Sydney Spring Food Guide: From Rooftop Gardens to Long Lunches

Spring in Sydney means outdoor dining, food festivals and an excuse to explore the city’s evolving food scene. We’ve rounded up the best food experiences across the city this season, from casual street food festivals to unique dining events.

This guide focuses on events and experiences that showcase local producers and authentic food experiences, helping you discover something new while supporting local businesses.

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Special Dining Experiences this Spring

The Champagne Check-In at QT Sydney

This four-course dinner moves you through the hotel, with a different Perrier-Jouët Champagne at each stop.

You start in the hotel’s private cinema with Sydney rock oysters and Oscietra caviar on warm blinis, poured with Grand Brut. Parlour is next, where Blanc de Blancs comes with seared scallops, lobster hot dogs and nuggets. At Gowings, whole roasted duck with foie gras is matched with Blason Rosé. The night finishes in one of the State Suites with Belle Epoque, cheese and petit fours, plus a surprise the hotel won’t reveal.

When: Thursday 22 October 2026, 6:30pm
Where: QT Sydney, 49 Market St, Sydney
Cost: $395pp, including all food and four Champagne pairings

A Month of Australian Produce at ABODE Bistro. Bar

You’ll find a new dish on the menu each week, made with meat from family-run supplier Vic’s The Chef’s Butcher and matched with its own cocktail.

Week one’s kangaroo has already gone. Still to come is White Rocks veal osso bucco with a spiced negroni (12 to 18 October), then Maremma duck leg confit with a whisky apple sour (19 to 25 October). The run finishes with a Kurobuta pork chop and a ginger highball.

Get there between 4:30pm and 6:30pm on a weekday and you can start with $2 oysters and $15 cocktails from the happy hour menu.

When: 5 October to 1 November 2026, new dish each week
Where: ABODE Bistro. Bar, PARKROYAL Darling Harbour, 150 Day St, Sydney
Cost: Dish prices not given; bookings and walk-ins welcome

Champagne Month at Tilda

The Sofitel Sydney Wentworth turns 60 this year, and its ground-floor restaurant is celebrating with a month of Champagne Pommery.

The three-course Apanage 1874 dinner pairs every course with a different Pommery. Sydney rock oysters and duck liver parfait come first, with Brut Apanage. Then it’s Murray cod in a Champagne beurre blanc with fries and butter lettuce, matched with the Blanc de Blancs 1874. Dessert is the hotel’s original 1966 cheesecake, poured with Apanage Rosé 1874.

If you’d rather keep it casual, Bar Tilda runs L’Apéro Pommery for one week. A glass is $28, or $37 with prawn toast or potato pavé with taramasalata. The seafood platter of prawns, scallops, oysters and trout comes with a bottle for $210.

When: 1 to 31 October 2026 (L’Apéro Pommery 19 to 25 October)
Where: Tilda, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, 61-101 Phillip St, Sydney
Cost: $249pp dinner; $28 a glass or $37 with a snack; $210 seafood platter with a bottle

Lobster Wednesdays at Epicurean

Wednesday nights at Crown’s buffet restaurant are all about lobster this month.

Chilled lobster, lobster ravioli and lobster mornay share the spread with sushi and Asian-style dishes.

When: Wednesdays until 28 October 2026, 5:30pm to 10pm
Where: Epicurean, Crown Sydney, 1 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo
Cost: $198pp

Oktoberfest Seafood Brunch at Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park

The hotel’s Sunday seafood brunch goes Bavarian for October, and the usual seafood stays on the buffet.

Look for pork knuckle, German sausages, warm potato salad and pretzels, plus a live weisswurst station. Dessert brings apple strudel and kaiserschmarrn made to order. Parking is free.

When: Sundays 18 and 25 October 2026
Where: Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park, 161 Elizabeth St, Sydney
Cost: $155 adults, $65 children; add $35 for free-flowing beer, wine and soft drinks

Sydney’s Best Spring Drinks

Spring brings longer days and more reasons to linger over a drink. These spots offer something different, whether that’s cocktails with a view or a late-night bar experience.

The Spring Club at SRG Hospitality Venues

Taittinger by the bottle and oysters by the piece are on special across nine SRG venues.

The deal is the same at each one. Pick from Riva, Ripples Rose Bay, Akti, Ripples Chowder Bay, Ripples Little Manly, Sails, Summer Salt, The James or The Fenwick.

