Lucky Kwong’s steamed spanner crab and prawn dumplings
Alex ‘N’ Rolls’s barbeque pork banh mi
Kiln’s Koshihikari rice
Usually when we publish our end-of-year “what we ate” lists there end up being unintentional themes. Call them signs of the time, if you will. Last year pizzas and burgers stacked the slate, while the year before ramen was a favourite. But this year, things are different: the sheer variety of dishes (pate! Rice! Japanese-inspired pasta!) is testament to what’s going on in Sydney’s dining scene. That is to say, a lot. This year has seen a huge diversity in the types of restaurants that have opened, and our dining scene is absolutely all the more dynamic for it. Then, of course, there are the old faithfuls that continue serving fan-favourite dishes, and others that endlessly innovate. These are our favourites of the year: the drinks and dishes Broadsheet’s staffers, editors, writers and photographers couldn’t get out of their minds.
Chicken liver pate with potato chips and fish sauce caramel at Odd Culture, Newtown
I’m a couple of wines deep at Odd Culture’s first birthday party when its pate is delivered to our table. As a pate super-groupie, who can happily eat the stuff with a spoon, I am in my element. But this is pate taken to the next level. The pate and fish sauce caramel smudge the bottom of the bowl, with thick house-made potato crisps sticking out of it like echidna spines. I smear a crisp with the pate, dip it into that caramel and take a bite. The chips are salty. The pate is thick and funky and unctuous. And then that caramel supercharges the experience – it’s sweet, a little umami and brings the whole dish together in that salty-sweet-umami flavour combo that hits your whole palate at once. A couple more wines and I’m left wondering how bad for your health eating an entire plate of pate to yourself really can be…
– Che-Marie Trigg, Sydney editor
Calamari with salmoriglio and Koshihikari rice at Kiln, Surry Hills
Kiln’s bowl of rice put forward a compelling case as my number-one dish of the year. “What?” I hear you ask. “How can plain rice get you excited?” I get it. But it does, and it can. It’s perfect when paired with Kiln’s get-me-some-more-immediately calamari. That dish is the star of the show at Mitch Orr’s Kiln, the restaurant on the top level of the Ace Hotel. But the koshihikari rice is essential to ensure none of its sauce is left behind. I like to dump the entire bowl of rice on top of the calamari, which is liberally doused with salmoriglio, a southern Italian mix of garlic, oregano, anchovy, lemon and lots of olive oil. It’s heaven when the rice and the unctuous sauce collide. This is no ordinary rice, mind you. It’s sourced from NSW’s award-winning organic Randall Farm and Orr and the crew wash it up to 15 times before soaking it for two hours. They then steam it with dashima kombu and ginger. All this results in each grain almost having its own personality. It’s simple, yet magical. Kiln, thanks for the culinary good times, let’s do it again soon.
– Sarah Norris, national editor
Steamed spanner crab and prawn dumplings at Lucky Kwong, South Eveleigh
Unless you work in one of the offices nearby, visiting Kylie Kwong’s lunchtime- and midweek-only eatery can be a bit of a mission, but it’s 100 per cent worth the trip. One of her signature dishes on the casual Cantonese menu is a paper bowl of four perfect crab and prawn wontons swimming in a pool of dark Sichuan chilli dressing with sprigs of native bush mint (picked from the rooftop farm in the same South Eveleigh precinct). It is a perfectly balanced sweet-sour-spicy sauce that I wanted to spoon into my mouth long after I’d eaten my share of silky dumpling wrappers. Next time I won’t be sharing.
– Emma Joyce, national assistant editor
Tagliatelle with fermented shiitake and katsuobushi at Ante, Newtown
If there’s one new-ish Sydney venue I’ve recommended more than any other this year, it’s Ante. And if you haven’t been yet, I urge you: please go there soon. Go for the sake, which co-owner Matt Young has curated with love and will change the way you think about the stuff. Go for the music, courtesy of a record collection that’d make a career crate-diver swoon. But most of all, go for chef-owner Jemma Whiteman’s food – which isn’t strictly Japanese, but designed to eat with sake. She’s found a way to impart umami to every corner of this saucy pasta dish – funk from the fermented mushrooms, a pang of moreish-ness from the parmesan. The addition of katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) makes it savoury to the point of silly. Then there’s the tagliatelle, which soaks up all the elements yet still bites like a perfectly al dente ramen noodle. I’ve waxed lyrical about this dish so often that I’m starting to sound like a broken record. But I reckon that’s fitting somehow.
– Dan Cunningham, directory editor
Barbeque pork banh mi at Alex ‘N’ Rolls, Marrickville
Banh mi was my go-to lunch option this year. I ordered the Vietnamese staple from seven different Sydney eateries and thought I was pretty set in my order: a crispy pork belly filling served on a baguette-like textured roll. But that all changed after I visited Alex ‘N’ Rolls. When I got to the front window, my choice of filling had sold out. Disappointed, panicked (and not a huge fan of anything barbeque), I decided on barbeque pork – and spent the entirety of my wait questioning if I should change my order. It was too late, my name was called and I sat down to take my first bite. It was all different, fantastically different. The roll was soft, still warm, slathered in pate and mayo and balanced with all the essential salad trimmings. And the pork (the pork!) not really barbeque-y at all, just tender, melt-in-your-mouth goodness. The all-round eating experience lasted no more than a few minutes but changed the banh mi game (and my world) entirely.
