Guide to Sydney: getting there, getting around, hotels, restaurants, Olympic Games venues, city attractions

RESTAURANTS

Aqua Luna
Quayside
Aria
Park Hyatt
Café Sydney
General Post Office Building
Bathers Pavilion
Jordons Seafood Restaurant
Bistro Moncur
Chicane
Longgrain

New restaurants are opening so fast in Sydney that I was told the food would be slow in coming: there aren't enough cooks and waiters to keep up. Many controversial years in the planning and building, the East Circular Quay has finally been completed - an ugly building named "The Toaster" by locals now occupying one side of Circular Quay. Although unpopular, now that it's built, ECQ is helping to draw back Sydneysiders to a district previously regarded by them as a transport hub and tourist trap.

Several restaurants have opened in the past three months, notably Aria, Quayside and Aqua Luna, all of which opened at Opera Quays last December.

AQUA LUNA

Irish head chef Darren Simpson, who opened the Conran restaurant Sartoria in London's Savile Row, has given a fresh spin to Italian cuisine at Aqua Luna (00 612 9251 0311), where main courses range in price from £7-£12. The bar on the ground floor serves a simpler menu with drinks and music until late.

QUAYSIDE

Quayside, at the far end of The Toaster looking out towards the Opera House, is perfect for a pre-theatre meal. Main courses from £5-£10 (00 612 9251 0122, mail@quaysidecafe.com.au).

ARIA

Alternatively, you could try the fine-dining Aria. Head chef and co-owner Matthew Moran serves main courses in the £14-£16 range, including roasted barramundi with baby fennel, confit of tomato zucchini, olives and salsa verde. The restaurant looks out towards the Opera House, or a long room gives on to Circular Quay (00 612 9252 2555, mail@ariarestaurant.com).

PARK HYATT

There's another wonderful new restaurant at the Park Hyatt. The harbour kitchen and bar opened three months ago and serves Australian Provincial (local produce cooked in a modern manner) in a great setting right on the edge of the harbour (7 Hickson Road, The Rocks, 00 612 9241 1234). Again, the restaurant's interior doesn't try to compete with the view and prices are reasonable - salmon grilled with lentil purée and red wine vinegar (£12) or Havenscroft drake with raisin sauce (£14).

CAFÉ SYDNEY

Also highly recommended for views and good food is Café Sydney at the Customs House, a place for a long lunch, with a balcony overlooking Circular Quay and a dark interior (level 5, 31 Alfred Street, 00 612 9251 8683).

GENERAL POST OFFICE BUILDING

Stan Sarris, the man who converted the old General Post Office building into a gastronome's paradise, has opened a steak-house (Prime), French-style brasserie (Post), a Georgian-style bar with original vaulted ceiling (Tank), espresso bar, sushi bar (Sosumi) and food outlet (Produce), all in the lower ground floor of the GPO building.

Sarris sees himself as heading a regeneration of the Central Business District (CBD), keeping people in the centre of town once work has finished and allowing other operations to follow. It also allows him to practise his creative views through the outlets.

"There's an involvement with music, fashion, architecture, interior design," he says. "We have to think about everything from the uniforms the staff wear to the table decorations. And because of that, we can get involved with and encourage all the tremendous new talent in Sydney."

BATHERS PAVILION

Far away from the CBD, for a day out, Bathers Pavilion on Balmoral Beach in Hunter's Bay is a good bet. The Pavilion was built in 1928 and re-opened last June, with louvred windows looking out on to the beach and a café with excellent wood-fired pizzas.

JORDONS SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

Fans of seafood might enjoy Jordons Restaurant overlooking Darling Harbour. Freshly shucked oysters and snapper fillets flown in daily from WA.

BISTRO MONCUR

To get some perspective on all the new restaurants, I ate lunch at one of the older ones, Bistro Moncur, which has been serving excellent French fare for the last seven years at The Woollahra Hotel (116 Queen Street, 00 612 9363 2519). Steve Major, the mâitre d'hôtel, told me: "Sydney is catching up with Melbourne, which has always been the eating-out capital of Australia."

CHICANE

Also open in the past couple of months are Chicane and Longgrain. Chicane (1a Burton St, Darlinghurst, 00 612 9380 2121, dining@chicane.com.au) has original Rothko-like art work on the walls by Joy Godley, Modigliano-style sculptures and modern European food.

LONGGRAIN

Longgrain (85 Commonwealth Street, 00 612 9280 2888) is a Thai restaurant where you sit at one long main table. The care that has been taken over the design of the place is astonishing. A tight budget has forced co-owner Rob Sample to create unusual effects: granite walls and polished floors, based on a design at the Algerian Embassy in Beirut.