Best Sydney Autumn Eats 2026: Restaurants, Bars and Events
Sydney’s restaurants don’t slow down in autumn — if anything, March through May tends to bring out some of the more creative programming of the year.
Across the city, Marrickville delivers a one-day brewery takeover from one of Australia’s top steak restaurants, Manly Wharf hosts a Michelin-recommended Mexico City taqueria for two weekends in March, and Coogee’s dining options continue to grow with a new beachside breakfast worth knowing about.
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New Restaurants and Bars
Besa – Bondi
ESCA Group — the team behind two-hatted Aalia and Nour — opened this Spanish tapas bar in Bondi on 1 March, and it’s built for staying late. Named from the Spanish word for ‘kiss’, Besa brings a Madrid bar energy to Hall Street: tight space, DJs from Friday to Sunday, food designed for sharing and a wine list with twenty options by the glass.
The kitchen is led by executive chef Ibrahim Kasif (Porteno, Bodega, Nour) and head chef Alan Kropman (ex-AALIA, Sean’s Panorama). Menu highlights include blue mackerel with butter leaf and encurtidos, raw beef carpaccio with white anchovy and goats cheese anchoiade, squid ink fideuà negra with grilled chicken and aioli, and a confit potato tortilla. Desserts rotate weekly — basque cheesecake, churros and flan among them.
The cocktail list takes its cues from Don Quixote, each drink inspired by a chapter of Cervantes’ novel. Worth trying: El Compañero (vodka, limoncello, suze, blood orange sorbet) or El Regreso (mint-washed sherry, plum verjus, citrus and fizz).
Sixty wines by the bottle, predominantly Spanish, with Australian, New Zealand and broader European selections alongside.
When: Lunch Fri–Sun 12–3pm; dinner Tue–Sun from 5pm
Where: 75–79 Hall Street, Bondi Booking: besabondi.com
Meadow – Cronulla
The team behind Cronulla’s Bobbys and Bangor Tavern are opening a third venue this May — a day-to-night music room, bar and bistro in the former Papa J’s cocktail bar site.
The format is music-forward and drinks-led, with a vinyl-focused live music program running from casual daytime dining through to late-night cocktails. The 94-seat room has been designed by Tom Mark Henry, the studio behind Bobbys.
The menu from group executive chef Pablo Tordesillas draws on the neighbourhood French bistro, think gougères with comté and Cantabrian anchovy, duck liver parfait with toasted baguette and onion jam, Moreton Bay bug with rouille and frites, grilled black Angus sirloin au poivre, and a prime cheeseburger with café de Paris butter. The drinks list covers quality cocktails, wines by the glass and Champagne, with a daily aperitif hour built in.
When: Opening May 2026
Where: Shop 7, 2-6 Cronulla Street, Cronulla
Limited Events: Book Now
These are the time-sensitive experiences for autumn 2026. Some are already open, others sell out fast — we’ve listed them in date order so you can plan ahead.
Tilda – Fire & Wine
One-hatted Tilda launches a new Saturday evening series built around its woodfire grill and a 1,000-bottle wine list.
The menu is seasonal and changes monthly , woodfire oysters with finger lime and wasabi, Kinross Station lamb rack with miso-charred eggplant, with wines selected by in-house sommelier Paul Sadler. Minimum two guests.
Where: Tilda, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, 61-101 Phillip Street, Sydney CBD
When: Every Saturday from 5pm, launching 25 April 2026
Cost: $99pp, optional wine pairings available l Book here
IFTAR, Merrylands
IFTAR has been a Western Sydney daytime favourite for a while, but after a very successful Ramadan nights series the team has decided to make after dark dining more permanent.
The spread is generous and designed to move through the meal as tradition dictates: dates and lentil soup to break the fast, then kibbeh nayeh, cheese cigars, chickpea fatteh and woodfired bread, before moving into mujadara rice, lamb shish, hummus and seasonal fruit. New additions this year include burning cheese served hot for tearing and sharing, beef tartare, a fried fish sando and crisp sambousek cigars.
Founded by Jeremy Agha, who grew up working in his family’s Lebanese bakery in Guildford, IFTAR takes its name from the Arabic word for breaking the fast — and, as Agha points out, you can’t spell IFTAR without the letters of his mother Rita’s name, whose recipes shaped the menu.
When: From 18 February, throughout Ramadan. One sitting nightly at 7:30pm
Where: IFTAR, Main Lane, Merrylands
Booking: Via Seven Rooms at @iftarsydney
Monthly Series
Gin & Jazz – The Apollo, Potts Point
The Apollo’s popular Sunday long lunch series is back for 2026, running the last Sunday of every month from March through September. The $95pp Gin & Jazz menu includes a Four Pillars welcome cocktail alongside the restaurant’s Greek feasting menu — or dine à la carte and banquet if you’d prefer.
Live jazz from Arthur Washington & Band and Soundcliff Jazz Trio keeps things moving from midday through to 4pm.
When: Last Sunday of the month, March–September 2026, 12pm–4pm
Cost: $95pp Gin & Jazz menu; à la carte also available
Where: The Apollo, 44 Macleay Street, Potts Point Bookings recommended
Paddo Nights Inn – Paddo Inn, Paddington
After selling out Tarot & Tannin three times in 2025, Paddo Inn has turned its experiential evenings into a monthly Monday night series. Each $60pp event pairs three wines and Italian bites from il Baretto with an expert-led experience — think tarot, astrology and psychic readings in an intimate, limited-capacity setting. It’s a genuinely different way to spend a Monday.
