Where to eat in Sydney on Christmas Day 2018

Skip cooking at home, and head out this Christmas. Here's our pick of the lunch and dinner options in Sydney this Christmas Day, 2018.

Traditional or modern Australian?

Options, options. Will it be QT Sydney's Gowings Bar & Grill's traditional Christmas banquet with glazed leg ham, creamed potatoes and turkey gravy ($175pp) or an Australian-style share feast with kingfish crudo, grilled lobster and lemon myrtle pav ($275pp)?

49 Market Street, Sydney, qthotelsandresorts.com

Go sky high

Spend the night before Christmas 47 floors above the city at O Bar and Dining for a three-course Christmas Eve dinner with family and friends ($125pp), or go sky high the next day for sparkling harbour views with a four-course lunch or dinner ($225 per adult or $100 per child), with Thirlmere Farm turkey breast, Cone Bay barramundi and Cape Grim sirloin on the menu.

Level 47 Australia Square, 264 George Street, Sydney, obardining.com.au/christmas-eve/ or obardining.com.au/christmas-day/

A very Bondi Christmas

Celebrate a very Bondi Christmas at The Bucket List, with food stations brimming with Queensland tiger prawns, Sydney rock oysters, roast glazed turkey and DIY pavlova station to finish off ($85pp). Noon and 3.30pm sittings.

Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach, thebucketlistbondi.com

Eat Italian style

Celebrate the Italian way with a traditional three-course festive lunch, available from noon until 4pm at selected Fratelli Fresh restaurants ($70 per adult, $25 per child). Shared antipasti includes bruschetta, prosciutto, salumi, olives, buffalo mozzarella and fresh king prawns. Enjoy roasted lamb shoulder or eggplant parmigiana for mains, finished with traditional stuffoli (fried dough balls).

Fratelli Fresh Alexandria, Crows Nest, Darling Harbour, Entertainment Quarter and Walsh Bay, fratellifresh.com.au/whats-on/christmas-day-at-fratelli-fresh/

Bay views

The team at Sails on Lavender Bay have devised a special four-course menu ($245pp), including freshly shucked oysters and spiced prawns with lime and coriander followed game terrine and turkey with roast beetroot and blackberries, and more. Drinks extra.

2 Henry Lawson Avenue, McMahons Point, sailslavenderbay.com

Hotel on the harbour

Look onto sparkling harbour views at the Park Hyatt, with a deluxe four-course Christmas lunch at The Dining Room & The Living Room including a Veuve Clicquot Champagne ($325pp, $410pp including matching wines). Family-style share tables will be hosted in The Guest House & The Gallery ($325pp including drinks). Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners also available.

7 Hickson Road, sydney.park.hyatt.com

Be merry at Barangaroo

Dine on the water with a five-course Turkish feast at Anason at Barangaroo ($95pp). Think pasha meze with goat cheese and slivered pistachio, slow-cooked octopus with curly peppers and heirloom tomatoes, and Ottoman doughnuts with pistachio ice-cream. A la carte dinner also available.

5/23 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, anason.com.au

Turkish feast

Efendy's five-course Christmas lunch ($95pp or $140pp with matching Turkish wines) will transport guests straight to Istanbul. Start with a cheese plate with chilli jam and sourdough crisps, then move onto prawn and snapper pilaki baked with vegies in a clay pot, or try meatballs with pide and perde pilav (pie covered in pastry) filled with chicken, rice and almonds.

79 Elliott Street, Balmain, efendy.com.au

Waterfront dining

Gather a waterfront feast at Q Dining. The three-course Christmas lunch includes rock oysters, Cone Bay barra, roasted turkey - and Christmas pudding with fig and brandy ice-cream, of course. $299 per adult including bottomless champagne, $149.50 per teen including unlimited soft drinks and $79 per child including unlimited soft drinks.

Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour, 61 Macquarie Street, East Circular Quay, pullmanquaygrandsydneyharbour.com

Southern Highlands celebration

Lobster and caviar jaffle? It's happening at Bowral's Biota this Christmas Day as part of its five-course lunch ($190pp), alongside shaved ham, pork chops cooked over coals with malted honey glaze and a delicious eggnog softie and summer trifle to finish. 11am and 2pm sittings.

18 Kangaloon Road, Bowral, biotadining.com/christmas

Christmas Eve at Banksii

Banksii Vermouth Bar & Restaurant is offering a Christmas shared menu featuring a decadent trifle with brandy custard, cherries and spiced fruit sponge, complete with Christmas crackers. On offer for end-of-year-celebrations all the way up until Christmas Eve (closed Christmas Day).

11/33 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, banksii.sydney​