When: 6 October to 15 November 2026
Where: Nine SRG Hospitality venues across Sydney
Cost: $99 per bottle of Taittinger; $3 per oyster

Harper Rooftop Bar Reopens for the Warm Months

This open-air bar on top of Kimpton Margot is back for spring and summer, and you can bring your dog.

Luke Mangan has written a new snack menu, with Sydney rock oysters in pineapple mignonette and Cajun prawns among the picks. There’s a daiquiri bar and frozen drinks too. Golden Hours runs Wednesday to Friday from 4pm to 6pm with $15 spritzes. Saturdays bring $15 rosé and frosé from midday, and Sunday spritzes are $18.

When: Wednesday to Friday 4pm to 11pm; Saturday and Sunday 12pm to 11pm
Where: Harper Rooftop Bar, Level 7, 339 Pitt St, Sydney
Cost: Walk-ins welcome; $15 spritzes during Golden Hours

A New Cocktail Menu at Aster Rooftop Bar

The bar at the top of the InterContinental has a new 15-drink signature list called Ascend, Expanse, built around a trip from the ground up into deep space.

The first ten drinks follow the layers of the atmosphere. It opens with Grounded, a savoury tequila drink with heirloom tomato, avocado and yoghurt. Further up the list, the Particles Martini is finished with saltbush and clay. The last five head into space and get richer as you go. The Milky Way mixes bourbon and cognac with raspberry, white chocolate and pecan, and Hydrogen pairs rye with banana, miso and Biscoff. Director of Bars Mattia Arnaboldi created the menu.

When: From 1 October 2026, Monday to Saturday
Where: Aster, Level 32, InterContinental Sydney, 117 Macquarie St, Sydney
Cost: $32 to $35 per cocktail

The Time Machine Menu at Dean & Nancy on 22

Dean & Nancy on 22, the sky-high bar at A by Adina, has a year-long cocktail menu built around the 1950s and 60s golden era of hotel bars, with 14 drinks each tied to a moment from that time.

The standout is the 2001 Space Odyssey, made with Glenfiddich 21, apple, pear, cacao, cinnamon, Calvados and Paragon Timur Berry, and served from a metallic pouch. Other picks include the Road Runner ‘Beep Beep’, a tequila cocktail served in a 3D-printed dynamite vessel, and Instant Camera, a vodka highball that comes with a Polaroid-style photo as a keepsake. The menu was developed with the team from Maybe Sammy, and the bar was a Top 10 Honoree for Best International Hotel Bar (APAC) at the 2026 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards.

When: Bar and dining daily 4:30pm until late
Where: Dean & Nancy on 22, Level 22, 2 Hunter St, Sydney

One Night Only

Here are the best one-off dining events happening this spring.

Rosé Reverie at Chiswick

Grab a few friends for a roaming evening of rosé, cocktails and canapés, with part of every ticket going to breast cancer research.

The private dining room is set up with a spritz station and a blind rosé tasting. Six rosés are poured through the night, including Audrey Wilkinson and Giant Steps. Food runs to oysters, zucchini flowers with goat’s cheese and wagyu sliders. $10 from each ticket goes to Pink Bloom.

When: Sunday 18 October 2026, from 5pm
Where: Chiswick, 65 Ocean St, Woollahra
Cost: $59pp including food and wine

Oktoberfest in the Gardens

Sydney’s Domain transforms into a slice of Bavaria this October as Australia’s largest Oktoberfest celebration returns.

The event features massive beer halls pouring imported German beers and ciders, alongside traditional food stalls serving Bavarian specialties. Entertainment includes multiple performance stages, roving acts, carnival rides, and a silent disco.

Visitors are encouraged to dress in traditional Bavarian attire for this celebration of German food, drink and culture. Previous years have sold out, so early booking is recommended.

When: 31 October 2026
Where: The Domain
Cost: $80 approx l More: oktoberfestinthegardens.com.au

Chophouse Wine Dinners

Chophouse Sydney’s Wine Dinner Series continues with Canberra winery Clonakilla, hosted by winemaker Tim Kirk.

The evening pairs a three-course menu from Head Chef Steve Jacomos with a selection of current and museum-release Clonakilla Shiraz.

