Pellegrino 2000, Sydney
99 Gang Social, Adelaide
Porkfat, Sydney
What makes a restaurant great? To us it’s one that finds its own identity within the city’s culinary noise and adds texture and nuance to Australia’s food scene.
This list is curated by Broadsheet’s editors and editors-at-large, who have visited a crushing number of restaurants to pinpoint the most notable newbies. What follows is a mix of outstanding low-key suburban joints, dazzling arrivals by big-name chefs, and new players ditching the rulebook to create something entirely their own. But really, this list is about the restaurants that are fun and serving immensely delicious food – places we want to go back again and again, some of which are destined to become institutions.
From east to west and north to south, here are the capital city openings (and one out-of-town spot) that stood out in another year of remarkable eating and drinking in Australia. The list is in alphabetical order by capital city.
Thanks for a delicious 2022, Australia.
ADELAIDE
99 Gang Social, CBD
The Asian-leaning burgers at Gang Gang are some of Adelaide’s best. But at the team’s late-trading bar and diner – which opened on Hindley Street in late December, narrowly missing our best of 2021 wrap – they give a nostalgic nod to the US, inspired by co-owner Nina Hadinata’s time spent in LA. Burgers here include the 101 (double beef, provolone, grilled onion and French mustard), named after the iconic highway; and the Route 66 (Nashville hot chicken, butter pickles, house-made dill ranch, iceberg lettuce and American cheese). The drinks list is big on classic cocktails – Mojitos, Mai Tais and more – perfect for cutting loose on the dance floor, which kicks off after dinner service (under a shining disco ball). The venue has also just bolstered its presence with a new upstairs bar – yet another reason to get to 99 Hindley Street, stat.
Good Gilbert, Goodwood
Since opening in late 2020, Goodwood’s versatile neighbourhood bar has pulled some impressive chef talent, all despite the fact it lacked a fully operational kitchen. Now, chef Savannah Sexton is finally getting to flex their muscle in a new open kitchen in a beaut new dining room that opened in September. No, it’s not a new opening as such, but we think the new restaurant deserves a spot on this list. Its menu is more bistro-style than next-door’s snackier numbers, and focused on fun, nostalgic dishes made with ethical and sustainable produce. You might start with silky corn chawanmushi with pickled morel mushrooms or rump cap tartare with caesar-style dressing before moving onto a seafood platter featuring under-utilised local fish, served with Wonder White bread, or brodo with leek and passatelli (made with semolina and leftover breadcrumbs). Finish off with a slice of Basque burnt cheesecake or a nostalgia-inducing Viennetta (with miso caramel).
Press Food & Wine, CBD
While it’s not technically a new opening, it may as well be. After a change of ownership, this Waymouth Street institution reopened in April with a new look, new chef and new direction. The ground-floor dining room is unrecognisable, with a curvaceous new marble bar and a lighter, softer, more intimate setting courtesy of designer Claire Kneebone. The menu’s also changed dramatically, thanks to new executive chef Tom Tilbury (ex-Gather at Coriole), and it’ll continue to, based on the produce Tilbury gets his hands on. You might begin with Gazander oysters – natural or wood-grilled – and choux au craquelin filled with silky chicken liver parfait, before Nomad Farms chicken with gremolata and chicken jus, and grass-fed beef skirt with wild garlic and onions. The huge wine list – assembled by general manager Meira Harel – mixes new-wave and established SA producers alongside reps from the rest of Australia, and a strong European presence.
Want some more excellent Adelaide eating and drinking, here are Adelaide’s Best Restaurant Openings of 2022, the Best Cafes and the Best Bars.
BRISBANE
Exhibition, CBD
Former Joy co-owner Tim Scott opened this ambitious 24-seat CBD restaurant (and 10-seat bar) in a moody underground tenancy beneath the old Metro Arts building on Edward Street. The fit-out is a mix of modern and heritage features, with enormous 900-millimetre-thick timber beams the signature detail. For food, two set menus continually evolve depending on what’s in season and available from local farmers and specialist suppliers. Dishes so far have included a scampi sashimi churro; roasted duck breast with beetroot and a balsamic sauce; and Wagyu cap grilled over coals and served with sweet-and-sour sherry, mustard and pickled spring bulbs. Otherwise, Exhibition is something of a love letter from Scott to Australian artisans and makers. The cutlery has been hand-forged by Kinnow Cutlery, and there are sake sets by Box & Ho Pottery and vases by Brighenti Design Studio. In the main dining room there’s a set of antique Japanese knives on display, and shelves of fancy recipe and restaurant books.
