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Restaurant of the Year: Time Out Food Awards 2012

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Sydney Food Awards 2012

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And the best of the best in Sydney for 2012 is... 

First published on 10 Jul 2012. Updated on 29 Aug 2012.

Momofuku Seiobo

“What’s a Momofuku and why do I care?” we hear you say. Momofuku Noodle, Ssam Bar, Ko, Milk Bar and Ma Peche are a bracket of restaurants in Manhattan owned by chef David Chang. They’re best known for their unflinching dedication to loud rock’n’roll’n’hip hop and their bang-on high/low culture mix, from country hams and fried chicken to shavings of frozen foie gras. Chang’s empire is built on ducking where others weave, and no small amount of sheer bloody mindedness thrown in. So it is that he’s opened his first restaurant outside New York not in Las Vegas or Los Angeles, not in Harajuku or Shoreditch, but in Pyrmont. Seiobo, under the eagle eye of head chef Ben Greeno, is a rollercoaster ride of acid, crunch, root vegetables, pickles and seeds with meat highlights, leaving you hungry for more at every turn. Rich Hargreave – one of the city’s most talented young sommeliers – is pouring the wine here, and there’s even a juice deg, if you’re not sluicing. As you may have already heard, booking a table involves an infuriating dance of the internets. But persevere, because on the other side is a meal akin to a delicious slap in the face. The menu pivots seamlessly from those famous pork belly buns to silken, house-made pea agnolotti spiked with serrano ham to their own take on congee, with konbu doughnuts (packed with kelpy goodness) and earl grey tea. It’s an intimate restaurant experience where you get face time with the chefs, as they serve you straight from kitchen to counter. And that doesn’t mean you’re about to find yourself reverently and silently at the altar of Chefdom. No, this is a fun restaurant, where Nick Cave, Tame Impala and AC/DC blast over the sound system and a portrait of Angus Young is the only thing to grace the walls. Take the Momofuku brand away and what are you left with? A really extraordinary restaurant, that’s what.


 

Runners Up

Quay

The Rocks

Even the bread and butter is stunning at Quay, where they serve the smallest flowers. The weirdest peanuts. Berries that grow in the dung of camels in outback Australia. Peter Gilmore’s palate and palette know no bounds as he creates food that’s almost too beautiful to ruin with cutlery. Almost.

Marque

Surry Hills

Visit Marque to be challenged, delighted and always impressed. Chef Mark Best’s razor-sharp vision and unerring dedication to putting unlikely food combinations on the plate has maintained his position as one of the best chefs in the country. Oh, and there’s a helluva wine list to go with it. Amazing stuff.

Universal

Darlinghurst

Christine Manfield, cookbook author, gourmet tour operator and one of Australia’s foremost chefs, crash tackles Sydney with explosive flavour and texture-clashing. Nobody in Sydney does vegetarian food the way she does.

Sixpenny

Stanmore

Ever seen a restaurant at this level serve you a lamington for dessert? Well at Sixpenny, the tiny Stanmore restaurant run by chefs Dan Puskas and Jimmy Parry, they do. Weird milks, foraged greens and a whole lot of excellent music playing in the background makes this one a Sydney must.

Food Awards 2012
Food Awards 2012 View our full list of winners from the Time Out Food Awards 2012
By Myffy Rigby   |  
 

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