Australia’s Hottest New Dining & Drinks: 2025

Sydney’s Culinary Scene: A Fresh Wave of Flavours

Sydney’s vibrant dining landscape continues to evolve, with a host of new restaurants offering diverse and exciting culinary experiences. From Middle Eastern-Mediterranean fusions to reimagined Cantonese classics, here’s a taste of what’s new in the Harbour City.

• Caness (Paddington): This restaurant and snack bar offers a Middle Eastern meets Mediterranean experience in a converted grocery store. The menu features tapas-style dishes, with seafood taking centre stage. Expect saganaki prawns in tomato and feta sauce, grilled octopus with caper dressing, and a creamy salted cod and potato dip. Vegetarian options include a sabich with fried eggplant and a mushroom and celeriac shawarma. The wine list is extensive, and the cocktail menu includes inventive creations like a fig-infused Negroni.

• Corner 75 (Randwick): This restaurant offers a modern Australian twist on Hungarian cuisine. The atmosphere is welcoming and nostalgic, with a dining room filled with memorabilia. Classic dishes include golden schnitzel, hearty goulash, and chicken broth with semolina dumplings. Don’t miss the nokedli, a buttery, spiced pasta-like side.

• Osteria Mucca (Newtown): This Italian trattoria embraces old-world techniques, nose-to-tail cooking, and pasta. Dishes include pigs’ head sausage, lemony prawn spaghetti with bottarga, pappardelle with chicken liver and mushrooms, and spinach and ricotta ravioli in short-rib ragu. Desserts include ricotta sponge and sweet-wine custards.

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• Eleven Barrack (CBD): This restaurant is located in a former bank and offers a grand dining experience inspired by New York and Paris grill restaurants. The menu features tableside service, oysters, and a selection of steaks. Seafood options include caviar, raw tuna and scallops, lobster and leek terrine, and shellfish spaghetti. The wine selection is extensive.

• Cafe Cressida (Woollahra): This café-restaurant offers comfort food in a charming setting. During the day, expect toasties and congee. Dinner seatings feature oysters, figs with lardo and honey, and larger plates like cacio e pepe and chicken schnitzel.

• Letra House (CBD): This wine bar leans Spanish, offering a wide selection of wines by the glass. The menu includes snacks like a doughnut with Manchego custard and duck leg croquettes, as well as larger plates of whole sand whiting and sirloin with tomato butter.

• Clarence and V (CBD): This all-day canteen offers Mediterranean classics with a focus on flavor. Dishes include stuffed zucchini with avgolemono, tomato and Roman bean salad with bagna cauda, and breakfast plates with ham, pickles, and cheese.

• Golden Century (The Rocks): This institution has been resurrected at the Crown, offering Cantonese cuisine and harbour views. Expect classic dishes like XO pipis, lobster, abalone steamboat, and Peking duck.

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• The Grill at The International (Martin Place): This restaurant offers a selection of snacks, grilled dishes, and vegetables. Starters include clams with lovage, raw beef with oyster cream, and abalone Kilpatrick. The grill section features Southern rock lobster prepared in various ways.

Melbourne’s New Dining Destinations: A Mix of Modern and Classic

Melbourne’s culinary scene is constantly evolving, with new restaurants offering a range of experiences, from modern European to fire-focused grilling. Here are some of the latest additions:

• Harriott (CBD): This modern European restaurant offers excellent food and outstanding wine. The menu features Victorian produce, with starters such as oysters with preserved quince and bluefin tuna with rye. Mains include rainbow trout with baby leeks and Sher wagyu rump with parsley root.

• II.II.VI (CBD): This subterranean restaurant focuses on fire-cooked dishes, including steaks and seafood. The open kitchen features a Parilla grill, robata, and charcoal oven. Skewers are a focal point, and premium Australian steaks are also available. Seafood dishes include Abrolhos Island scallops and salt-baked John Dory.

• 81 Bay Wine Bar and Baix Dining (Brighton): This wine bar and restaurant offers an approachable food and drink experience. The wine bar features oysters, Gildas, and steak tartare. The restaurant offers a three-course set menu that rotates weekly.

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• Pizzateca Lupa (South Melbourne): This Roman-style pizzeria offers antipasti, pasta, and square tray-baked pizza. The menu includes spaghetti with garlic red sauce, baked cacio e pepe, and Italian puddings.

• Como Lane (South Yarra): This café offers a romantic Parisian edge to the suburb’s dining scene. The menu includes breakfast items like buttermilk pancakes and lunch options like market fish and chicken schnitzel.

• Suze (Fitzroy North): This wine bar offers casual small plates and a succinct list of French, Italian, and Australian wines. The menu includes marinated peppers, ricotta with persimmon, and king fish. Main dishes include chickpea agnolotti and spaghetti with prawns.

• Da Bao, Ho Jiak: Junda’s Playground, and Ho Liao (CBD): This three-level site offers three different Malaysian concepts under one roof. Da Bao focuses on street food, Ho Jiak offers elevated Malaysian dishes, and Ho Liao is a rooftop beer hall with family favourites.

• Le Splendide (South Yarra): This wine bar offers classic drinks and snacks. The menu includes oysters, tuna tataki, and beef tartare.

• Kolkata Cricket Club (Southbank): This restaurant offers pan-Indian cuisine inspired by Bengali members’ bars and cricket clubs. The menu includes tandoori lamb chops, butter garlic mud crab, and saffron braised duck.

• Amatrice Rooftop (Cremorne): This bar-restaurant offers Italian-leaning cuisine and a rooftop setting. The interiors fuse Roman and New York styles.

