Sydney's best outdoor dining 2015
Summer means hot days, balmy nights and bare skin. It also means blue skies, big waves and eating outdoors. Whether it's rooftop beers, courtyard cocktails, poolside degustations or balcony burgers, we've got you covered.
Having eaten in every corner of this multiplex bar and diner, we're here to tell you it's all about the rooftop Middle Eastern-inspired grill. The upstairs attachment to the Hemmes family foray into the eastern beaches is somewhere between a Mykonos resort and an old seaside tea house. The whole menu, from the grilled eggplant dip to scorched juicy chunks of pork neck served with a dill-tainted yoghurt sauce strewn with ribbons of cucumber, is cooked over coals. Finger-scorching lamb cutlets are juicy and pink, blackened and salty, just as the kitchen gods intended.
169 Dolphin Street, Coogee, 02 9240 3000, merivale.com.au/coogeepavilion
"Are you coming by car, or by boat?" Boat would be nice, if you had one. Seaplane would be even better. Otherwise it's the scenic route through Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park to this unassuming timber cottage on the lower reaches of the Hawkesbury River. Chef Guillaume Zika was head chef at Claude Bosi's highly rated two Michelin-starred Hibiscus in London, so those glorious Aussie water views now have some serious Frenchy competition.
2 Anderson Place, Cottage Point, 02 9456 1011, cottagepointinn.com.au
The second project for the team behind Bulletin Place, Dead Ringer puts a larger focus on food (the roast chook with cavolo nero is a winner), while still serving up a list of cracker cocktails. And the best bit at this thoroughly modern bar/diner? You can set up at one of the outdoor tables for maximum people-watching good times. We foresee many long summer sessions with many glasses of rosé.
413 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, 02 9331 3560, deadringer.wtf
Fratelli Paradiso
There's a relaxed, assured style of Italian ospitalita here, at breakfast on the footpath over cannoli and a caffe corretto or at lunch with a plate of the storied calamari and a Campari. On this visit we're reminded of why Frat Paz is the church when it comes to pasta and risotto. Our lasagnetta in its little gratin dish, with just a murmur of nutmeg, is sublimely light, a snapper risotto so authentic it could apply for Italian citizenship.
12-16 Challis Avenue, Potts Point, 02 9357 1744, fratelliparadiso.com
Grounds of Alexandria
When in doubt, add a pig and give it a cute name. Meet Kevin Bacon, the Grounds' resident porker, available for weekend hugs alongside a whole menagerie of farmyard chums. That said, weekend visits to this insanely popular Alexandria cafe are pretty hectic – try for a weekday drive-by instead, and take a seat in the garden with a breakfast burger.
Building 7a, 2 Huntley Street, Alexandria, 02 9699 2225, thegrounds.com.au
Icebergs Dining Room & Bar
A fresh breeze blows through this low-lined, glass-sheathed, candlelit Bondi Beach bathing beauty. Now in its early teens, the Italian kitchen is being revved up by Monty Koludrovic to Maurice Terzini's brief of "flavours my mother would recognise but food she would never cook". The "modern pavlova" is sensational, a huge iceberg of soft and crisp meringue (it's possible) with a heart of pink passionfruit granita and strawberry sorbet. The outdoor deck and ocean views are still Instaporn.
1 Notts Avenue, Bondi. 02 9365 9000, idrb.com
A seat on the wraparound balcony at this modern Korean fun-time house, combined with dishes that shift between elegant and bar-food casual, makes for a can't-go-wrong-for-any-occasion kind of place. For groups celebrating birthday parties or South Sydney grand final wins, a $65 banquet showcases the best of what Ben Sears and Eun Hee An can do in the kitchen.
34 Redfern Street, Redfern, 02 9690 0111, moon-park.com.au
A giant fiesta stretches down Finger Wharf, past the super yachts all the way to John Laws' apartment at the end. But the dinner party everyone most wants a seat at is Otto. Sydney has only a clutch of restaurants pulling off an impressive harbourside experience, and this is one of them. For 15 years, lured by Domain-fringed views of the city, punters have come in their figure-hugging finery. Properly aged-and-grilled meats are man-pleasing highlights.
Area 8, 6 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo, 02 9368 7488, ottoristorante.com.au
The once-infamous Oxford Tavern, known for its topless waitresses and cut-price schnitzels, was given a new lease on life a few years back thanks to the Drink'n'Dine crew. And it's worn well, despite all the gimmicks. Especially the classic Aussie beer garden, updated with Sydney sensibilities, down to the tongue-in-cheek menu (why yes, that is a massive two-person jelly and ice-cream sundae designed to be eaten with rubber gloves).
1 New Canterbury Road, Petersham, 02 8019 9351, theoxfordtavern.com.au
Uccello/Pool Club
Well-executed Italian food by the pool: what could be more Sydney? Spilling out into Ivy Pool Club – a Vegas-style stretch of water fringed with beautiful people – the airy room is very Merivale: bright yellows, blondwood chairs and lots of foliage. Chef David Lovett's spaghettini with cherry tomatoes, chilli, garlic, basil – ramp it up to an almost-puttanesca with Ortiz anchovies, capers and pillowy tuna belly – is a must for lovers of comfort food.
320 George Street, Sydney, 02 9240 3000, merivale.com.au/uccello
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Myffy Rigby is the former editor of the Good Food Guide.