Dining in Sydney
Sue Bennett, Good Living editor
Sydneysiders don't need to be told they live in one of the world's great cities for dining out. There's every food style from Thai to Turkish, Italian to Indonesian and in every price range. Whether it's fish and chips on one of the city's glorious beaches or best bib and tucker in an internationally acknowledged fine dining restaurant, there's something for everyone.
Dining out can be the most casual of events - something to do when the fridge is bare or no one wants to cook. At the other end of the spectrum, it can be dinner at the plushest of places with a sommelier to look after the wine and a fleet of waiters to serve the dishes. When it arrives, the food ranks among the world's best for its use of pristine ingredients and creative treatment.
In large part, Sydney can thank a long history of migration for the diversity of its dining out. And there's no better place to see its full impact than in suburbs like Leichhardt, Lakemba and Cabramatta, where you find the most magnificent Italian, Lebanese and Vietnamese cuisine. Or head off to the eclectic culinary mix that's Surry Hills and Darlinghurst, the Portugese enclave at Petersham, Chinatown near the city and the neighbouring Spanish quarter, or head further afield to Bankstown and Auburn.
More than that, you can do a lot worse than take a wander through a food court all over the city to see the diversity that's Sydney dining. Many newly arrived migrants start working the kitchens here and it costs but a few dollars. At the other extreme, Tetsuya's has been voted the fifth best restaurant in the world. It all goes to show there's something for every taste and every pocket.
Sydney's bars
Lenny Ann Low
Fancy a drink? Of course you do. Whether it's a margarita with an ocean view, or a smash ‘n muddled mojito accompanied by live DJ toons, look no further. Sydney's tipple hot spots will minister to everyone's quaffing penchants. Choose from the funky converted warehouse saloons of Surry Hills, the hot, chic and shiny ocean-view bars ringing the sparkling harbour or the after-work beer and chill-out chat pubs dotting the CBD
Late-night revellers will find succor in the flush of the lush, hip and chi-chi bars crowding Kellett Street in Kings Cross, while those after a cold one and some hearty hot grub will be satisfied at one of the countless traditional public houses across the city. Ocean lovers may sip a glass of chilled wine and sigh while watching the sun sink across Bondi Beach at Icebergs Dining Room And Bar.
Others with a love of small, intimate European-style drinking establishments can cosy up with an aperitif beneath fine chandeliers, ornate cornicing and burnished mirrors at Bambini Wine Room. Then there's the opportunity to shake your booty at Favela as 8000 ceiling light bulbs shimmer into bird and windmill-shapes in time to a DJ's pulsing dance beats. Hip, happy, sassy or laidback, there's a drinking establishment here to suit.
Shopping in Sydney
Melissa Penfold
Sydney’s one of the world's great shopping destinations. It combines high-end European imports with local innovations and the best and cheapest of Asia. There are great buys and bargains to be found across the city.
and strengths. Double Bay is home to fabulous and sophisticated French, Italian and Caribbean looks; Alexandria and Auburn are furniture central; Mosman is chic antique; Eastwood has a strong Asian presence with great two-dollar shops; Waterloo is the new design precinct, from art and antiques to door hardware and outdoor furniture; and Woollahra is establishment in the best sense of the word
Wherever you go and however much you spend, there are some essential tricks to being a good shopper:
- Buy less but buy better.
- Go only for quality. Whether it's a designer sofa or a $1 napkin, always examine the proportions, stitching and finish.
- Do the touch test. Never buy anything that doesn't feel good, however good it looks. Spend more on things you use everyday than on special-occasion buys.
- Never buy on impulse or in a hurry - but when you see something you love, snap it up because it won't be there tomorrow.
Sydney and suburbs
City and surrounds
If you can't find it here, it doesn't exist. From the restaurants and food shops of Chinatown in the city's southern end to Harry's Cafe de Wheels with its pies, mash and gravy on the harbour's edge at Woolloomooloo, it's open (almost) all hours, with a come-as-you-are mix of restaurants, cafes, shops, pubs, bars and clubs. Surry Hills, once Sydney's rag trade district, is no longer the doing-it-tough world depicted in Ruth Park's classic novel The Harp in the South, but the area retains an eclectic mix of people and places.
North
The North Shore started as a swatch of market gardens on the "other side" of the harbour. With the completion of the Harbour Bridge in 1932, the area was opened up as a quieter, leafy side to Sydney - an antidote to the claustrophobic bustle of the inner city. Just across the bridge, the harbourside suburbs of McMahons Point and Kirribilli have streets of classic terraces and cafes by the dozen. The lower North Shore includes suburbs such as Mosman, with many stylish shops, and Willoughby, with plenty of renovation and furniture stores. Chatswood has a huge shopping centre, cinemas and is Asian food heaven. While definitions vary, the area from around Roseville is considered to mark the start of the upper North Shore.
South
Across the Georges River, the Sydney's southern suburbs become known collectively as the Shire. Bounded on three sides by water, the Shire is home to Kurnell Peninsula, where Captain Cook first set foot on Australian soil in 1770, and, more recently, swimming star Ian Thorpe. Cronulla, the only Sydney beach on the end of a train line, has a popular shopping and cafe strip. Shoppers can also head to Miranda, the district's retail hub.
West
Sydney's western suburbs are home to a 10th of the nation's population. Families are building spacious homes in the sprawling outer suburbs, supported by commerce in the region's economic capital and the geographic heart of Sydney, Parramatta. Its central business district - Sydney's second biggest city centre - takes in residential, retail, commercial and park and riverside areas, all of which are within walking distance of Parramatta railway station. Visitors can spend an afternoon on the riverbank of Lake Parramatta or at one of the alfresco dining options along the Church Street restaurant strip. The centre's major shopping centre is one of Australia's biggest and has recently undergone a facelift. At Homebush, there is a Direct Factory Outlets store and a large Ikea.
East
The nickname for beachside Tamarama, "Glamourama", typifies the glitz Sydney expects of its eastern suburbs. It's high-density living for renters and the rich, gripping onto the coastline in Bondi, Bronte, Coogee and Clovelly, where snatches of water views send property prices soaring. The huge shopping complex at Bondi Junction has put a roof over shoppers who may otherwise look for boutique stores in Paddington or designer wear in Double Bay, sometimes also referred to as "Double Pay". In Woollahra, antique stores, art galleries and food stores set an upmarket tone, while for clubbers on Oxford Street in the city's gay district, mid-morning marks the end of a long night.
Inner west
Artists and students led the renewal of old suburbs on the city's doorstep, such as Newtown and Glebe, creating bohemian, interesting neighbourhoods. The neighbourhoods have become so "interesting" that many of the artists and students can no longer afford to live there, but they have left their mark with bookshops and off-beat shops surviving on the main strips of Glebe Point Road and the always busy King Street in Newtown. Other suburbs have taken on identities from around the world - Leichhardt is Sydney's little Italy, Petersham channels Portugal onto the plate and Marrickville has lots of great Asian restaurants.
Balmain
The waterfront industrial sites have been converted into homes for hundreds and the old cottages have been renovated to create residences that would be unrecognisable to their original owners. The old bloodhouses are gone but you can probably get a vodka and blood orange in the pubs. Darling Street is the spine of this peninsula suburb, with shops, restaurants, cafes, boutiques and bookstores filling every available shopfront.
