Sydney's best Melbourne Cup lunches 2015

What's the best way to celebrate the sport of kings? Eat like one. Here are some favourites in Sydney's Melbourne Cup lunch line-up.

Courses for horses

There's just one course at the big race – but many at the restaurants. Sake The Rocks has a 10-course spectacular for $149 including sashimi shooters, steamed prawn dumplings and Glacier 51 toothfish lettuce cups, and one-hatted Sake Double Bay has nine courses for $120, featuring hokkaido scallop, Wagyu beef short rib carpaccio and jidori chicken negima. Both include a glass of Veuve Clicquot​.

Bishop Sessa, Paul Cooper's Surry Hills temple of nose-to-tail eating, will use what's freshest and best on the day for a five-course, locally and ethically sourced degustation ($109 or $169 with matched wines).

Pig's head croquettes with spiced apple puree, and poached lobster, prawns and bug tails are among the indulgences on the six-course lush menu at reopened old treasure Hotel Palisade ($200, with a glass of champagne or James Boag's beer).

Sake Restaurant & Bar, 12 Argyle Street, The Rocks, 02 9259 5656
Sake Double Bay 33 Cross Street, Double Bay, 02 9328 0285
Bishop Sessa 527 Crown Street, Surry Hills, 02 8065 7223
Hotel Palisade 35 Bettington Street, Millers Point, 02 9018 0123

The Greens will be groaning with three courses of fresh marine fare, accompanied by crab racing - so if your horse doesn't win, your crustacean might.

The value bet

You'll have change for a flutter if you opt for the eight-course Asian-fusion banquet from Dan Hong and Paul Donnelly at Ms Gs – a very reasonable $80 including glass of Moet & Chandon.

At Bondi Hardware, an eight-course shared feast including dishes such as spiced tuna poke with coconut quinoa and avocado sets you back just $65, including a glass of G.H. Mumm.

Ms.G's, 155 Victoria Street Potts Point, 02 9240 3000
Bondi Hardware, 39 Hall Street, Bondi Beach, 02 9365 7176

The other kind of hat

Hats: lovely at the races, even better on a restaurant. Winner of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide's best new restaurant award, Bennelong, has a four-course menu on offer for lunch, designed by head chef Peter Gilmore ($200, plus a glass of Charles Heidsieck champagne on arrival). Four glorious Italian courses from Stefano Manfredi's one-hatted Osteria Balla include raw fish with caper berries and olive crumbs, and spanner crab and artichokes risotto ($135, with glass of Italian sparkling), and at two-hatted est., Peter Doyle will be showcasing his mod-Aus magic with a three-course menu on which you'll find Queensland spanner crab with heart of palm, creme fraiche and marigold ($210, with flute of Dom Perignon).

At Whale Beach's one-hatted Jonah's, executive chef Logan Campbell's three courses include roasted Mirrool Creek lamb rump with blackened corn, fregola sarda, pomegranate and baby herbs ($150, with glass of champagne).

Bennelong, Sydney Opera House, Sydney CBD, 02 9240 8000
Osteria Balla Manfredi, Level G, Harbourside, The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont 02 9657 9129
est. Level one, Establishment, 252 George Street, 02 9240 3000
Jonah's, 69 Bynya Road, Whale Beach, 02 9974 5599

Seeking seafood

Head for home of the bivalve, The Morrison, where Sean Connolly's four-course Cup menu kicks off with freshly shucked oysters ($145, with a glass of champagne). Meanwhile sushi e and hemmesphere​ combine talents for a six-course sashimi and sushi spread from Nobuyuki Ura's award-winning team ($150, with a flute of Ruinart Rose NV).

A seafood grazing table at funked-up bowling club The Greens will be groaning with three courses of fresh marine fare, accompanied by crab racing - so if your horse doesn't win, your crustacean might ($95, with glass of Domaine Chandon or James Boag's beer).

The Morrison Bar & Oyster Room, 225 George Street, 02 9247 6744
Sushi e and hemmesphere, Level 4, Establishment, 252 George Street, 02 9240 3000
The Greens, 50 Ridge Street, North Sydney, 02 9245 3099

Come casual

Banquet in your boardies at laid-back spots such as SoCal in Neutral Bay, where a Southern Californian four-courser will deliver prawn and sopressada tostada, spiced eggplant empanadas, and white fish and scallop ceviche ($85, with a glass of G.H. Mumm). At Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel, pick the three-course grand feast with dishes including whole side of slow-cooked ocean trout ($140, with a glass of champagne), or the beach buffet's salads, meats and pasta selection ($75, with a glass of sparkling). Four shared courses from Jordan Toft at Coogee Pavilion include pink snapper sashimi with citrus, yuzu-sugar, sake and chive ($115, including a glass of Chandon).

SoCal, 1 Young Street, Neutral Bay, 02 9904 5691
Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel, 1 Military Road, Watsons Bay, 02 9337 5444
Coogee Pavilion, 169 Dolphin Street, Coogee, 02 9240 3000

Pub grub

Excellent food, relaxed atmosphere and prices that won't scare the horses – you could do a lot worse than spending your Cup in a Sydney pub. Enmore's The Vic is swapping bubbles for longnecks​ of Melbourne Bitter, with $2 from each donated to the NSW Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Trust. There's a spit, Melbourne Bitter beer can chicken, corn on the cob, potato skewers and whole prawns. Walk-ins welcome.

Balmain's Exchange Hotel has a substantial four-courser including duo of Queensland king prawns and Moreton Bay bugs with organic micro orange salad, salmon roe and bisque mayonnaise ($75). Brit-themed, inner west The Toxteth has a jolly decent three-course feast; highlights include roast blue eye cod with fricassee of peas, parsley, pancetta and iceberg, lemon and gin butter ($60). At Woollahra's Centennial Hotel, Justin North's doing buckwheat blinis with golden caviar and chervil cream followed by a three-course spread ($150 with glass of Veuve Clicquot).

The Newtown Hotel's The Animal has a banquet of Hellenic hearties, such as wood-roasted lamb and grilled haloumi, for $75, with a glass of Chandon and two house drinks.

The Vic Enmore, 2 Addison Road, Marrickville, 02 9557 1448
The Exchange Hotel 94 Beattie Street, Balmain, 02 8755 2555
The Toxteth Hotel, 34 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, 02 9660 2370
Hotel Centennial, 88 Oxford Street, Woollahra, 02 9362 3838
Newtown Hotel, 174 King Street, 02 8070 2424​

Unless otherwise stated, prices are per person, live race screenings included and bookings essential.