The 40 defining dishes from 40 years of the SMH Good Food Guide

The 1984 Good Food Guide to Eating Well in and Around Sydney, the first and original edition of what is now the Good Food Guide, is a holy document, a single time-worn copy marked with the barcode Z00013338 packed into the library of the Sydney Morning Herald along with other relics of the time. Tucked underneath a lock of Neil Perry’s ponytail and a couple of Tony Bilson bowties, the faded royal blue cover peeps out. Cartoon lions toast goblets over a plate of lobster on the cover, while the blurb exclaims loud and proud “The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide has all the answers”.

Inside, there are maps, forms for enthusiastic or disgruntled readers to write in, and among recommendations for late-night eating (try Bourbon and Beefsteak in Darlinghurst or Abdul’s in Surry Hills), were those for yum cha (Marigold), ice-cream parlours (Pasticceria Mancuso in Burwood), and children’s parties (try McDonald’s).

Sifting through 40 editions of the Guide led to plenty more discoveries and curiosities, but one highlight was picking out the occasions that defining Sydney dishes made their first appearance. In isolation, they give a picture of the way we were eating out at the time; together, they chart a path of Sydney dining over four decades, reflecting its influences, the people and restaurants driving it and the evolving palate of the city.

Whittling this list down was no easy feat, and there are plenty of years when we could have included many more signatures, but the 40 dishes here present a snapshot of 40 years of dining, filtered through the lens of the Good Food Guide, starting with Berowra Waters Inn, and finishing with our latest Restaurant of the Year, Saint Peter.

1984: Brioche with poached bone marrow, braised shallots and red-wine butter, Berowra Waters Inn, Berowra Waters

It was a meal at the restaurant Charles Barrier in the French city of Tours that inspired Gay Bilson to adapt this dish, which became a menu fixture alongside creme brulee and tripes a la Lyonnaise. “Janni [Kyritsis] perfected the tripes, I mistressed the creme brulee and the brioche. To counteract the fat of the bone marrow and red wine butter, I added the shallots, which was a good decision,” says Bilson.

1985: Green noodles with blue swimmer crab, Lucio’s, Paddington

Because few Sydneysiders had heard of tagliolini at the time, Lucio Galletto called his silverbeet-tinted pasta “noodles” instead, and the Ligurian specialty never left the menu.

1986: Chocolate indulgence, Claude’s, Woollahra

High-density chocolate was suspended in mousse and baked – a stirring end to Damien and Josephine Pignolet’s menu of classic French flavours presented in a post-nouvelle cuisine style.

1987: Chequerboard ice-cream, Oasis Seros, Paddington

Phillip Searle’s signature dessert still reverberates in the memories of those who ate it, while those who didn’t long to have tried it. The chequerboard effect is striking, but it’s the then-daring combination of pineapple sorbet and star anise ice-cream, bordered by licorice gel and vanilla ice-cream, that gave it lasting impact.

1988: Sydney rock oysters, Bilson’s, Circular Quay

All eyes were on Tony Bilson and Leon Fink when they opened the decade’s most luxurious restaurant, which would evolve into Quay. A starter of native NSW oysters at the site is just as perfect today.

1989: Whole King George whiting, Rockpool, The Rocks

Neil Perry’s signature traits have long been a commitment to the best and freshest produce and a knack for enhancing a headline ingredient’s inherent flavour. Rockpool’s quick-fried King George whiting, served with a Thai-style dressing of ginger, coriander and lime juice, was “imaginative, unusual, subtle and entirely successful”, wrote Good Food Guide editor Leo Schofield for the George Street restaurant’s first Herald review.

1990: Jumping prawns, Chat Thai, Darlinghurst

Amy Chanta opened her first Chat Thai in 1989 and immediately found an audience for cooking that preferenced Thai palates, then brought everyone else along. See an early dish of raw green prawns, fanned out and covered with mint, garlic and chilli and dressed with nam pla and lemon. Seminal and still just as vital.

