Palings Kitchen & Bar

With its beaten-up butcher’s blocks, open-air beer garden, bare tables, fairy lights and potted plants, this high-end food hall has a sort of village picnic vibe. It’s also dishing up honest, sticky-fingers, genre-crossing food, from steaks to Thai. Bert’s poshed-up beef pies with celeriac and potato mash are serious hunger stoppers, served with winter greens and a lovely, light, green leaf salad. Another fabulous five-napkin affair is the skewered lamb meatballs with smoky babaghanoush, tabbouleh and a pillow of pita. Finish this marathon effort with a big, sexy slice of New York cheesecake by Lorraine Godsmark, Sydney’s reigning dessert queen.