Food & Drink Reviews

  • Queen Chow Narooma

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Queen Chow replaced the standout restaurant at The Whale Inn after Justin Hemmes (Merivale group) bought out the retro 17-room motel in June 2021. After purchasing a house in the area, Hemmes bought up big, also taking over the wharfside bar, Quar…

  • Broadwater Oysters

    Food & Drink Reviews
    After a swim in the pristine waters of the Pambula River mouth take a journey up river to Pambula Lake. Broadwater Oysters sits on its western banks facing a row of bobbing oyster punts and the oyster leases behind them. Tacked onto the end of the…

  • Tathra Beach Kiosk

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Is there anything more Australian than a beach kiosk turning out bacon and egg rolls ($13) for the early risers? Tathra Beach Kiosk is pretty iconic: just a series of open hatches on a white weatherboard cottage that it shares with Pividori's Tath…

  • Petermen

    Food & Drink Reviews
    To say that North Shore locals were eagerly anticipating the arrival of Petermen would be under-selling it. On night two the St Leonards-based offshoot of Saint Peter was rammed. Bigger than the flagship, Josh Niland’s new restaurant is all blon…

  • Sergeant Lok

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Strong Japanese elements in this contemporary pan-Asian 5-course banquet menu ($98/head)—like an almost-too-pretty-to-eat chawan mushi topped with handpicked crab and caviar bound by ginger dashi—hint at what chef’s next move will be.

  • Jinja Restaurant

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Jinja Restaurant is housed in a venue that expands what you expect from a contemporary pub. The Governor Hotel is located in Macquarie Park inside a fenced com…

  • Hai Au Lang Nuong

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Sydney threw a curve ball at my open-air Saigon-style dining experience at Hai Au Lang Nuong. As we arrived in Canley Vale to music blaring and shuttered windows rolled open for diners to take in the busy streetscape, a storm of epic proportions r…

  • Blaq at Kyah

    Food & Drink Reviews
    In her next adventure Jackie McMillan reviews a refurbished three-wing motel, now called Kyah after one of the Three Sisters, which is cohabiting with a destination dining spot called Blaq.

  • Khao • Soi カオ•ソーイ

    Food & Drink Reviews
    “There is a restaurant in Chiang Mai which is exactly the same,” said Chef Darren Templeman (currently cooking at Sergeant Lok). Our conversation cam…

  • Dolly’s Donuts Glenbrook

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Mark down Dolly’s Donuts as a refuelling stop to power you up and over the Blue Mountains on longer trips, writes Jackie McMillan.

  • Kobo

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Chef Jacob Lee is the creator behind the Quay Quarter Lanes Sydney intimate “Bap Sang” an 8 seat omakase experience.

  • Yummy Chilli / Yummy Sichuan

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Jackie McMillan seeks out the best of new or undiscovered restaurants in Sydney. At Yummy Chilli (Sichuan) she finds the best cumin beef she's eaten since Shanghai.

  • Flotilla ~ Newcastle

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Dusky pink clouds make Wickham a surprisingly inviting place to dine. The pale blue of The Flotilla disappears into the sky. The building’s light indus…

  • Garden House Cafe Enfield

    Food & Drink Reviews
    As a gardener I like to spend my leisure days in my garden or in the plant nursery. There I made a wonderful discovery that many of them have enjoyable eateries, more than for just grabbing a coffee when you grab new plants.

  • The Butler Revisited

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Way back in 2014 when Sydney Scoop was first launched (and I still had my newspaper Bar Fly column and international food wine travel site Inside Cuisine) the then newly opened …

  • Le Salle by Bar Chaplin

    Food & Drink Reviews
    After spending time cooking in Taiwan, chef Patrick Dang has popped up on a back street in Surry Hills. Le Salle by Bar Chaplin is a darkly sophisticated small space for serious diners. It’s neither well signposted nor designed to accept walk-in…

  • Cooked & Co Cafe Sans Souci

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Cooked & Co at Sans Souci is buzzing. There's a reason it's busy, mostly with locals. First up, you possibly couldn't find more helpful and friendl…

  • The Hungry Spoon

    Food & Drink Reviews
    Oatley cafe The Hungry Spoon is a popular delicious hang out for locals, and is worth a trip if you are in Sydney but out of the area. Open 7 days.

  • The Rio Bar Summer Hill

    Food & Drink Reviews
    The Rio Bar at Summer Hill wins our Sydney Scoop cocktail trifecta. Long lists of spirits specialising in gins and whiskies. Bar food ranges from snacks to mains.

  • Maggie's German Austrian Restaurant

    Food & Drink Reviews
    An historic Kings Cross institution, Maggie's is now moving beyond its German Austrian traditions.