The 10 Best Things I Ate In Sydney

As I’ve mentioned in several stories, the people of Australia are really serious about their food and drink, from an intense coffee culture to cheese, farmers markets on every block and restaurants. So many restaurants. I’ve noted some favorite spots I came across in Melbourne and Tasmania during my two-week visit. Last, but not least, we’re onto the topic of Sydney. Sydney is by far Australia’s most ethnically diverse city, a mash-up of Asian and European flavors. Three days was certainly not enough time to explore the food scene. The months wouldn't be. I did my best—and had the best yum cha of my life. Here are 10 favorites dishes.

The 10 Best Things I Ate In Sydney

Scallop with carrot cream and endive caramel at Gastro Park

Despite a cringe-worthy name, Gastro Park is one of Sydney’s best (and hottest) new restaurants — leaning to the molecular-driven (food-as-art) side. This dish really stuck out for its simple, perfectly cooked scallop. (More of that local seafood shining through.) Deeply flavorful carrot and endive sauces and a thin slice of Serrano ham complete the dish. 5-9 Roslyn Street Potts Point gastropark.com.au

Tiger prawn roll at Miss Chu

Since 2005, restaurateur and caterer Nga Chu has grown an empire of six Vietnamese tuckshops in Sydney and Melbourne. Miss Chu outposts resemble hawker stalls, but with a keen design sense and eye for cool packaging. I visited a number of locations, ordering these prawn rolls every time. The prawns were expertly cooked and arrived a perfect two to a box. I openly wonder why this fresh, healthy takeout concept has not expanded to NYC or Los Angeles. Various locations misschu.com.au

Mixed meat plate at Abdul’s

In Surry Hills, there’s a pocket of Lebanese restaurants that have long been frequented by drunk college kids and those with a hankering for fresh tabouli and juicy lamb kebobs. After a surly counterman turned me away at nearby Fatimas, I found Abdul’s and dove into this mix plate of lemony hummus, runner beans, coriander potatoes and lamb shoulder. 563 Elizabeth St. Surry Hills NSW 2010 abdulsrestaurant.com.au

Duck skin pancake at East Ocean

East Ocean was recommended to me by a Cantonese cab driver and the chef at Momofuku Seiobo, with equal enthusiasm. Located in Sydney’s tidy Chinatown, EO is a massive yum cha parlor serving fresh scallop dumplings, ginger-shallot spanner crab and sweet prawns, deep-fried to a golden brown. The meal began with this crispy duck pancake. Apparently, the sweet dark meat was inconsequential. Poultry skin is the new pork belly. 421-429 Sussex St, Haymarket NSW 2000 eastocean.com.au 

Shrimp-scallop dumpling at East Ocean

Skin pancakes aside, the seafood yum cha was the main draw at East Ocean, with this shrimp-scallop dumpling a main highlight. Sweet, epically fresh. Like nothing I’ve had in New York or San Francisco. 421-429 Sussex St, Haymarket NSW 2000 eastocean.com.au 

Sea agnolotti at Momofuku Seiōbo

I still don’t know how to properly pronounce Sydney’s Momofuku Seiōbo (the restaurant's wildly inventive British chef Ben Greeno was no help when asked). But there is no mistaking that this is a David Chang restaurant—the shiny counter overlooks an even shinier kitchen bankrolled by the massive Star casino. Like at his NYC counter-only, three-star restaurant Ko, Seiobo does a pasta that rivals Michael White’s. This pea agnolotti with parmesan and ham was all-world. The Star 80 Pyrmont Street, Level G momofuku.com/restaurants/seiobo

Pork bun at Momofuku Seiōbo

According the chef Ben Greeno, Seiobo is the only Momofuku enterprise that doesn’t source their pork buns (the bun that is) from a local producer—he bakes his own in-house, which is slightly thicker than you would find in New York. The pork, though, is textbook Chang—perfectly rendered, moist pork belly. Cucumber. Hoisin.  The Star 80 Pyrmont Street, Level G momofuku.com/restaurants/seiobo

Egg at Momofuku Seiōbo

It’s hard to describe, but this thing that looks like a basic custard resembled a yolky fried egg—the brown-butter crown served as the pan grease. The Star 80 Pyrmont Street, Level G momofuku.com/restaurants/seiobo

Ocean trout at Tetsuyas

Tetsuya Wakuda has long been considered one of the top chefs in Australia, serving a 10-course degustation menu in a room overlooking a Japanese rock garden. The restaurant itself is housed in a single-level structure shadowed by giant office buildings. It’s unique, as is his famous confit of Tasmanian ocean trout. Some have called it the world’s most-photographed dish. And, indeed, it arrived a beautiful shade of red. It tasted better—the trout is submerged in a mix of grapeseed and olive oil, garlic and herbs and cooked for 25 minutes at precisely 135 degrees (Fahrenheit). The slices are dipped in dried kelp and served with shredded fennel. Wonderful dish. 529 Kent St Sydney NSW 2000 tetsuyas.com

Prawn at Tetsuyas

A single prawn sided with the mousse from prawn heads and shells. Intensely flavorful.  529 Kent St Sydney NSW 2000 tetsuyas.com

More Galleries

Check Out These 8 Realistic-Looking Photos Of Food Chopped In Half

17 Burger Recipes For This Big Grilling Weekend

25 Killer Side Dishes For Memorial Day Weekend

10 Cocktails For Drinking Outside This Memorial Day Weekend

11 Extreme Diets That Will Help You Lose Weight, Possibly Kill You

10 German Sausages to Know and Love