The autumn and winter lineup: Whispers & Wine on 11 May with psychic medium Angelina, who reads the room and shares impressions as they surface. Tarot & Tannin returns on 1 June with reader Ginny Shearer — an introduction to tarot alongside three wines and canapés.
These sell out. Book early.
When: Monthly Mondays — 16 March and 13 April 2026, 7pm
Where: Paddo Inn, 338 Oxford Street, Paddington
Cost: $60pp Booking: Essential – more details
High Tea in Sydney
The Charles Brasserie – Afternoon Tea
The Charles Brasserie’s afternoon tea is anchored around executive pastry chef Rhiann Mead’s dessert trolley, which is worth the visit on its own.
You start with a glass of Chandon before working through a rotating selection of sweet and savoury creations — the signature Russian Honey Cake, summer fruits pavlova, mocha roulade, sour peach ring, choux au chocolat, and peach and verbena bon bon among them.
When: Monday to Saturday, 2:30pm to 5pm
Where: The Charles Brasserie, 66 King Street, Sydney CBD Cost: $79pp
QTea High Tea – QT Sydney
Adriano Zumbo’s high tea at QT Sydney is one of the more theatrical versions in the city. The setting is Parlour, the format is generous, and the sweets lean into Zumbo’s signature style — technically precise, visually elaborate and occasionally surprising.
The deal: $79pp covers Zumbo’s hand-crafted sweets and savouries paired with Perrier-Jouët Champagne.
When: Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 3:30pm
Where: Parlour, QT Sydney, 49 Market Street, Sydney CBD Cost: $79pp
New Menu Launches
Morrison Oyster Bar and Grill – Autumn Menu
The Morrison’s autumn menu leans into the season with some well-considered combinations. Highlights include scampi crudo with mandarin and chilli, pork and foie gras terrine with pickled walnut and sourdough, and grilled King George whiting with tomato and cardamom vinaigrette.
For something more substantial, the chicken and leek pie and Ruffle Farm mushroom risotto round out the colder-weather options.
Where: The Morrison, 225 George Street, Sydney CBD
When: Available now
Dopa Donburi – Chef Special & Winter Menu
Dopa’s new Chef Special menu launches 27 April with two premium teishoku sets worth knowing about. The Wagyu & Foie Gras Teishoku pairs Australian Wagyu 9+ with rich foie gras and braised onion, served with pickled ginger, miso soup and steamed koshihikari rice. The Nagoya Unagi Teishoku features grilled freshwater eel glazed in teriyaki alongside a 63° soft egg, roasted seaweed, dashi stock and rice.
The winter menu adds fragrant sencha teas — Peach Sencha and Lemon Strawberry Sencha, served hot or cold — alongside a Winter Apple dessert gyoza.
Where: Dopa Donburi, multiple Sydney locations including Darling Square & 180 George Street.
When: Chef Special from 27 April 2026
The Botanica Vaucluse – Certified Gluten-Free Fine Dining
For the one in 70 Australians living with coeliac disease, “gluten-friendly” on a menu doesn’t mean much without verification behind it. The Botanica Vaucluse operates a fully gluten-free kitchen and has completed its formal certification audit with Coeliac Australia — one of very few high-end Sydney restaurants to do so.
The food is worth the trip regardless. Chefs Abby James (ex-Quay) and Thai Sams (ex-Bentley) run a farm-to-plate menu using locally sourced ingredients and produce grown on-site, in a garden-framed Vaucluse setting designed by Evette Moran. It’s a proper restaurant that happens to be completely safe for coeliac diners, not a dietary-needs venue that’s trying to be something else.
When: Fri lunch; Sat 9am–9:30pm; Sun 9am–2:30pm and private events
Where: 2 Laguna Street, Vaucluse
Crab & Chablis – Bistro George, Jacksons on George
Bistro George has launched a hands-on share dish worth knowing about. Handpicked Ballina spanner crab arrives with celery seed mayonnaise, fermented chilli, lemon and brioche toast, you build each bite yourself, paired with a glass of Chablis for $75pp.
Add Umi Heritage caviar for $40, or upgrade to a bottle of La Chablisienne Chablis 2023 for the table at $70. Available for lunch and dinner.
Cost: $75pp
Where: Bistro George, Level 1, Jacksons on George, Sydney CBD
Coogee Bay Hotel – Beachside Breakfast
If you’re making a morning of Coogee Beach, Coogee Bay Hotel’s new breakfast menu is worth knowing about. Chef Justin Schott (formerly of Mimi’s) has put together a menu that ranges from lighter options like coconut chia pudding and house-made granola through to more substantial plates — a smoked brisket hash, spicy sausage and egg roll, and a cheese and leek toastie. Coffee is from Ek’sentrik Cafe.
Takeaway or outdoor seating, right on the corner of Arden Street and Coogee Bay Road, steps from the sand.
When: Every morning
Where: Beach Bar, Coogee Bay Hotel, 253 Coogee Bay Road, Coogee
Plan Your Autumn
We’ll keep updating this guide as more openings and events are confirmed through April and May. In the meantime, the listings above cover the essentials — and the limited events in particular won’t wait, so check dates and book ahead.
Quick links to help you plan:
- Dining deals and specials
- Happy hours across Sydney
- What’s open this Easter long weekend
- Easter events guide including egg hunts and easter dining
- Sydney events calendar for March, April and May