1991: XO pipis, Golden Century, Haymarket

“Pipis were traditionally accompanied with cheap sauce in Hong Kong,” says Golden Century founder Eric Wong, “but we had the idea to serve them with expensive XO.” And just like that, a legend was made. (All the better when served on a bed of fried vermicelli to soak up that sauce.)

1992: Confit of Petuna ocean trout, Tetsuya’s, Rozelle

Two decades ago, when the Guide was celebrating its 20th anniversary, this is the dish that graced the cover. Although the garnishes changed, the delicately draped fillet coated with kombu and chives was a fixture in write-ups from the year it first appeared until its final entry in the 2024 edition.

1993: Avocado toast, Bills, Darlinghurst

Creamy avocado on toast sharpened with lime, chilli and coriander. Simple. Perfect. Iconic.

1994: Fettuccine al tartufovo, Buon Ricordo, Paddington

Today, Buon Ricordo and the words “truffled-egg fettuccine” just go together. But it wasn’t until 1994, seven years after Armando Percuoco opened Buon Ricordo, that this signature first graced the menu. Epic then, essential now.

1995: Pho dac biet, An Restaurant, Bankstown

The Phan family’s noodle soup institution opened in 1987, but it would take another seven years for it to be recognised by the Guide. We should have been across the formidable pho (with dark, gnarled brisket, thin-cut beef and gelatinous tendon) way before that.

1996: Misal, Abhi’s Indian Restaurant, North Strathfield

Sydney’s first hatted Indian restaurant wears its 2025 hat as well as it did in the 1996 Guide, when Abhi’s had just undergone a facelift and refreshed the menu. A standout? Misal, a Mumbai roadside snack of mung beans topped with peanuts, black lentil masala and coriander.

1997: Marinated globe artichokes, Bel Mondo, The Rocks

Inside two-hatted Bel Mondo, Anti Bar was a destination in its own right for snacks such as rare roast beef with salsa verde, and artichoke hearts stuffed with smoked river trout. Kudos to the Manfredi family for taking bar food in Sydney beyond Nobby’s Nuts and the counter meal.

1998: A salad of snail, trotters, pigs’ ears and purslane, MG Garage, Surry Hills

With Janni Kyritsis on the tools, MG Garage was always going to be a hit. Three hats in its first year, though, was unprecedented. It’s this dish – described as all subtlety and balance, rather than the rough, earthy heartiness its ingredients suggest – that had the engines revving from the second it landed on the menu.

1999: Eggnet with pork, prawn and beansprouts, Longrain, Surry Hills

After years of working with David Thompson, Martin Boetz took Thai food in his own modern direction. Clean-tasting, fresh and turbocharged with sweet vinegar, the eggnet cocoon was ferociously popular with the Moscow Mule set for years.

2000: Duck pithivier Aria, Sydney

Aria scraped into the 2000 Guide at the last minute, sitting under the heading of “New and important places to open after our publishing deadline”. Can Matt Moran grow into it, we asked. Twenty-five years later – with a menu of signatures marking the anniversary, including a spin on his brined and confit duck pithivier – we reckon he might have.

2001: Sweetcorn and basil soup, Banc, Sydney

Banc burned bright at the turn of the millennium, serving the kind of redefined French food that was also taking hold in London at the time. This complimentary demitasse of sweet, rich, nutty soup would kick off a meal heavy with concentrated flavour and low on shortcuts.

2002: Whole John dory pot-roasted with chilli, ginger and shallots, Pier, Rose Bay

Greg Doyle and Stephen Hodges were at the helm of Pier when the 2002 Guide was published. This edition highlighted signature dishes, which for Pier was John dory packed into a pot with fish stock and aromats, then topped with ginger, chilli and shallots. No wonder it won that year’s “best seafood” award.