Sushi Room, Fortitude Valley
Barely a couple of months after they opened Sunshine, Simon Gloftis, Kelvin Andrews and Theo Kampolis unveiled this Richards & Spence-designed sushi and sashimi restaurant that was arguably the buzziest opening of 2022. Downstairs, the 60-seater is fitted out with stone-top tables, grey upholstered booths and vertical blinds. Pride of place is a 9.3-metre solid hinoki timber counter imported from Japan, while a textured domed ceiling provides a peek into an upstairs private dining room, painted bright red. The restaurant sits behind a single nondescript door found between The Calile Hotel’s lobby and a stairwell down to the car park. On the menu is kingfish, grouper and vinegared-mackerel nigiri and sashimi; salmon-aburi and bug-tempura sushi rolls; tempura whole lobster; toothfish and Wagyu yakimono; and Oscietra Sturia caviar. The drinks list features a stack of sakes, shochus and umeshus, and 25 whiskies. An internationally roaming wine list tops out at a handy rather than hair-raising 160 bottles, but you can also go deep from the neighbouring Hellenika and SK Steak & Oyster cellar lists, if you please.
Want some more excellent Brisbane eating and drinking, here are Brisbane’s Best Restaurant Openings of 2022, the Best Cafes and the Best Bars.
MELBOURNE
Chae, Cockatoo
Chae 1.0 commanded attention as a six-seat Korean restaurant in a one-bedroom Brunswick apartment. Peak singularity, right? Wrong. This year, chef Jung Eun Chae doubled down, moving her eponymous diner to her larger, more serene new home deep in the Dandenong Ranges. And just like its predecessor, the dining experience at Chae 2.0, in Cockatoo, is unadulterated, unmissable and truly unlike any other in the state. It’s one of Melbourne’s most sought-after restaurant bookings for a reason. Chae changes the menu each month, depending on seasonality, but there are a few things you can count on: the food will be wholesome and true to tradition (starring her famous homemade gochujang), the conversations will be intimate, and you’ll take pole position at the kitchen bench of one of Melbourne’s most gracious young chefs.
Grill Americano, CBD
Steak is the star, but it’s just one of a laundry list of standouts at Grill Americano, the bold, theatrical newcomer from prolific Melbourne restaurateur Chris Lucas – also behind Chin Chin, Society, Yakimono, Baby Pizza and Hawker Hall. On Flinders Lane, it’s his glamorous revival of the Italian steakhouse, with Venetian elegance, New York grandeur and Melbourne nostalgia. He calls it a “reimagining [of] the amazing grills and brasseries that we used to have here in Melbourne back in the ’60s and ’70s and early ’80s”. Slink into a plush banquette and feast on lavish scampi-for-two atop saffron pilaf and tricked-up tiramisu scooped tableside (dessert is not to be missed here). Or perch at the curvaceous marble bar with a signature Americano and hunks of parmigiano drizzled with chestnut honey.
Jeow, Richmond
Richmond’s modern-Vietnamese diner Anchovy was outstanding – and in a league of its own. But its recent reincarnation, Jeow, is even more so. Industry-leading chef Thi Le and her partner Jia-Yen Lee have flipped their Bridge Road restaurant into a love letter to Laos, bringing the less-represented cuisine to the forefront of Melbourne’s dining landscape. They’ve ditched the formality and gone more family-style (but no less complex), blanketing tables in aromatic Laotian feasts – “as if you were eating at Mum’s”, Le explains. One necessity is the delightful vegan version of sakoo yat sai, or steamed tapioca pearls, filled with Jerusalem artichoke, salted turnip and cashews, then coated in garlic-chive oil and wrapped in lettuce leaves and herbs. The larb diip with raw Warialda eye fillet and slightly cooked tripe is punchy, textural and flavour-packed.
Parcs, CBD
Come for reimagined cacio e pepe, stay for the food “scrap” revolution at Parcs (“scraps” spelt backwards), an energetic new wine bar and restaurant from the Sunda and Aru team. The 20-seat, fermentation-forward spot on Little Collins Street is helmed by boundary-pushing chef Dennis Yong, who wants to challenge how you think about food waste. He’s creating clever, considered dishes with produce other restaurants might toss aside – or overlook altogether. Seventy per cent of the menu is made up of scraps, ranging from cucumber peels to the outer leaves of cos lettuce to on-the-cusp mangoes. One essential is the “umami e pepe”, a play on cacio e pepe that flips the cheesy, peppery Italian pasta dish on its head, with a secret recipe centred around miso made from leftover bread. It’s “a masterclass in deliciousness and resourcefulness”, as Broadsheet editor-at-large Max Veenhuyzen so eloquently put it.
Want some more excellent Melbourne eating and drinking, here are Melbourne’s Best Restaurant Openings of 2022, Best Cafes and Fast-Casual Openings and Best Bars.