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• Maison Bâtard (CBD): This restaurant spans four levels and offers opulent dishes. The menu includes seafood towers and traditional brasserie dishes.

Brisbane’s New Culinary Hotspots: Euro-Inspired and Cantonese Cuisine

Brisbane’s dining scene is expanding with new restaurants offering a range of cuisines, from Euro-inspired dishes to Cantonese classics. Here are some of the latest openings:

• Penelope (Fortitude Valley): This bistro and supper club offers Euro-inspired classics such as steak frites, duck parfait, and chicken thigh cotoletta.

• The Fifty Six (CBD): This restaurant offers dim sum, prawn toast, and roast meat classics in a stately setting. The menu includes innovative starters like drunken prawn tart and scallop siu mei.

• Layla (West End): This restaurant offers modern Middle Eastern cuisine with a focus on aromatics and spices. Dishes include scallops with carrot hummus and wagyu shish with harissa.

• Central (CBD): This restaurant offers Cantonese cuisine with dishes such as dumplings, drunken chicken, and roast duck.

Adelaide’s Culinary Scene: Fire-Focused and Locally Sourced

Adelaide’s dining scene is evolving with new restaurants showcasing local produce and innovative cooking techniques. Here are some of the latest additions:

• Orleana Restaurant (Barossa Valley): This restaurant features slow-aged meats and delicately garnished vegetables cooked over fire. Dishes include beef intercostal skewers, brioche buns with bacon and onion, and Southern Rock Lobster.

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• Canopy Bar (CBD): This wine bar focuses on high-quality wines in a casual environment. The menu includes a range of wines by the glass, as well as cocktails and snacks.

• Magill Estate Kitchen (Magill): This bistro offers dry-aged meats, grilled dishes, and snacks. The menu includes wagyu rump cap, pork tomahawk, and lamb rack, as well as focaccia and lamb tartare.

• That’s Enrico (Lobethal): This pizzeria offers pizzas made from specialty doughs, as well as biodynamic wines, gelato, and tiramisu.

• Restaurant Aptos (Adelaide Hills): This restaurant offers a high-concept dining experience with a multi-course fine dining menu.

• The Botanic Lodge (Adelaide Botanic Garden): This restaurant offers casual dishes inspired by the surrounding gardens.

Canberra’s New Dining Experiences: Mediterranean and Deli-Style

Canberra’s dining scene is welcoming new additions that offer diverse culinary experiences. Here are some of the latest openings:

• Carlotta (CBD): This restaurant offers Mediterranean cuisine.

• Compa and &Sando (CBD): This double-hitter venue offers an Italian steakhouse and deli-style sandwiches.

Perth’s Dining Scene: Asian Flavours and Waterfront Views

Perth’s dining scene is expanding with new restaurants offering Asian-inspired cuisine and waterfront views. Here are some of the latest additions:

• Light Years (CBD): This restaurant offers pan-Asian cuisine with dishes like kingfish ceviche, pork belly, and miso corn ribs.

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• Magic Apple Wholefoods (Cottesloe): This restaurant offers colourful interiors and meals with a focus on wholefoods and fermentation.

• Ginza Nana Alley (CBD): This precinct offers five venues inspired by Japan’s yokocho, including a ramen shop, tonkatsu restaurant, yakitori eatery, café-bar, and kappo-inspired restaurant.

Gold Coast’s New Restaurants: Mexican and Hyper-Local Seafood

The Gold Coast’s dining scene is evolving with new restaurants offering Mexican cuisine and hyper-local seafood. Here are some of the latest additions:

• Norté and Sueño (Nobby Beach): This restaurant offers Mexican cuisine with a focus on grilled meats and seafood. Upstairs, Sueño has a bar vibe with a snacky menu.

• Lars Bar and Grill (Mermaid Beach): This restaurant offers dry-aged steaks and hyper-local seafood.

Tasmania’s New Dining Experience: Coastal Inspired Cuisine

Tasmania’s dining scene is welcoming new additions that showcase local produce and Scottish influences. Here’s one of the latest openings:

• Oirthir (Tasmania’s south-east): This restaurant offers coastal-inspired cuisine with a focus on Tasmanian produce and French techniques.

Northern Territory’s New Dining Destination: Mexican Flavours

The Northern Territory’s dining scene is heating up with new restaurants offering tropical-inspired cuisine. Here’s one of the latest openings:

• Flora’s Temper Mexicantina (Darwin): This restaurant offers fresh Mexican eats with a focus on locally caught seafood.

Regional Australia’s New Culinary Gems: Farm-to-Fork and Coastal Sensibilities

Regional Australia’s dining scene is thriving with new restaurants offering farm-to-fork experiences and coastal sensibilities. Here are some of the latest additions:

• Alsahwa Estate (Palmwoods, Sunshine Coast): This restaurant offers Mediterranean-leaning cuisine with a focus on locally sourced produce.

• Barragunda Dining (Cape Schanck, Mornington Peninsula): This restaurant offers a vegetable-forward menu with estate-reared lamb and beef and locally sourced seafood.

• The Ducks at Hotel Brunswick (Brunswick Heads, NSW): This restaurant offers a blend of coastal sensibilities, Southern Californian influences, and an Australiana pub ethos.

• Bertie’s (Ballina, NSW): This café and wine bar offers deli sandwiches and small producer wines.

• Byron Bay Oyster Bar (Byron Bay, NSW): This restaurant offers fresh oysters and seafood with a focus on local ingredients.