2003: Confit pork belly with roasted sea scallops, Quay, The Rocks

Although technically created by Peter Gilmore in 2000 when he was cooking at De Beers in Whale Beach, the Chinese-inspired protein combination came with him to Quay and continues today. “Pure harmony,” said critic Matthews Evans at the time, and three hats were promptly awarded. They’ve never left.

2004: Prawn ravioli, Est., Sydney

Peter and Bev Doyle’s involvement with Est. was seismic. The pair joined in 2003 and brought legitimacy to Merivale’s burgeoning restaurant empire, along with three hats in the 2004 Guide. They also brought the prawn ravioli from Celsius, rolled by hand and topped with wasabi-scented tobiko. Snap, crackle, pop - sweetness and sophistication all at once.

2005: Corned wagyu with white sauce and baby carrots, Bistrode, Surry Hills

Surry Hills became Sydney’s hottest dining destination thanks to an explosion of new restaurants, and Jane and Jeremy Strode’s wagyu silverside garnered a legion of obsessed fans.

2006: Suckling pig, Pilu at Freshwater, Freshwater

Pilu debuted in the 2006 Guide with two hats, winning the best new restaurant award as Giovanni Pilu went all in on his Sardinian roots. The suckling pig, roasted maialetto-style, came with him from Cala Luna at The Spit, and 20 years on, it’s as rich and shatteringly crisp as ever.

2007: Chocolate ganache with orange oil spice and salt, Bentley, Surry Hills

Bentley was named best new restaurant in this year for its molecular-inspired menu. Smoked eel parfait became a signature, but ahead of the Guide launch, it was this dessert turning heads. “Chocolate ganache with blood-orange oil, twisted by a salt hit, reminds you that life is an adventure and Bentley is an exciting ride,” we wrote.

2008: Gaytime goes nuts, Universal, Darlinghurst

Christine Manfield’s first remix of Streets’ iconic ice-cream debuted at Paramount in Potts Point circa 1994, but it peaked at Universal in a righteous combination of salted caramel, chocolate-hazelnut mousse, nougat crunch and wafer-thin biscuit. All kinds of delicious while sending a message of equal rights.

2009: Tonkotsu ramen, Gumshara, Haymarket

There has seldom been clamour for a soup like that surrounding Mori Hogashida’s signature tonkotsu, thick as paint and big enough to feed two front-rowers. It came at a time when ramen was going global, and diehards carried chopsticks in their back pockets. In Sydney, Gumshara led the charge.

2010: Chocolate forest floor, Sepia, Sydney

Inspired by childhood walks through English woodlands, Martin Benn’s signature dessert (created for Sepia’s first anniversary) featured “soil” intricately covered in a seasonal fruit sorbet, chocolate twigs, crystallised fennel fronds and brandy jellies, with flavoured custards underneath. Showstopping, ground-breaking stuff.

2011: Crispy fried Brussels sprouts with lentils, mint and vincotto dressing, Porteno, Surry Hills

Debuting in the 2011 Guide, Porteno didn’t walk away with any awards or hats, but its impact has been undeniable. In part that’s down to this dish, an outlier on a menu largely dedicated to meat. Sprouts are fried crisp, tossed with lentils, herbs and a sharp, mustardy dressing. The result? A city falling in love with a much-maligned vegetable, and falling hard.

2012: Crispy saltbush cakes, Billy Kwong, Surry Hills

It’s not too often a new style of cuisine is invented, but it’s not too often a chef with Kylie Kwong’s point of view and integrity comes along either. Joined by her warrigal-green dumplings, and wallaby with chilli and black bean, Kwong’s spring onion cake-channelling parcels were a significant shift in the concept of Australian Chinese cooking.

2013: Blood sausage sanga, Ester, Chippendale

So many signatures, so little time. Potato bread. Roasted cauliflower. Coconut sorbet with unpasteurised sake. But then this, this magical spin on a sausage sandwich, rich from pork belly and pig’s blood, soft and sweet from caramelised onion and steamed white bread is Ester – best new restaurant in its Guide debut – in a handful.

