The hottest restaurant trends and dining hotspots in Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmania

To taste a fillet-o-fish like no other, get yourself to contemporary Asian restaurant King Clarence the next time you are in Sydney. That is, if you can even snag a reservation.

The newly minted two-hat restaurant is also among the country’s buzziest, thanks to its deservingly viral Fish Finger Bao. The creation of executive chef Khanh Nguyen, previously from acclaimed Southeast Asian restaurants Sunda and Aru in Melbourne, is best described as a cross between fillet-o-fish and xiao long bao. 

The crispy panko-crumbed barramundi fillet is set with gelatinised fish and dashi stock, which then melts when cooked to create an incredibly juicy bite. Topped with American-style cheese, salmon roe, and tartare sauce spiked with mustard greens and pickled chilli, this fluffy mantou-wrapped treat is exactly as delicious as it sounds. 

The 33-year-old second-generation Vietnamese-Australian credits the cheeky creativity behind many of the restaurant’s other highlights, like the duck tsukune meatball on shokupan bread (a play on Bunnings’ sausage sizzle) and pork-free mapo tofu with Royal Red Prawns, rich lobster broth and chawanmushi-style egg custard, to his upbringing and travels through the region.

“I have always viewed modern Australian dining as having a strong Asian influence because of how multicultural the country is,” says Nguyen.

Nguyen is part of a growing crop of young Australian chefs increasingly drawing on their diverse heritage to bring a broader scope of nuanced Asian inspiration to restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s food capitals.

More than mom-and-pop diners from the preceding generation, they offer creative riffs on Asian food, like what Nguyen is doing or focusing on elevated takes on the cuisine of their heritage, like Filipino chef Ross Magnaye. 

Sustainability remains at the forefront, with some restaurants in Tasmania championing innovative practices. These include tackling invasive species through creative menus and intricate practices, such as creating extensive in-house ferments, from garum to miso, to reduce waste. 

Over the past few years, restaurants helmed by young chefs have led these culinary trends, energising Australia’s dynamic dining scene.

At Serai in Melbourne, Magnaye, who moved to Australia as a teenager, highlights the robust flavours of Filipino cuisine, focusing on wood-fired cooking. His wood-roasted pig’s head “sisig” tacos offer a moreish, fusion spin to the humble street dish in a homage to his heritage.

In Sydney, several Asian dining establishments are making a splash. Porkfat, a Thai eatery in bustling Haymarket, by Thai couple chef Narin “Jack” Kulasai and Tanya Boon, received a one-hat rating this year. The duo wanted Porkfat to reflect the culture they grew up with.

The menu leans on family recipes, such as Boon’s grandmother’s rich and savoury pork jowl in green curry. Pork fat is used to cook many dishes, imparting a velvety depth of flavour, like Jack’s grandmother cooked in Thailand.

Meanwhile, Australian-Thai restaurateur Palisa Anderson continues honouring Chat Thai’s cultural roots, the restaurant her mother launched in 1989 to support the family. When Anderson took over, she started an organic farm in Byron Bay to secure a reliable supply of heirloom vegetables and native and tropical fruit.

For instance, the yellow curry of crab meat came generously doused with fresh, peppery betel leaves from the farm. Its off-menu items are whipped up based on the harvest of the day.

Creative sustainability

With climate change widely regarded as the most pressing concern on the global agenda, many Australian F&B establishments are creatively tackling the industry’s high carbon footprint and food waste issues.

Farm-to-table restaurants like The Agrarian Kitchen in Tasmania and Brae in Melbourne incorporate this into their operations, using in-house waste management systems. For instance, The Agrarian Kitchen, which won Gourmet Traveller’s “Restaurant of the Year” award in 2024, uses specialised processes to break down eggshells and coffee grounds to extract nutrient-rich by-products that can be used as fertiliser on its farm. 

At Faro, the eclectic contemporary restaurant inside the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania, its unconventional menu riffs on a sustainability and art project by curator and artist Kirsha Kaechele (she is the wife of MONA’s owner, David Walsh) called “Eating The Problem”.

Its basic premise centres around addressing the issue of invasive or overpopulated species like wild fallow deer, wallabies, and even carp that threaten local ecosystems by eating them — prepared deliciously, of course. 

Unexpected ingredients are artfully transformed into bold dishes like Carcass In Swamp, which pairs cured and smoked wallaby’s tender, subtly gamey flavour with earthy salt-baked beetroot and crisp leaves. This dish makes a surprisingly tasty statement on conservation through consumption.