– Hollie Wornes, social media coordinator
Breakie sanga at Saga, Enmore
Not to begin with too much hyperbole but this sandwich saved my life. Picture this: you’re cripplingly hungover and, in a shocking turn of events, you’ve just remembered you’re spending the day babysitting two preschoolers. Just when you think you’re about to hurtle headfirst into a hell of your own making, the Saga Breakie Sanga enters your life.
Served on soft untoasted white bread and cut into primary-school-style triangles, this sandwich packs a serious punch. There’s a perfectly fried egg with a still-oozing yolk seasoned with sesame, crispy-to-the-point-of-cancerous bacon, homemade barbeque sauce, rich pimento cheese and then not one, but two golden hash browns. It’s generously filled, so every single bite gets its share of ingredients and, in my opinion, there is not a single bacon and egg roll in Sydney that lives up to its standard.
– Lucy Bell Bird, national assistant editor
Potato, whey, cured egg yolk at Jane, Surry Hills
The one thing that stands out beyond any meal this year is the potato, whey and cured egg yolk at Jane in Surry Hills. Jane is the little sister of Arthur, a neighbourhood favourite on Bourke Street, and is a bit more casual in approach but just as confident in flavour. The totally unassuming potato dish is a galette of sorts, ultra-crisp on the outside and velvety smooth on the inside with none of that mealiness that is too common in the ’70s dinner-party favourite.
The killer component, though, is the whey sauce: it’s sharp like aged cheddar with loads of acid to counter any stodginess of potato and it is absolutely worth abandoning your manners to swipe a finger over the plate. A little grating of salted egg yolk rounds out the umami-packed “side dish” to excellent results. Don’t bother trying to re-create it at home (trust me, you’ll just end up with bitter disappointment and a lot of wasted potato), just book a visit.
– Elizabeth McDonald, national assistant editor
Smoked buffalo milk soft serve at Gildas, Surry Hills
Two-hundred-day dry-aged steak. A kitchen fuelled entirely by wood fire. The frisson of pleasure and disbelief that comes with landing a booking: all reasons why Firedoor remains one of the most singular dining experiences in Australia. How does one possibly follow up a restaurant like Firedoor? Lennox Hastie, Firedoor’s UK-born chef-patron and one-time head chef of legendary Basque grill restaurant Etxebarri, doesn’t just make it look easy: he makes it look natural with Gildas doing for the pintxos and tapas culture in Australia what Firedoor did for cooking things over wood. And in typical Lennox style, he’s constantly confounding expectations, from turning spanner crab into a filling for savoury churros to daring to reimagine the classic pintxos-slash-cocktail garnish the bar is named for – or turning smoked buffalo milk into a soft serve that, together with dulce de leche and a piquant olive oil made from tiny arbequina olives, equals one of the year’s most memorable ice-creams. A slam-dunk.
– Max Veenhuyzen, Perth editor-at-large
Fried tapioca, honey and manchego at Bar Louise, Enmore
Any venue by the Porteno Group is always a guaranteed good time – and their latest tapas and wine bar, Bar Louise, is no exception. It’s casual, playful and, more importantly, serves up some bloody delicious food, in particular the fried tapioca with honey and loads of shavings of manchego. Served tapas-style, it celebrates the classic sweet and salty flavour combo rounded out by plenty of crunch. It might just be a snack, but I wouldn’t object to the idea of ordering more.
– Aimee Chanthadavong, writer
Trout tartare at Bistrot 916, Potts Point
It’s the first week of January and Sydney is dead. Omicron has arrived in time for the height of summer, rendering the streets empty and the restaurants lonely places with few customers and bemused-looking staff. We take a table outside at Potts Point’s usually buzzing Bistrot 916 and it feels like we’re doing something a little bit wrong. But when a plate of trout tartare lands on the table, suddenly everything is very, very right. The cubes of trout, glistening with macerated cornichons, chives and mustard seed, alongside brutally crushed, beef fat-crisp potatoes, make me wonder if I’m having my best dish of the year in January. In the name of research, I return to give it another go in November. And while the trout has been usurped by jewel-like squares of tuna, I’m happy to report that the only other change was the vibe: the crowded room swelling with the hedonistic buzz of lively patrons and busy, beaming staff. What a difference a year can make.
– Ariela Bard, writer
Marinara risotto at Zafferano, Darlinghurst
There are only a handful of restaurants that I return to in my own time after a shoot, but Zafferano is definitely one on the list. Its citrusy marinara risotto with mussels, clams, cuttlefish, prawns, and crab in a light tomato sauce is simply unforgettable and is the reason why I return. The intimate, homely feel of the restaurant almost transports me straight to Sicily, too.