When: Monday 2 November
Where: Chophouse Sydney, 25 Bligh St, Sydney
Cost: $170pp; bookings open in October

New Openings & New Menus

The Observer Hotel Reopens in The Rocks

One of The Rocks’ old pubs is open again after more than three years of renovations, now run as an English-style pub by the team behind The Duke of Clarence.

Head chef Sam Bull (ex-Icebergs) is doing scotch eggs, sausage rolls and gammon steak with a pineapple and whisky glaze. There’s a roast every day, with four options on Sundays. Upstairs has snooker, darts and chess. Two cask ales are brewed only for the pub.

When: Daily 10am until late
Where: The Observer Hotel, 69 George St, The Rocks
Cost: Prices not given; bookings and walk-ins welcome

Stanley Opens at Manly Wharf

Chef Louis Tikaram is back in Sydney after six years in Los Angeles and a stint in Brisbane, with a new Cantonese restaurant on the Manly waterfront.

The 248-seat venue has three live seafood tanks and a custom duck oven, so you can watch your seafood picked out and your Peking duck carved at the table. The dim sum menu runs from Moreton Bay bug spring rolls to lobster and truffle dumplings, and the barbecue section covers everything from mud crab to MB9+ wagyu.

When: Wednesday to Friday 12pm until late, Saturday and Sunday 11am until late
Where: Manly Wharf, East Esplanade, Manly

Bennelong’s New Chapter Under Rob Cockerill

Rob Cockerill has taken over as Executive Head Chef at Bennelong, following Peter Gilmore’s decade leading the kitchen. Cockerill spent 11 years as Head Chef at Bennelong and 20-plus years working in the same kitchens under Gilmore, so he knows the restaurant and its philosophy inside out.

His new menu keeps beloved signatures like the Bennelong Pavlova (inspired by the Opera House sails), Western Australian Marron with finger lime and ume, and Roasted Wollemi Duck with preserved cherries. New dishes include Coral Trout with braised leek and bergamot emulsion, chestnut and ricotta raviolo with black garlic, and pure bred Black Angus with parsley and Maitake mushrooms.

When: Lunch Friday-Sunday 12pm-2pm; Dinner Sunday-Thursday 5.30pm-8.45pm, Friday-Saturday 5.30pm-9.15pm; Bennelong Bar open Monday-Thursday 5.30pm till late, Friday-Sunday 12pm till late
Where: Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point
Cost: Dining Room from $235 per person; Bennelong Bar in 45 at $50 per person
Bookings: Essential for Dining Room; bar walk-ins welcome

Street Food & Markets

Cambridge Markets Eat Drink Nights is Cambridge Markets’ season-long night market series running across five Sydney locations this spring and summer. Street food vendors, craft drinks, and live atmosphere are the format, with themed nights at some venues tied to seasonal celebrations.

• Bankstown (14 November, 12 December): Four dates in Sydney’s most food-focused neighbourhood, with foot traffic that builds through the season and peaks at the December finale.
• Wentworth Point ( 17 October, 21 November, 19 December): Wentworth Point (17 October, 21 November, 19 December): Themed nights tied to Diwali, November celebration and Christmas Twilight, with festival-level crowds in a community setting.
• Cronulla (4-5 December): The beachside finale with summer holiday crowds and salt-air atmosphere, historically one of the fastest sell-outs.

The Great Graze at Barangaroo

Restaurants along the Barangaroo waterfront set up street-style stalls for a free weekend food festival, and this year there’s a First Nations food market as well.

Every stall has at least one dish made with a native ingredient. Indigiearth founder Sharon Winsor runs the native foods market at Pier Pavilion, with a crocodile roll on the menu. A second market sits at Waterman’s Cove, and a long communal table runs the length of Wulugul Walk.

When: Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October 2026, 12pm to 6pm
Where: Wulugul Walk, The Streets of Barangaroo
Cost: Free entry

Cooking Classes and Experiences

Want to learn something new? These hands-on food experiences provide more than just a meal.

Plan Your Spring

From community festivals to wine events this season’s food events stretch well beyond the city centre. Whether you’re after a free street festival, a $75 cooking class or a special occasion dinner on the Harbour Bridge, there’s something for every budget. As always, check venue websites or social media for the latest details and booking information.

For more Sydney dining inspiration, check out our monthly dining deals, happy hour guide, and October, November and December event pages.

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