From a two-hatted restaurant by the ocean, to a no-frills skewer spot in Sydney’s west, here are 20 places to bring your favourite bottle of wine (plus, updated corkage fees).
Whether you’ve been waiting for the right moment to open a special bottle of wine, or hunting for a budget-friendly restaurant, the 2026 Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide has excellent BYO options. We’ve trawled the yearly guide to bring you 20 of the best, as independently and anonymously reviewed by our team of restaurant critics.
If you need more inspiration for your next night out, you’ll find it on the Good Food app. The app is free for premium subscribers to the Herald, or available as a standalone subscription. You can download the Good Food app here.
Grape Garden, Potts Point
Ecca Zhang, who runs the floor, is one reason to return to this family-owned restaurant in Kings Cross – his exuberance, warmth and knowledge cuts through the urban noise. The food is the other reason. Ecca’s parents, Beijing expats Gao Lun and Jie Zhang, hand pull noodles and serve them dan dan-style with minced pork and a heady, brothy sauce, then expertly boil or pan-fry delicate dumplings destined to be splashed with sharp house-made vinegar and fragrant Sichuan pepper-spiked chilli oil.
Corkage: $15 corkage per bottle of wine, $3 per beer.
Shop 3, 2/14 Bayswater Road, Potts Point, grapegardenbeijingcuisine.com
Hai Au Lang Nuong, Canley Vale
Owner-chef Ben Nguyen’s restaurant is so personal that it lands as refreshing rather than sensory overload, despite the pulsing lights, flower garlands and crooning guitarist. The menu is special, unmissable — featuring favourites such as crunchy and bright lotus stem salad and bowls of ngheu hap sa with pipis steamed and flavoured with lemongrass, lime and chilli. Sauces are fresh and full of spice.
Corkage: $10 per bottle of wine, free corkage for beer.
48 Canley Vale Road, Canley Vale, instagram.com/haiaulangnuong
Joe’s Table, Darlinghurst
For Joe Kitsana, hospitality is personal. He takes your booking on his own phone, does the shopping and cooking, plays waiter. He also cooks — the food isn’t fancy, but it triggers nostalgia for those who reminisce about suburban Thai in their youth: crunchy spring rolls filled with chicken and black fungus, light fish cakes, plus fried soft-shell crab in sweet-chilli crab sauce.
Corkage: $7.50 per person, wine or beer,
Unit 1/185A Bourke Street, Darlinghurst, joestable.com.au
Sean’s, Bondi
This Bondi mainstay has a short, hyper-seasonal menu, lively service and an arty dining room (is that an actual Guy Buffet in the corner?) that’s perennially filled with happy diners. Sean Moran’s cooking is nurturing, food for the soul, and the Sommerlad chicken is a popular choice — quartered and roasted until golden, accompanied by bread sauce and roast potato, turnip tops and cabbage.
Corkage: $35 per standard bottle of wine, $60 per magnum bottle of wine.
270 Campbell Parade, North Bondi, seansbondi.com
Porkfat, Haymarket
Porkfat stands out in Sydney’s legendary Thai food scene, in part due to co-founder and chef Narin “Jack” Kulasai’s menu, which is broad but with a Central Thai inflection, and in part thanks to Boonyalit “Boon” Boonprakong’s presence on the floor. Dishes are vibrant, with standouts such as the fiery, fatty pork larb, Phuket curry with Mooloolaba king prawns, and the monthly crab fried rice special. Space is limited, so book ahead.
Corkage: $25 per bottle of wine.
33 Ultimo Road, Haymarket, porkfat.com.au
Jennifer Soo
Beverly Hills Chinese Restaurant, Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a must-visit for anyone into hot pot, live seafood and lacquered pigeons, and while it’s impossible to name the suburb’s best Cantonese restaurant, this is certainly one of our favourites. There are more than one hundred dishes to choose from, including a homespun chicken soup with collagen-rich fish maw; live lobsters the size of Tonka trucks; and eggplant steamed in garlic, served with soy sauce and lap cheong sausage.
32 Tooronga Terrace, Beverly Hills, beverlyhillschineserestaurant.com
Lunas, Petersham
You can eat inside at Lunas, and it’s a rather handsome dining space, but as summer creeps into the evenings, the lush courtyard is the place to be. Load up at one of the large tables with chef Jose Silva’s Portuguese comfort cooking — few Petersham moments are as lovely as eating marinated olives, “grandma’s bread” and the piri piri spatchcock, as cicadas buzz high in the surrounding gum trees.
Corkage: $15 per bottle of wine only.
316 Stanmore Road, Petersham, lunaspetersham.com.au
Temasek, Parramatta
Temasek had a glow-up following its recent move to George Street, but the menu features the same home style Singaporean dishes: Hainanese chicken rice (one of the city’s best), laksa Singapura with tender chicken and prawns, and a classic nasi lemak. Cool off with colourful ice kacang and salute one of the originals and the best, still at it after 32 years.
Corkage: $3 per person.
2/100 George Street, Parramatta, temasekrestaurant.com
Olympic Meats, Marrickville
You’ll smell the grill at Olympic Meats before you see it. The scent of spice, fat and oregano. It’s a thing of beauty: a triple-stacked barbecue running at capacity, pillars of chicken and pork rotating slowly over glowing coals. The casual restaurant is walk-in only, but it’s worth queuing for a table to feast on sourdough pita, warm fava and vinegary brined octopus and the meats, obviously: hot, salty and unforgettable. BYO, clink glasses, meet your neighbours. This is how yiayia would do it.
Corkage: $5 per person, beer and wine.
