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Billy Kwong
There's something wonderfully egalitarian about top restaurants where queuing's required - perfect for travellers who don't have the luxury of booking weeks ahead. Chef Kylie Kwong serves up a tempting seasonal menu made from the best organic, sustainable, fair trade ingredients available.
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Bird Cow Fish
As the name suggests, there's plenty of creatively prepared flesh on BCF's menu, but locals and cross-town venturers are here as much for the munificent fromage as the meat. Forty boutique Oz and international cheeses generate quite a whiff in the corner deli. Oh, and the espresso's as good as it gets!
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Bistro Moncur
With a striking monochromatic mural running the length of one wall and highly regarded chef Damien Pignolet creating marvels in the kitchen, Bistro Moncur has long been a favourite. The menu changes seasonally, but signature dishes such as the French onion soufflé gratin and grilled sirloin Café de Paris delight diners all year round. The service is impeccable.
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Bistrode
A celebration of all things meaty and fishy, the Bistrode menu will be challenging for some. The lily sure isn't gilded in the descriptions - it's more likely dipped in offal or served in the warm pig's head salad with pickled egg dressing. The food is exceptional - hearty yet intricate with plenty of unusual twists.
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Blackbird Café Restaurant
This large, popular restaurant is a good affordable option and offers good food for every taste. There are heaps of hot-stone pizzas, plenty of hot or cold salads, wok stir-fries, a vegetarian list and staples like pasta and meat selections. The shady outdoor balcony is pleasant, as are the harbour views.
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Blue Ginger
If you own chef Les Huynh's cookbook, named after his restaurant, you'll definitely want to try the fresh and fragrant dishes first hand. Not restricted to his Vietnamese roots, Huynh borrows from Thai, Malay and Chinese cuisine to bring the best of the region to his long communal table.
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Blue Orange
A fave with Hall St regulars and travellers alike, Blue Orange has a casual, sandy vibe and a silly name, belying its delicate, complex cooking. Start with the blue cheese and walnut brûlée, then savour the slow-cooked Flinders Island lamb with roasted eggplant, fetta and mint. Divine.
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Blue Water Café
The huge portions are a major drawcard at this bustling beach café adorned with surfboards. Choose between pasta, burgers, wraps, pide and grills, mostly under around A$20 but up to around A$29 for a juicy sirloin.
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Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay
The best restaurant in Glebe, and one of the best seafood restaurants in Sydney. Offerings range from oysters so fresh you'd think you shucked them yourself, to a snapper pie that'll go straight to the top of your favourite dish list. Anzac Bridge views; reservations essential.
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Bodega
The coolest progeny of the current tapas frenzy, Bodega has a casual vibe, impossibly handsome staff and a very funky matador mural. The dishes vary widely in size and price, with a substantial serve of ocean trout at the upper end. Wash them down with a tipple from the wide range of Hispanic wine, sherry, port and beer.
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Bodhi Restaurant
Vegans need look no further than this flashy spot, located underneath the plaza in front of the cathedral. Lunch means tasty yum cha, and the simple, almost ascetic atmosphere will feed your soul, although the windy outdoor seating may bring you back to earth.
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Bondi Icebergs
Poised above the famous swimming pool, Icebergs' views sweep across the Bondi Beach arc to the sea. Jacketed, bow-tied waiters deliver fresh seafood and steaks cooked with élan. The wine list is superb, and the bar, overlooking the Campbell Pde lights, is never a boring place for a beer. Bow down and feign humility before the mighty Pacific Ocean (don't spill your beer).
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Bondi Social
This cosy, chocolate-coloured, beach-shaped room opens onto a deck, from which Pacific views extend from here to eternity. Try the honey-glazed duck with coriander or the seared yellowfin tuna with paprika, fennel and salmon caviar. They also have a mean cocktail menu if you'd rather just sip and stare.
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Book Kitchen
Sunny pavement tables, attentive service, walls of foody books, a braised Wagyu beef-and-mustard sandwich and a Book Kitchen bloody mary - sometimes life just comes together perfectly doesn't it?
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Botticelli Italian Restaurant
The oysters, char-grilled field mushrooms and Caprese salad make great appetisers, and the roast duck with Grand Marnier or veal scaloppine lemone fill the spaces left over. A darkish and spartan interior decked out in Italian murals keeps attention focused on the food or that engagement ring your lover just placed on your finger - it's that kind of place.
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Bottom Of The Harbour
Fish and chips and Balmoral Beach go hand-in-hand so ignore the stylish dining room and grab some takeaways. Yep, it's pricey but this upmarket chippie uses only free-range, organic and sustainable products - meaning that your tuna will have been line-caught, not trawled.
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Bourke Street Bakery
Foodies go nuts about this little place, and quite right too. The fresh baking is impeccable, particularly the sourdough bread. Grab a seat and a coffee and pick from the alluring array of pizza slices, pies, tarts and pastries.
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Bower Restaurant
Follow the foreshore path east from Manly's ocean beach to this little, white food room, within sea-spray's reach of tiny Fairy Bower Beach. The 'Big Bower Breakfast' is a knockout, Mod Oz mains are delicious, it's BYO, and they're not afraid to let Olivia Newton John wail from the stereo.
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Brown Sugar
Finding an empty table here on weekends is a serious challenge, when Sydney's 'in' crowd floods the cramped spaces to test the staff's patience and chow down on tasty dishes such as black-stone eggs. Weekdays are much less frantic, but the linguine with asparagus and rocket tastes just as good.
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Bungalow 8
Retreat to the far end of King St Wharf if the mayhem of Darling Harbour starts to melt your mind. Slink into a low leather booth on the cool slate floor, watch the harbour lights and slurp a lemongrass laksa stacked high with fresh mussels. The Loft bar upstairs has cool cocktails afterwards.
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Buon Ricordo
Remember the good old days, when local restaurateurs knew you well enough to select your meal for you? Well, Buon Ricordo is very 'good old days'. Let bearded chef Armando Percuoco decide whether you want the zuppa di pesce or the tagliata con rucola . The best Italian in Sydney? Reservations essential.
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Café Jolly
Jolly by name and nature you won't find any surly prima donnas here. The food is classic Italian - pasta, risotto and grills. The substantial weekend fry-up breakfasts are Jolly Special, once again by name and nature.
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Café Sofia
In the heart of Erskineville village, Café Sofia's sunny back courtyard is a popular spot to enjoy an all-day breakfast and great coffee. The salmon muffin with poached eggs and salad is a steal at around A$6 , and the friand and cake selection is always fresh and luscious. Greek mezze is served after .
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Cafe Sopra
Gastronomes in the know pour into this place, tucked away above one of the city's best gourmet providores. The menu's very seasonal, using the best of the fresh and imported produce on offer downstairs. On Fridays the huge fritto misto di pesce (seafood) platter is a highlight.
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Café Sydney
At Café Sydney you never know if your meal will come out of a saucepan, wok, tandoori oven or wood-fired grill, but you can always be sure that the views will come straight from heaven. Easing into the roasted barramundi with yabbies (around A$39 ) on a lazy Sunday afternoon while live jazz plays is one of the more sublime Sydney experiences.
