The best waterfront restaurants in Sydney

“By God, this is a beautiful place to eat a meal.” The thought is almost certain to strike at some point as you dine under the dominating, post-Brutalist arches of executive chef Peter Gilmore's restaurant inside the Opera House sails. And that’ll be before you even see the food.

Lunch at Bert’s is as close as we can ever get to actually living the jazz age in all its glory. There’s not a dining room in the city that can hold a candle to the soft-focus beauty that Merivale have achieved in the final instalment of the Newport’s renewal, and though we can’t afford the $2 million price tag on a Newport residence, an afternoon of café society luxury can be yours, and it’s not as expensive as you might think to get it. Of course, it’s not cheap either – it costs money to create the illusion that you’ve gone back in time and risen several social classes.

Icebergs can be everything you love about Sydney, or it can be everything you hate. Admittedly, fellow diners do have a tendency to give off a ‘comfortable on any size yacht’ vibe. But letting that get in the way of what could potentially be an epic lunch would be a mistake. Because when it’s good, it’s very, very good. At the height of its excellence, it gives you the feeling every restaurant should leave you with: utter refreshment, and those five-star views out over Bondi are a big part of it.

Hit peak Sydney with seaside seafood from Cirrus, the fourth venue from culinary kingpins Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt. Their trophy cabinet is already chockers thanks to Monopole, Bentley and Yellow, but the collection wanted an aquatic addition. When NOMA moved out, Savage and Hildebrandt moved in and built something Sydney was sorely lacking.

If you can't afford to have a top chef come to your home and cook the kind of aspirationally fresh, local and elegant fare you normally see on cooking shows, the next best thing is going out for dinner at Sean's Panaroma. This little beachfront restaurant looks like a coastal café but has the heart of a fine diner, and for nearly 25 years it has been setting the standard for thoughtful modern Australian cooking. 

A seaplane departure lounge may not be your first port of call when you’re looking to book in a long lunch in Sydney’s east – but then again, Quay sits above Circular Quay’s Overseas Passenger Terminal so why shouldn’t Lyne Park’s Empire Lounge be a lunch spot worth its salt, too? For views out over the glittering waters of Rose Bay (without the yikes price-tag of its wharf front neighbour Catalina), this glass-walled eatery jutting out over the water affords you fresh seafood and expansive views.

Dining at Aria will make you fall back in love with Sydney. Sure, she may have wronged you in the past (house prices, transport woes) but in the warm light of this famous dining room you take back every bad word you’ve ever said about her. It’s a kind of romantic alchemy forged by the floor-to-ceiling glass – the only thing between you and the gentle glow of the Sydney Opera House – and six flawless courses from the chef Joel Bickford.

The first thing that hits you when you visit Pilu is the view. This Sardinian restaurant (the only one in Sydney, mind) is built in a huge old weatherboard house looking out over the beach at Freshwater. In winter, catch the whales migrating. In summer, watch as locals take to the sea. Chef Giovanni Pilu is all about celebrating classic Sardinian fare. Make sure to order ahead for the incredible platter of golden, crisp-skinned suckling pig and rosemary potatoes.

This Woolloomooloo finger wharf hot spot is the go-to for ladies' long lunches, water views and shareable pan-Asian cuisine. Book a big table and order up a bunch of dishes that trot through Beijing (Peking duck pancakes), Bali (cobia yellow curry), Bangkok (crisp pork belly with chilli caramel and prik nam pla) and Sydney (salt and pepper king prawns with toasted chilli and garlic). The three banquet menu options are great for groups and the wharf location lends itself to a glam pre-lunch party snap.

In the same way that smart casual can be a flummoxing dress code, fancy casual is a difficult dining style to nail. You want it to be classy enough that you might take visiting colleagues out for lunch here on the company dime, but not so exclusive that the throngs of tourists who gravitate to Sydney’s waterfront hubs won’t consider making this one of their feature meals while they’re in town. Bea is the answer to this brief. It’s not fine dining exactly, but it’s classy as hell and ticking a lot of boxes, especially on the drinks front.