong, Khoo suggests starting with the char kway teow, which has been the signature dish since day one (although has had a number of varying iterations over the years). Masterchef alumni and pastry chef Reynold Poernomo says it's his favourite meal in Chinatown, so you know it's going to be good.

Char kway teow with jumbo prawns at Ho Jiak Haymarket - Credit: Ho Jiak Haymarket

Pork banh mi at Marrickville Pork Roll

Vietnamese pork rolls are available all over Sydney, but Marrickville Pork Roll’s has garnered such a loyal following that a long queue is a constant outside the Marrickville shop. Despite opening up three more locations to cater to its legion of fans, the formula remains simple: generous slabs of barbecue or crispy crackling pork are layered with pâté, mayo, fresh herbs, chilli, tangy pickled daikon radish and carrot, served on a crusty bread roll.

Marrickville Pork Roll, Inner West

Strawberry & watermelon cake at Black Star Pastry

The New York Times called Black Star Pastry’s now famous creation the “world’s most Instagrammed cake”, and with pretty layers of watermelon, strawberry, luscious cream and rose petals. There’s no wonder the Inner West bakery now has five outposts and sells thousands of slices every day.

Black Star Pastry, Newtown - Credit: Black Star Pastry

Laksa at Malay Chinese Takeaway

Since the Woon family first opened Malay Chinese in 1987, there have been many iterations of the eatery across the CBD. Nowadays, locations can be found at Circular Quay, Ashfield, and Sussex Street with all three dishing up to a dozen varieties of their legendary laksas. For the best of both worlds, order the mixed chicken and prawn option.

Laksa at Malay Chinese Takeaway, Circular Quay - Credit: Natarsha Brown

Lebanese charcoal chicken at El Jannah

Before its popularity expanded this Lebanese chicken joint into 24 outposts across Sydney (plus Victoria and ACT), El Jannah’s original Granville location was the place to go for some of the best chargrilled chicken in the city. Now you can order their signature golden juicy bird – plus accompanying bright pink pickles and legendary toum (garlic dip) – at stores from Newtown to Penrith.

El Jannah Campbelltown - Credit: Campbelltown VIC

184-day dry-aged steak at Firedoor

Following a Chef's Table episode on chef-owner Lennox Hastie, Firedoor shot to super-stardom worldwide. Renowned for its custom-made charcoal ovens, grills and hearths, everything is cooked by fire, from the now-famous dry-aged steak to the coral trout and bread with smoked butter. The secret ingredient? The kitchen uses different types of wood to give the food its unique taste, from apple, cherry and chestnut to pieces salvaged from aged wine barrels.

Firedoor, Surry Hills - Credit: Nikki To

Saganaki at The Apollo

This Greek taverna in Potts Point has made a name for itself in Sydney's fine-dining scene in large part due to its popular kefalograviera saganaki (“saganaki” refers to any dish prepared in a 'little frying pan'). Although little more than melted cheese and honey with a sprinkling of fried Greek oregano and a squeeze of lemon, it's done to perfection: served hot and still sizzling in the pan, like a salty island surrounded by golden, sweet juices. Yum!

Saganaki at The Apollo, Potts Point - Credit: Nikki To

Chicken, three ways, at Ayam Goreng 99

When it first opened its doors in 1998, there was nothing like Ayam Goreng 99 in Sydney. Now Anzac Parade is brimming with popular Indonesian restaurants, but none have the same cult following as this institution. The focus is on the chicken, which comes in three styles: charcoal grilled, deep fried and Javanese-style. All are ordered by the piece and are marinated for four to six hours on low heat. Hot tip: don't skimp on the punchy house sambal.

Ayam Goreng 99, Kingsford - Credit: Ayam Goreng 99

Ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter at bills

There’s nothing quite like a long, lazy brunch in a sunlit cafe with a group of your nearest and dearest to signal the start of the weekend. Sydney chef Bill Granger is credited with pioneering the Australian cafe scene and then taking it worldwide. From the original cafe in Darlinghurst to the always-popular Surry Hills outpost and beachside brunching in Bondi, there are now locations across the globe, and his fluffy ricotta hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter are the top order.

Ricotta hotcakes from bills, Surry Hills

Pippies in XO sauce at XOPP

Beginning life at the now-closed Sydney legend Golden Century, the beloved pippies in XO sauce live on at the Chinese restaurant’s sister eatery XOPP in Darling Square. Tossed in a secret-recipe, savoury, spicy, seafood-laden XO sauce, more than half a tonne of these Nelson Bay clams are sold per week. It’s a favourite plate for chefs Dan Hong and David Chang, and even former Chinese president Hu Jintao, who requested a delivery to the Canberra embassy.