Refettorio OzHarvest is an inspiring example of innovative sustainability in Sydney’s trendy Surry Hills neighbourhood. Founded in collaboration with Italian chef Massimo Bottura, this social enterprise uses surplus food that would otherwise go to waste to create three-course restaurant-style meals for those in need, including the socially isolated and the vulnerable.

When I visited, dishes like heirloom tomato salad with macadamia cream, creamy coconut curry leaf chickpeas with pickled carrot achar, basmati rice, and mascarpone coconut whip were on the menu.

Refettorio OzHarvest also hosts paid collaboration dinners with celebrity chefs, such as Peter Gilmore, executive chef of Quay. These dinners allow diners to “pay it forward” by funding free meals for the community while enjoying a gourmet experience.

Hyperlocal at heart 

Offering a distinct sense of place through dining is another aspect of conscious dining that Australia does exceptionally well. In fact, the country’s culinary identity is increasingly being defined by a focus on hyperlocal cuisine. Beyond sourcing for fresh produce, it showcases the terroir and seasonal bounty of the region.

For instance, Melbourne fine dining restaurant Atria, led by executive chef Michael Greenlaw, carefully emphasises hyper-seasonality. Much of the restaurant’s seafood is sourced from nearby waters, inspired by Greenlaw’s diving expeditions.

More viscerally, the dry-aged duck is sourced from the Macedon Ranges, so close by that the server can simply point out the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows to show where it came from.

Farm-to-table restaurants make it a point for guests to feel like they are a part of the process. Two destination restaurants — Brae in the Otways hinterland, a two-hour drive from Melbourne and Agrarian Kitchen in New Norfolk, Tasmania — embody this ethos with plenty of heart.

At both restaurants, guests can tour the on-site farms, where gardeners happily discuss the seasonal harvest. They often pluck leaves or fruit to offer a taste straight off the branches.

At three-hat Brae, nearly 130 different types of plants are being cultivated based on a local seasonal calendar and what its farmers deem are the best harvest of the day, which is why 90 per cent of the menu is dictated by what the farm yields.

These include heirloom vegetables, stone fruit, nuts, berries, and native edible plants like finger lime and lemon myrtle.

Digging into dishes, such as the vibrant spring salad made with over 40 different types of leaves, fruits and flowers just plucked from the garden, makes one feel connected to the surrounding land.

Meanwhile, Agrarian Kitchen, run by co-founder and executive chef Rodney Dunn and his wife Severine, harnesses a full range of techniques to showcase the diversity of Tasmanian ingredients. These include whole animal butchery, cheesemaking, smoking, fermentation, breadmaking, and charcuterie.

Its spring farm-to-table menu features the in-season locally grown white asparagus, which locals call “white gold”. Carefully cultivated underground for a delicate, refined flavour with just a hint of earthiness, all the spear needed was a dollop of house-made celeriac miso to highlight its sweetness.

“Our superpower is the amazing range of climates that Australia enjoys, which results in an amazing range of produce,” says Rodney Dunn. “We try to cook food that is vibrant and fresh.” 

In Sydney’s two-hatted Margaret, veteran chef Neil Perry works directly with farmers and fishermen to source the best from the land and sea. A rare find here is the David Blackmore Mishima sirloin, from a lineage of Japanese cattle that pre-dates wagyu.

Less fatty than wagyu yet still melt-in-your-mouth tender, this is a prime example of how attention to detail and provenance is celebrated at Australia’s finest.

Another Australian seafood stalwart is Josh Niland’s Saint Peter, which was recently reopened at the Grand National Hotel, which his team has renovated into a boutique hotel. It is the only Australian restaurant on the 2024 World’s 50 Best long list at No. 98 — champions sustainable, hyperlocal seafood butchery with an almost reverent focus.

For instance, the membranes on either side of a squid are meticulously removed before it is sliced into bouncy “fettucine” strands. This creates a pasta sauced with a rich, bolognese-like tuna nduja.

Another highlight is the line-caught blue mackerel sourced from a single fisherman, Craig Lukey. Dressed simply in a Gordal olive brine and paired with fresh sourdough and cultured butter, it is hard to think of another dish (besides freshly sliced sashimi at Tokyo’s Toyosu market) that so eloquently showcases the sweet, briny succulence of an excellent catch. 

For Niland, this extra care goes into every ingredient in every dish that defines the Australian dining experience. “We seek out the best product that we can and try to find moments where it is significantly more delicious or better when we serve it,” he says. 

There is an overarching sense of care and love that goes into the food that feels genuinely special. We just want to give you a wonderful time because you are here for dinner at the end of the day.” 

With more restaurants breaking new ground in showcasing Asian flavours and a continued focus on sustainability and hyperlocal ingredients, Australia’s culinary landscape continues to excite with its creativity and dynamism.