While talent flourishes in Sydney’s west and CBD, some of the restaurants in the city’s eastern suburbs lost a hat at the launch of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2026.
On a night when several restaurants in Sydney’s eastern suburbs dining heartland lost chefs’ hats, The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2026 Awards highlighted a continued lift in the CBD, and the ongoing emergence of the city’s west.
From Bondi Beach, where Sean’s slipped to one hat, to blue-chip Paddington, where Buon Ricordo lost its hat, the trend was compounded by a teal-like swing at Potts Point. The popular dining precinct saw Bistro Rex, perennial award-winner The Apollo and Chaco Bar all de-toqued.
The Apollo crew had better luck over in Redfern, where they were awarded a hat at newcomer Olympus Dining, but back at Potts Point the closure of Parlar this year added to a bad hat count for postcode 2011.
As Sydney’s Red Rooster Line creeps east, the Good Food Guide Awards’ “dine line” is pushing west. Guide co-editor Callan Boys said Sydney’s inner west and greater west continued their dining ascent: Lidcombe snared its first hat in the 41-year history of the Guide. It added to last year’s western gains, where Sinclair’s in Penrith and Cricca in Windsor bore fruit.
“Yeodongsik may not be what some people have traditionally considered a ‘hatted’ restaurant,” Boys said of the Korean diner in Lidcombe. The setting is modest, but Boys said the restaurant provides a high level of hospitality, and every dish is terrific, especially the haejangguk soup of rounded flavour built on long-simmered beef bones
“When you’re queuing outside at Yeodongsik, and there’s always a queue, owner Justin Shin will also bring you a cup of barley tea while you wait. Service is super-efficient and friendly, and staff are always happy to guide newcomers through the short no-filler menu. ”
The cluster of restaurants on Australia Street in Newtown – Mister Grotto, Osteria Mucca and Continental Deli – all picked up hats, while a few blocks away, restaurateurs Alessandro and Anna Pavoni put the sugar on the cannoli with a hat at Vineria Luisa on Enmore Road.
“King Street, Enmore Road and the surrounding streets have got to be the most exciting place to eat and drink in Sydney,” said Guide co-editor David Matthews.
“There are incredible bars, nine hatted restaurants. The Pavonis moving in is another tick of approval for all the operators who’ve invested so much in building up the area’s culture.”
With fork and pen in hand, the Guide team picked over more than 600 restaurants this awards season. The crowning of Eleven Barrack as Best New Restaurant came from a highly competitive field in the Sydney CBD. Boys said The Grill at The International and Garaku at Prefecture 48 were nipping at Eleven Barrack’s heels all the way to the finishing line.
With its strong Japanese focus, the new Prefecture 48 hub on Sussex Street led the way for a strong showing for the cuisine. “Prefecture 48 is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for Japanese; out of its four restaurants three of them have hats,” Boys said of the contribution of the hub to the rush of newly hatted Japanese venues. “It was also great to acknowledge tiny Amuro in Darlinghurst for its singular menu of regional Japanese cuisine and sake-led drinks list.”
In an awards season in which Balmain’s The Dry Dock, Chinese newcomer Grandfathers and Infinity – the sky-high revolving restaurant marking a Sydney return for chef Mark Best – all joined the one-hat club, there were still a few quirks. Neil Perry pulled off a Houdini-like move at Double Bay, flipping the Cantonese Song Bird into Italian Gran Torino without dropping a hat. Sadly, there were a few bumps for the rest of the field, with the plush Armorica in Surry Hills and Martin Place restaurant Morena both dropping out of the hats category.
Further afield, Boys said one of the most significant trends in regional and ACT dining was the continued rise of great wine bars.
“I’m quite sure Paranormal Wines in Canberra is the first bottle shop to ever be awarded a Good Food Guide hat. Well done to owner Max Walker and chef Reece Inkpen for delivering such great service and dishes such as mackerel XO noodles and beetroots with pickled green peaches, almonds with a shishito dressing.
“Meanwhile, wine bars Hey Rosey in Orange and Tenterfield’s Stonefruit were awarded a hat for the first time. While Orange has always been well represented in the Guide, Stonefruit is the first hatted venue for New England in many years.”
A free 80-page Good Food Guide liftout with all the award winners and Critics’ Picks will be inserted in The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday, October 14. The Good Food app is the home of the 2026 edition of the Good Food Guide, with more than 600 reviews. The app is free for premium subscribers of the SMH and also available as a standalone subscription. You can download the Good Food app here.
* Note: NEW denotes a venue that has opened in the past 12 months
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