XOPP, Darling Square - Credit: Steven Woodburn

Woodfired bread at Totti's

On a typical night at Totti’s, it’s hard to spot a table that hasn’t ordered a plate of the Bondi trattoria’s famous woodfired bread to mop up their creamy burrata and house-made antipasti. The 48-hour fermented dough is cooked in a flaming hot oven until it achieves that signature puff and lick of char. If you can’t get a table at the beachside locale, Bar Totti's in the Sydney CBD and Totti's Rozelle in the Inner West both serve a similar menu.

Woodfired bread at Totti's, Bondi - Credit: Nikki To

Mary's Burger at Mary's

Sydney's burger scene can be divided into two time periods: before Mary's and after Mary's. When owners Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham opened the original Newtown venue in 2013, they didn't expect to start a revolution, they just wanted to dish up a good ol' American-style cheeseburger (alongside beer and metal music) with no fuss. An icon was born. The Mary’s burger is so popular, it’s now served at six eateries across Sydney. 

Mary's Newtown

Pho dac biet at Pho Tau Bay

Often touted as the place to get Sydney’s best pho, Cabramatta's Pho Tau Bay has been dishing up beef noodle soups since 1980, so it’s little surprise they know what they are doing. The broth here is what makes it such a standout, and the portions are so big you could easily share among friends... but when it’s this delicious, why would you want to? Order the pho dac biet (aka pho with 'the works'), which comes brimming with beef, brisket, tripe and Vietnamese meatballs.

Pho Tau Bay, Cabramatta - Credit: Pho Tau Bay

Cantabrian anchovy with butter on sourdough at Ragazzi

Ragazzi's executive chef Scott McComas-Williams claims he had an inkling that the house-made sourdough toast slathered in umami butter and topped with a curled Cantabrian anchovy would prove to be the restaurant's signature dish within days of its debut. He was right, unsurprisingly, with the anchovy toast fast becoming the city's most famous (and somewhat of a social media star, appearing on Instagram and TikTok en masse week after week).

Curled Cantabrian anchovy at Ragazzi - Credit: Nikki To | Buffet Digital

Roti at Mamak

If you have joined the line at Chinatown’s Mamak, you – like everyone else – are most likely here for the famous roti. Served either sweet (with freshly sliced bananas and ice-cream or pandan and coconut) or savoury (accompanied by curry dips and spicy sambal), the signature is the original, roti canai. All are mouth-wateringly cooked to perfection: fried golden on the outside, fluffy on the inside.

Roti at Mamak Haymarket - Credit: Mamak Haymarket

Gelato at Messina

On sweltering summer days, in fact any day of the year, Gelato Messina brings sweet respite for ice-cream lovers. Its original Surry Hills location has since multiplied across the city and beyond (including a new HQ in Marrickville), famous for its outrageous flavour specials (like Fairy Bread, Mr Potato Head and Wagon Wheel) and creative ice-cream cakes. Every Sydneysider swears by their own favourite, but Pistachio, Dulce de Leche and Salted Caramel & White Chocolate are must-try staples. 

Gelato Messina, Darling Square - Credit: Gelato Messina

Chilli coriander chicken ramen at Chaco Ramen

At Keita Abe’s restaurants in Darlinghurst and Bondi, you’ll find ramen that tastes unlike any other ramen in Sydney, all with a modern twist. Forget traditional tonkotsu: the mainstays on the menu include yuzu scallop, cold tomato truffle and classic soy. However, it's the chilli coriander chicken that is the long-standing favourite: there’s no chashu on top, but there’s a handful of coriander leaves, some wood-ear mushrooms, three silky medallions of chicken and a bright-red smear of chilli paste on the edge of the bowl. Chefs around the globe have cited it as a must-try dish when visiting Sydney, with Neil Perry even naming it his "death row meal" of choice.

Chaco Ramen, Darlinghurst 

Peking duck at Mr Wong

In the words of Dan Hong himself "Who can go past Peking duck pancakes?" And Mr Wong serves some of Sydney's best. The flavoursome, deeply caramelised roast Peking duck, which can be seen hanging in a kitchen cool room, is legendary. The pancakes are best served mid-course between dim sims and mains, with the added fun of assembling the dish with a drizzle of hoisin sauce and a sprig of coriander, DIY-style at the table.

Duck pancakes at Mr Wong, Sydney CBD - Credit: Merivale