PERTH
Falafel Omisi,Yokine
Is that a fried-to-order falafel in your pita pocket or are you just happy to see me? Or, more appropriately, Falafel Omisi, a kosher cafe next to a soccer pitch where one can find some of Perth’s most compelling Middle Eastern cooking. (See also the sabich, an Iraqi-Jewish sandwich featuring fried eggplant, hard-boiled egg, salad and the tangy mango pickle called amba; plus one very spirited shakshuka.) But the star of the show is undoubtedly Omisi’s namesake. Made in-house according to a Yemeni’s grandmother’s recipe, they’re available in myriad ways including as part of a falafel platter as well as a crunchy accent on plates of hummus (also made in-house). The most exciting newcomer for 2022? I reckon so.
Frui Momento, Wilyabrup
Although this one’s in Margaret River, we reckon it should be on the list. Its name means “enjoy the moment” in Latin, which should be easy to do for anyone who appreciates stellar food and drink served in debonair settings. While a clipped snack menu is offered to guests in the alfresco areas, the refined cooking of chef Seth James is best admired in the dining room where guests order lunch via a prix-fixe menu in which zesty blood orange sets off grilled quail; roast pumpkin, a Korean-influenced vegetable broth, and rice cooked in shiitake dashi equals a pilaf for the ages; and feijoa, yoghurt sorbet and orange blossom granita combine in an equally memorable dessert.
Want some more excellent Perth eating and drinking, here are Perth’s Best Restaurant Openings of 2022, Best Cafes and Best Bars.
SYDNEY
Kiln, Surry Hills
There was a time in Sydney when “contemporary Australian cuisine” was easily defined: food that was considered cutting-edge because it melded flavours and cooking techniques from across the globe without a care for tradition. But what does it mean in 2022 when almost everyone is doing that? Mitch Orr’s food at Kiln feels very now because it builds on that tradition but takes it to another place. The maverick chef has always been a self-assured rule breaker, borrowing from Italy, Japan and Southeast Asia, and there’s a bit of that here. But Kiln’s food feels more than that. It weaves in conversations we’re having about provenance, produce and sustainability to create food that is light, fresh, vegetable-forward and exceptionally delicious. Even a simple bowl of rice (koshihikari rice from Randall Farm) is compelling, especially paired with what we reckon is the star of the show: the calamari with salmoriglio. There’s equal fun found in the wine list that’s curated by drinks expert Mike Bennie, P&V’s co-owner. Kiln is on the top level of the so-hot-right-now Ace Hotel and – as well as being simultaneously casual, intimate and comfortable – it delivers a view of Surry Hills and downtown we’re not used to seeing. Book in just before sunset to catch the urban scene shape-shift into night, and then stay late for the DJs. Kiln delivers big vibes, big taste and big fun.
Pellegrino 2000, Surry Hills
Is there a more fun, exciting dining room to be sitting in right now? Pellegrino 2000 is the kind of place you get swept up by, and find yourself saying things like, “Yes, we will have another bottle of wine,” and “Yes, we must get another pasta.” Pellegrino 2000 is not reinventing the (Italian trattoria) wheel. It’s really no more than an excellent neighbourhood eatery. But there’s something to this place that we can’t get enough of. We get the same feels from Andy Tyson, Dan Pepperell and Mikey Clift’s other place, Potts Point’s Bistrot 916. If you went to Bar H, you’ll know the corner terrace Pellegrino now commands. It has a unique layout that sees guests sit on stools on the footpath, at a window counter that faces inside to the bar, where more people mingle. We love it. A neon light reading “2000” leads others downstairs to a moody wine cellar complete with candles and gingham-covered tables. The trio say they’re going for “garage-style trattoria” vibes, and under vintage photographs, packets of pasta and fresh tomatoes people enthusiastically eat Pepperell’s food. We’re not going to lie, we’ve missed the Italian culinary prowess he showed at Alberto’s Lounge and 10 William St. Book a table right now.
Porkfat, Haymarket
For a city packed with Thai restaurants, it’s often hard to find one serving distinguishable dishes (beyond the standard green or red curry). That’s not the case at this delightful new 30-seater. Narin “Jack” Kulasai was head chef at Australian Thai-food expert David Thompson’s lauded Long Chim, and has created a succinct menu of dishes and flavours that remind him of Thailand. (There’s another Thompson alum on this list, see Viand below). That includes deep-fried barramundi with a beautiful zesty mango salad of fleshy fruit, lemongrass, mint and coriander, as well as a Phuket-style curry with tiger prawns and betel leaves. Everything is nuanced and deeply flavoursome. The room, which is set over two levels, isn’t fancy but welcoming, and so is the happy and sincere staff. Take notice of the beautiful hand-painted plates made in Wiang Galong (an ancient city in northern Thailand) or from Kulasai’s own personal collection. Like the Thai music that plays in the background, it’s lovely touches like these that enhance the homey feel of Porkfat. (Note: the wine list is pretty basic but you can BYO for $10 a bottle.)
Want some more excellent Sydney eating and drinking, here are Sydney’s Best Restaurant Openings of 2022, the Best Cafes, Bakeries and Casual Eateries and the Best Bars.
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