2014: Honeycomb and cultured cream, Marque, Surry Hills

A dessert created in collaboration with pastry chef Lauren Eldridge was one of Marque’s final chart-toppers. The crunch of honeycomb taken right to the edge and the smooth texture of thick, lactic cultured cream was a one-two punch that still reverberates.

2015: Red claw yabby pikelets, Bennelong, Circular Quay

Fine dining returned to Bennelong in a big way thanks to chefs Peter Gilmore and Rob Cockerill. No one ever forgets popping their first poached yabby from the shell and folding it into a buckwheat pikelet spread with cultured cream and lemon jam.

2016: Mead vinegar custard and frozen raspberries, Sixpenny, Stanmore

Raspberries are blast-frozen and shattered into tiny drupelets and pop like sunshine in winter against spiked custard and strawberry consomme. At the time of writing, there still isn’t a better balancing act of sweetness, temperature and texture in town.

2017: Char kwai teow, Ho Jiak, Haymarket

Junda Khoo’s deeply caramelised, fiery char kwai teow debuts on Hay Street in 2017 and Sydney immediately has a new favourite Malaysian restaurant. Ho Jiak didn’t make it into the Guide that year, but we’re happy to say that Khoo has three venues in the 2025 edition, and his food is on the front cover for the second year running.

2018: Marron and coconut bakes, Momofuku Seiobo, Pyrmont

As Paul Carmichael’s confidence grew at Momofuku Seiobo, he put more of himself into the menu. Enter a dish of marron tossed in spicy Puerto Rican-style sofrito. It came with coconut-dusted coconut bakes for mopping. It also came with three hats.

2019: Potato and molasses bread, Cafe Paci, Newtown

Pasi Petanen’s sourdough has followed him from Cafe Paci’s pop-up beginnings to today. Combining potato, rye, caraway and molasses with a long ferment, it’s a final molasses glaze that ensures a sticky, memorable opening act, alongside incredible whipped butter.

2020: Murun egg yolk, Pipit, Pottsville

With COVID, the Guide took the form of a 100 Good Things liftout, stacked with words on omakase and pop-up bakeries. Among them? A dish of emu yolk confited in grouper fat at Pipit, possible through collaboration with Currie Country, run by one of the largest traditional custodian families within the Aboriginal Yugambeh-Bundjalung nations. It was emblematic of a brighter future where more restaurants support Indigenous businesses, especially when they serve their foods.

2021: Tarama on toast, Baba’s Place, Marrickville

Sydney’s migrant experience is proudly celebrated at Baba’s converted warehouse, and there’s no dish more popular than its fresh-made taramasalata on shokupan toast with pickled cucumber and sesame praline. It also looks like an Iced VoVo.

2022: Murray cod with pil-pil, Firedoor, Surry Hills

Quite simply, no one cooks a Murray cod like Lennox Hastie. Grilled over paperbark, crisp-skinned and shimmering, the freshwater fish is further enhanced by a pil-pil emulsion made from its bones and fat.

2023: Cheeseburger, Clam Bar, Sydney

Breathing new life into the CBD, Clam Bar boasts the most sought-after tables in town for oysters, steak, martinis and grilled squid, plus a whopping burger with an ooze of American cheese and a pickle and bacon on top. We reckon the burger at Next Door in Double Bay is its only rival for “Sydney’s best”.

2024: Fish and its parts, Saint Peter, Paddington

“Fish and its parts”. That might be Josh Niland’s whole career in four words. The lodestar at his and Julie Niland’s new three-hatted digs, this is a dish that, as it regularly changes (maybe coral trout, sometimes alfonsino) combines the chef’s skill, nuance and eye for detail to glorious effect. Milt croquette? Liver chermoula? Wood-grilled flesh with bull kelp, native thyme and pea flowers? Epic. All of it.

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