12 Dudley Street, Marrickville, olympicmeats.shop
Emma’s Snack Bar, Enmore
Bold flavours and fun vibes combine at this Enmore local, where food is enjoyed family-style. Elbows bump as you reach for juicy chicken shawarma, the last of the ladies’ fingers (filo cigars stuffed with spiced minced lamb) and bread laden with smoky baba ghanoush. Service is efficient, plant-based dishes are plentiful, and you’ll need to order dessert early if you want to try a cheesy slice of knafeh.
Corkage: $6 per person, wine only.
59 Liberty Street, Enmore, emmassnackbar.com.au
Spice I Am, Surry Hills
This hole-in-the-wall is a two-decade-old institution that doesn’t shirk on heat, flavour, ingredients or buzz. You will queue. You will squeeze onto seats. But efficient staff and short cooking times reward the wait as signature dishes such as gaeng som cha-om goong (a brothy tamarind-rich prawn curry) and pad prik pao (deep-fried pork belly stir fried with chilli jam)– arrive.
Corkage: $1 per person, beer and wine.
90 Wentworth Avenue, Surry Hills, spiceiam.com
Wolter Peeters
Ezra, Potts Point
You’re going to wish you had Ezra on your street. This is the ideal neighbourhood bistro, with cracking pan-Mediterranean cuisine, smartly chosen drinks and a playlist full of pop throwbacks like Smashmouth and Christina Aguilera. Take a seat in the courtyard, beneath the dappled sunlight, to begin your meal with whipped cod roe, baba ganoush and hot pita bread, followed by a main of roast spatchcock.
Corkage: $30 per bottle of wine, but free Monday to Wednesday when dining on the $73 or $95 set menu.
3 Kellett Street, Potts Point, ezrarestaurant.com.au
La Disfida, Haberfield
This suburban icon is known for its Campari posters, fleet-footed floor team, and traditional wood-fired pizzas. The margherita is light and garnished with basil, while the diavola is perfect with hot salami, olives and anchovies. Keep an eye on the specials list which can feature dozens of new dishes each week, from pappardelle with wild boar ragu, to pear, cabbage and goats cheese salad.
Corkage: $15 per bottle of wine, available Tue-Thu only (excluding public holidays).
109 Ramsay Street, Haberfield, ladisfida.com.au
Spicy Joint, various
When you think of Spicy Joint, you might recall the handsome, lively restaurant in Haymarket, but the Shanghai-born chain also has outposts in Burwood, Chatswood and Rhodes. Each serves a menu of Sichuan favourites, headlined by the signature poached, chilled and sliced chicken in chilli oil and sesame paste. If you’re looking for value, order the dan dan noodles or the boneless white fish in Sichuan pepper-spiked broth.
Corkage: $3 per person.
Level 4/25-29 Dixon Street, Haymarket, spicyjoint.com.au
Cairo Takeaway, Newtown
At Cairo Takeaway, there are usually a handful of locals waiting outside for the takeaway kofta, or seated street side with cups of stove-top coffee and comforting bowls of koshari. The brick courtyard out back is one the best spots for lunch on a warm day — try a pita pocket with charcoal chicken and toum, or falafel with pickle and tahini.
Corkage: Free, wine only.
81 Enmore Road, Newtown, cairotakeaway.com
Shi Gol Jip, Belmore
Elusive signage and a nondescript front space give little indication of the grill-your-own deliciousness ahead. Out back, you’ll find a garden courtyard where large groups convene beneath loud fans to consume heroic quantities of skewered meat. Prices are reasonable, offal is aplenty, and the fatty lamb skewers with cumin are an essential order. Round out your meal with cold buckwheat noodles or a crisp potato pancake.
Corkage: $3 per person, wine only.
333 Burwood Road, Belmore
Loulou Bistro, Milsons Point
Loulou’s rabbit, pork and prune terrine is rich, satisfying and transports you straight to France. It’s made at the restaurant’s boulangerie and traiteur next door, along with fresh baguettes, croissants and charcuterie. The menu is full of updated classics, from John Dory stuffed with scallop mousse and presented with Champagne sauce, to steak frites served with Sarawak-spiked sauce au poivre. Don’t miss the warm Madeleines for dessert.
Corkage: $20 per bottle of wine, available Tue-Wed.
61 Lavender Street, Milsons Point, loulou.sydney
Edwina Pickles
Porcine, Paddington
From the cheesy gougere puffs with pork belly to the aged pork chop with choucroute, chef Nik Hill flies the flag for classic French technique. That sounds fancy, but this is food for the people. There are always oysters – perhaps with smoked-eel mignonette – and masterful charcuterie, leading into a menu of rich, rococo and rewarding dishes, whether it’s garlicky mussels on toast, or a “floating island” of meringue and Sauternes custard.
Corkage: $35 per bottle of wine.
268 Oxford Street, Paddington, porcine.com.au
James Brickwood
Nico, Cammeray
Chef-owner Nico Ronconi cut his teeth working in big, busy Italian restaurants like Fratelli Fresh and Matteo Downtown. At his own upscale trattoria, he’s channelling the Amalfi Coast with a sunny, citrusy menu — limoncello negronis, squid-shaped calamarata pasta (all of which is made in-house) with finger lime, and the must-try dessert for any tiramisu fan, the signature lemon tiramisu.
Corkage: $10 per person, wine only, available Monday.
450 Miller Street, Cammeray, nicorestaurant.com.au
Mami’s, Bondi
Owners Erendira and Juan Perez don’t want anyone to leave hungry, so everything at this casual, family-friendly restaurant is generous and well-priced. Take the tacos, for example — four for $20, made on soft corn tortillas, with fillings such as slow-cooked pork (carnitas), mushroom, or perhaps best of all, rich shredded beef paired with hot birria consomme. Arrive early with friends – slices of tarta de queso sell out fast.
Corkage: $4 per person, beer and wine.