Someone lands in Sydney and asks where to eat. This is the answer I actually give, not the tourist brochure version. All eight sit in Broadsheet's best restaurants in Sydney, so you do not have to take only my word for it.

1 · Bennelong, Circular Quay

The most iconic dining room in the city, inside the Opera House itself. Peter Gilmore's team does seafood from nearby waters and a pavlova sculpted to match the sails above your head. Book it for the first night.

2 · Ho Jiak, Haymarket

Junda Khoo's homey nyonya cooking from his Penang childhood. The char kway teow and the wok-fried crab are the fastest way to understand why Sydney's Malaysian food scene is world class.

3 · Chat Thai, Haymarket

Amy Chanta opened this trailblazer in 1989 and taught the city to love real Thai food. Fine-dining quality street dishes at reasonable prices, and the queue moves.

4 · Malay Chinese Noodle Bar, CBD

An institution since 1987 and the laksa destination before Sydney knew it needed one. One bowl here explains thirty years of lunchtime queues.

5 · Saint Peter at the Grand National Hotel, Paddington

Josh Niland pioneered fin-to-scale cooking here. Sea-urchin crumpets and fish dishes that exist nowhere else on earth. This is the Sydney restaurant the rest of the world talks about.

6 · Bella Brutta, Newtown

A puffy blistered crust and a white clam pizza with fermented chilli. Eat it in the room, loud and happy, the way King Street intended.

7 · Chaco Bar, Potts Point

Keita Abe's ramen recalls the smoky laneway restaurants of his Fukuoka hometown. One of the best Japanese dining experiences in the city, in a room the size of a generous hallway.

8 · Baba's Place, Marrickville

Behind a roller door in the inner west, with creative nods to the Greek and Middle Eastern communities that built these suburbs. The most Sydney restaurant on this list, which is exactly why you finish here.

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