14 Best Restaurants in New South Wales, Australia

Dining at Arajilla Retreat at least once during a stay on Lord Howe Island is a must. The cuisine, which changes daily, uses fish straight from the ocean and lovely homegrown vegetables. Begin with a drink at the cozy bar, decked out just a little like a gentlemen's club with leather armchairs, and then take a seat at the restaurant with its white walls and one dramatic burgundy-color feature wall. The three-course menu changes weekly, based on what is fresh and in season. Desserts are irresistible and may include black sticky rice with lychee sorbet, toasted coconut, and kaffir lime.

In-house guests take precedent over those not staying at the resort, so bookings are essential.

With windows overlooking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Aria could easily rest on the laurels of its location. Instead, celebrity chef Matthew Moran creates a menu of extraordinary dishes that may be your best meal Down Under. It doesn't come cheap but fine fare rarely does, especially in Australia. This foodie favorite enjoyed a recent multimillion-dollar refurbishment, with the restaurant now being one of the most stylish in Sydney.

One of Australia's most renowned chefs, Peter Gilmore, oversees the kitchen at possibly the most superbly situated dining room in town. Tucked into the side of the Opera House, the restaurant affords views of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the city lights. Gilmore's creations are as special as the view and showcase the best of Australia's produce with a focus on terroir. Whatever you do, leave room for dessert, with the cherry jam lamington, a clever interpretation of an Australian classic, which has been a constant on the menu for almost a decade. It's that good. Pretheater dining is available if you are going to a performance in the Opera House.

In this century-old farmhouse with distant views of Byron Bay the draw is upmarket Mod Oz cuisine blending Asian and Mediterranean flavors. Produce fresh from the owners' farm is featured on the lunch platter menu. Each platter is themed like "From The Hills," with a whole free range chicken "spatchcock" cooked in lemon and thyme, with a side of roasted potatoes and cauliflower. As the name suggests, the restaurant also has accommodations: the Dairy and the Sunrise House, two cottages with wonderful views, can both sleep up to eight people; prices are from A$600 a night in the holiday season of Christmas, January and Easter with a minimum stay of three nights. The restaurant and rooms are 5 km (3 miles) inland from Byron Bay at Ewingsdale.

Set in the remarkable Paperbark Camp glamping spot filled with high-end tree houses that are available for two-night minimum stays on the weekend, this restaurant is a romantic and warmly lit tree house for grown-ups. The menu is a set, three-course affair (A$80) featuring meats in the autumn months and light zesty fish and seafood in the summer. The desserts are light and packed full of flavor.

Quay has been Sydney’s top restaurant for 30 years and it's still going strong with chef Peter Gilmore's experimental Mod Oz cuisine created with seasonal, local produce. The menu has carefully created seafood dishes, like greenlip abalone. But it’s the White Coral dessert, which is what Quay has become known. It's a white chocolate ganache shell filled with feijoa ice cream and coconut cream. Add in the sweeping vista of the Opera House and the sparkling harbor, and it's perhaps no surprise that prebooking is essential.

A meal at Rockpool is a crash course in what Mod Oz cooking is all about, conducted in a glamorous, long dining room with a catwalk-like ramp. Chefs Neil Perry and Corey Costelloe weave Thai, Chinese, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern influences into their repertoire with effortless flair and originality. The menu is extensive, with caviar from around the world to start. The Wagyu beef is butchered on-site, with the premium oyster blade cut costing A$125; the spanner crab with semolina noodles is equally satisfying. Don't miss the date tart for dessert—it's been a Rockpool favorite since 1984.

A bright, intimate star in Newcastle's dining scene, Subo is one of the hottest spots in town and is often booked out weeks ahead. A stylish bistro in the central business district, Subo serves a A$100 five-course tasting plate that changes every six weeks and might include prawn carpaccio and foie gras, confit of chicken wings with blackened corn, Wagyu beef with smoked leeks, and chocolate-orange mousse with rum-and–orange syrup cake. There's also a vegetarian five-course meal available.

It's worth getting on the waiting list—there's always a waiting list—to sample the unique blend of Western and Japanese-French flavors crafted by Sydney's most applauded chef, Tetsuya Wakuda. The serene, expansive dining room's unobtrusive Japanese aesthetic leaves the food as the true highlight. Confit of ocean trout served with unpasteurized ocean-trout roe is a signature item on the set 11-course degustation menu, while other dishes may include New Zealand Scampi with chicken liver parfait, or roasted breast of quail with quail leg rillettes. Views of a Japanese garden—complete with bonsai and a waterfall—make this place feel miles from the city center. It's open for dinner from Tuesday to Saturday, and lunch on Saturday only.

This restaurant in grapevine-covered, 1876-built Pepper Tree Cottage wins the ambience award hands down. The seasonal Mod Oz menu draws inspiration from regional recipes of France and Italy and applies it to local game, seafood, beef, and lamb. A good choice is the chef specialty cherry glazed duck breast or the curry myrtle smoke emu fillet. Lunch is set at a three courses costing A$110. The cozy fireside lounge is perfect for enjoying after-dinner liqueurs, or another wine from the extensive wine list.

This elegant, pillared dining room is the perfect setting for showing off chef Peter Doyle's modern, light touch with Mod Oz cuisine. Menu highlights include the prawn tartare and the aged pork loin with rhubarb, mostarda, and cabbage. Finish off with a dessert of intriguing tastes—Earl Grey ice cream with blood orange citrus curd doughnuts and blood orange sorbet. There's also a four-course chef's menu (A$160) and various two-, three-, and four-course lunch options, but no à la carte menu.

Located at the entrance to Pokolbin, this award-winning European-style restaurant is found in the picturesque Keith Tulloch Wines courtyard. The menu is focused on Hunter Valley’s finest local produce. The restaurant’s crisp-white exterior is complemented by views of the nearby mountain ranges. Three course minimum for lunch.

For four generations Pinetrees has been opening its doors to visitors, and staff have certainly honed the art of hospitality. Pop into the lagoon-front lodge for a buffet lunch of assorted salads with the dish of the day, or drop in for dinner; the local kingfish is always a highlight. Don't miss the signature "fish fry " buffet with kingfish sashimi and sushi followed by a battered kingfish and chips. The five-course menu changes daily, but you can usually expect sushi, soup, fresh fish, lamb, and beef prepared with homegrown herbs and vegetables, followed by delicious desserts. Afternoon tea is also available.

Head chef Adam Shaw creates a brand-new menu every day, focusing on what produce is available from nearby farms. There's a set 6- or 10-course degustation menu, featuring meaty dishes like pork belly or slow-cooked lamb. And on Saturday, you can match the six-course degustation menu with bottomless bubbles for A$100. The outside courtyard is idyllic and the atmosphere inside is truly romantic.