– Yusuke Oba, photographer
Bean curd laksa at Malay Chinese Takeaway, CBD
The best thing I’ve eaten this year is the best thing I ate last year, and the year before that. I’m going to be bold and say it’s my favourite meal in Sydney. The laksa at Malay Chinese Takeaway is not new. The legends at this Hunter Street eatery have been making the same recipe for more than 30 years. Given this is its last year (the whole block is being demolished to make way for a metro station), I’m paying tribute to the humble bean curd laksa. It’s the most perfect thing: a rich broth with just the right balance of sweet-salty-creamy, vermicelli noodles only (I’m not down with the Hokkien-vermicelli mix), chewy cubes of porous bean curd, each pillow soaking up soup like a sponge, all finished with a massive dollop of sambal so red and oily, it shifts the colour of the broth so it almost glows. To be happy, a person needs little more in life than a bowl of this laksa, and maybe the chopsticks-and-spoon skills to avoid splashing your shirt with bright red oil. Or, failing that, 20 cents for a bib.
– Pilar Mitchell, writer
South Coast tuna with tomato, tahini and chilli oil at Rafi, North Sydney
There aren’t many food experiences I would cross the bridge for, but this raw tuna dish from Rafi definitely makes the trip worthwhile. The ambience of this breezy venue sings of long summer lunches with food and drinks a-flowing. As for the tuna dish, a standout from a noteworthy aforementioned summer lunch with its plump cubes of tuna, acidic bursts of tomato and a zingy, bottle-worthy chilli oil and tahini sauce? It is nothing short of spectacular.
– Karina Arora, writer
Terramisu with truffle at Noi, Petersham
The first time I heard Erykah Badu’s Rimshot was a memorable experience: like I was being pulled into perfectly warm earth by its cosy, soulful bass line, which is especially nice when paired with a glass of red on a winter’s night. The pungent-earthy-creamy combo in Noi’s Tasmanian truffle-laced “terramisu” – its take on tiramisu, with a grainy chocolate soil in place of powder – made me feel the same; until then I never thought to mix truffle with chocolate or coffee, let alone the holy grail of desserts, so this one really stuck.
– Kimberley Low, photographer
Tuna cheeseburger at Fsh Mkt, Bondi
There’s a time and a place for refined dining, but sometimes (often) what you really need is a greasy, cheesy, perfectly balanced burger. This particular delight greeted me on a Sunday evening as the late October sun disappeared behind the city and kissed the air with the promise of summer. The patch of grass on the corner of Warners Ave was – as usual – humming with families on picnic rugs and groups of friends sharing stories over burgers and bags of hot chips.
I didn’t even give a cursory glance at Fsh Mkt’s salad options – I was there for one thing only. Fsh Mkt’s tuna cheeseburger knows its job, and it has no competing ambitions. The gorgeously crafted masterpiece comprises a toasted bun, a thin bed of lettuce, a perfectly rare tuna patty crowned with just the right amount of melted cheese, a layer of tangy pickles and a halo of mayo. It’s uncomplicated and confident. Naughty and proud. If grease isn’t your thing, this burger won’t be either. Move along.
– Winnie Stubbs, writer
Fix Dining, online
Trapped inside by the combined Sisyphean challenges of a new baby and a relentlessly lingering global pandemic, I still managed to score a few incredible meals by some of Sydney’s most in-demand chefs in the year of our lord 2022, all whipped up in my own kitchen. The launch of Fix Dining’s finish-at-home meal boxes this year saved me from endless defrosted-bolognaise repeats, whether it was Peter Gilmore’s briny scallops with humming eggplant XO, Paul Carmichael’s brassy hot-sauce eggs or Palisa Anderson’s Malaysian-style chicken rice – all served with solid wine recs and meal-matched Spotify playlists.
– Tristan Lutze, writer
Old Fashioned at Spice Trader, CBD
Very rarely will I drink or eat (even when they insist) when I’m working. When shooting Spice Trader, I peeped someone receiving an Old Fashioned and it caught my eye. We chatted and he was raving about how good it was. Turns out it was the drink we were shooting, and I caved and had to try it after the shoot. It tasted as good as it looked. Perfectly balanced.
– Chad Konik, photographer
Corn ribs at Firepop, various locations
I have a deep, almost religious, obsession with Firepop. Run by the dedicated duo that is Alina Van and Raymond Hou, Firepop is a food truck that takes things to the next level. Its beef? Wagyu. Its packaging? Sustainable. Its seasoning? A bespoke mix. Even its butter is hand-churned for god’s sake.
While it’s known for its meat skewers – or “pops” – it was the corn ribs that truly won me over. This is a big deal because although 2022 Tiktok trends revealed the sheer number of corn-obsessed people out there, I did not count myself among them until I tried the Firepop corn ribs. There are two options: the “Sugar x Cheese” and the “Sugar x Caramel”. I love them both and I simply could never choose between them. The first iteration is topped with house-made caciocavallo and garlic butter, Olsson’s sea salt blossoms and even more caciocavallo cheese. It’s rich, moreish and the perfect combination of sweet and salty. The Sugar x Caramel ribs are absolutely saturated in house-made butter and salted caramel. I would eat it over dessert any day of the week.
– Lucy Bell Bird, national assistant editor
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