Potts Point in Sydne/Eora might only comprise a tiny handful of streets bordered by Kings Cross, Elizabeth Bay, Rushcutters Bay, and Woolloomooloo—and yet the area packs a real wallop in terms of restaurant quality.
Scattered down laneways, on magnolia-lined streets, and with panoramic city views, Potts Point restaurants span date night venues, easygoing locals, and destination restaurants for special occasions. These are Urban List's pick of the best Potts Point restaurants right now.
Fratelli Paradiso
2-16 Challis Avenue, Potts Point
Image credit: Fratelli Paradiso | Instagram
From the team behind 10 William Street, Fratelli Paradiso gives the Paradiso brothers the space to show off their skills and showcase the breadth of Italian cuisine.
This Potts Point restaurant is a sleek indoor/outdoor affair with the ubiquitous coffee bar for slamming espresso and street seating prime for people-watching, with plenty of Italian wines and aperitivo sips.
The fresh spaghettini with roast scampi, cherry tomato, Napoli and bisque is a signature, and pairs perfectly on a multi-course feast silky carpaccio topped with crispy artichoke and sirloin with radicchio and and anchovy butter.
Kisuke
50 Llankelly Place, Potts Point
Image credit: Kisuke | Instagram
After decades of training and working in kitchens around the world from Tokyo to Amsterdam and London, chef Yusuke Morita finally settled in Potts Points to open up Kisuke in 2020.
Teaming up with his wife, Mirota's restaurant offers just six seats hidden behind traditional noren curtains for a genuinely intimate omakase dining experience ($200pp), showcasing a lifetime of passion for and experience with traditional Japanese cuisine.
Expect the peak of seasonal produce served in soups, sashimi, grilled and steamed dishes, as well as plenty of sushi to pair with sake and whisky. This is hands-down one of the best omakase experiences in Sydney.
Ezra
3 Kellett Street, Potts Point
Image credit: Ezra | Instagram
In a converted terrace house with two outdoor dining aread, Ezra is a Potts Point restaurant doing hearty Israeli food (drawing on broad Mediterranean traditions) that's punchy, flavourful, and perfect for sharing.
Tuck into a smoked salmon take on the gilda with caperberry and pickled chilli, crispy potato latka dripping in sour cream and roe, Jerusalem bagels or fresh pita with your pick of dips, and proteins like char-grilled prawns with lime butter or lamb shoulder with ras el hanout and pickles.
Set up in the charming front courtyard on a sunny day and sip a pomegranate daiquiri, and bring your pup—they're welcome too.
The Apollo
44 Macleay Street, Potts Point
Image credit: The Apollo | Instagram
Under the imposing DeVere Hotel sits one of Sydney’s top Greek restaurants, The Apollo, in a bright and minimal space that splashes out onto the corner cul de sac.
The modern taverna is big on flavour and does traditional Greek specialties that don't need fussing with, like charcoal chicken, bubbling saganaki cheese in honey, and oven-baked lamb with plenty of Greek yoghurt, with lots of simple but satisfying sides to craft your perfect meal.
Cocktails use Greek sips like ouzo, mastiha and Metaxa for twists on classic combos, and the set menus make The Apollo a great Potts Point restaurant for feeding a larger group.
Luc-San
Pennys Lane, Potts Point
Image credit: Luc-San | Supplied
A French take on the izakaya concept from well-known chef Luke Mangan, Luc-San is a casual and creative spot tucked behind Potts Point’s iconic Coca-Cola sign.
The menu blends Japanese and French elements, with classic tartare served on fried sushi rice and wasabi leaf, tempura asparagus with Nori and sauce Gribiche, and seasonal soft serves.
Cocktails also show creative flair, and a list of easy-to-navigate saké (available in flights as well as by the glass or bottle), plus Japanese, local, and imported beers, and plenty of Japanese whisky is ripe for exploring—there’s even a wine from Yamanashi Prefecture on the list.
You might also like:
TBC By Grape Garden
Shop 3, 2/14 Bayswater Road, Potts Point
An absolute locals favourite, Grape Garden is a revived institution that's been in Sydney in a few forms before settling in Potts Point in recent years. Expect silky Beijing-style dumplings, chilli-speckled hand-pulled noodles and soups, and glistening roasted duck.
This Potts Point restaurant is also BYO, and seating spills out onto the street, lending the whole experience a laid-back, communal feel that makes it feel like home (at least, someone's home) from your first visit.
Bistrot 916
22 Challis Avenue, Elizabeth Bay
Image credit: Bistrot 916 | Jude Cohen
The wanderlust crowd with itchy feet and a desire to walk the cobbles of Paris will find some comfort in Bistrot 916, a chic Potts Point French restaurant that nails the French atmosphere.
The menu is heavy on the classics, not shying away from things like escargot and lamb brains, with the much-loved steak, duck, lobster or mushroom frites, elegant oyster plates, and madeleines making regular appearances on Instagram.
The wine list is, as you would expect, replete with Gallic drops, but the bar—which had dedicated seating—can cover most bases really well.
Parlar
Shop 3/81 Macleay Street, Potts Point
Image credit: Parlar | Instagram
Parlar is an ode to Barcelona and the Catalonian coastline, with everything from the fit-out to the food showcasing the region's culture and cuisine. The menu packs plenty of tapas (with the anchovy churro a particular highlight), lots of seafood, and crema Catalana for dessert.
Like any good Catalan restaurant, you can order drops from Spain, with a particular focus on varieties like tempranillo from the famed Rioja wine region.
Parlar neighbours its sister, Potts Point restaurant Franca, which is also well worth a visit for more gorgeous interiors and a heavier French influence.
Dear Sainte Éloise
5/29 Orwell Street, Potts Point
Image credit: Dear Sainte Éloise | Supplied
If you’re looking for a cosy date-night spot, nightcap, or drop-in glass of something fun, Dear Sainte Éloise is your place. It’s a chic wine bar-slash-restaurant catering to Potts Point locals, wine lovers, and the end-of-the-shift crowd with a 400-strong wine list.
As for the food, think tasty but considered snacks like anchovy-topped brioche, fresh pasta, tuna crudo, and cheese for snacking, either at the bar, in the offset dining room, or out at the coveted laneway tables. A $75pp set menu is generous and ticks off the favourites, with gentle wine guidance from the experienced staff.
Cho Cho San
73 Macleay Street, Potts Point
Image credit: Cho Cho San | Supplied
Since 2014, Cho Cho San has been one of Potts Point's favourite spots to get stuck into fun, fuss-free Japanese food, with an extensive whisky list and bespoke seasonal cocktails making it a perfect after-work spot or long lunch destination.
Spanning izakaya snacks, a raw bar, noodle dishes and small plates, meat and cooked seafood like golden pork cutlets and kingfish collars with yuzu and chive, the menu is best for sharing—and basically demands you finish on the cute AF mochi ice cream bites.
Sonora
37 Bayswater Road, Potts Point
Image credit: Sonora | Instagram
Mexican in Sydney has a reputation for novelty, which is what Sonora goes to great lengths to challenge in its compact but bright Potts Point restaurant.
Sonora transports the coastal cuisine of the region to your table with a focus on flour tortillas instead of the typical maize, served with big helpings of barbecue eggplant, grilled octopus, or Sinoloa chicken.
The cool neon setting makes it a great spot for an after-work margarita—which are, just quietly, some of the best in Sydney. Enjoy yours with the excellent addition of a side of fresh guacamole and hand-fried tortillas.
Ms.G's
155 Victoria Street, Potts Point
It may not look like it from the outside, but this Potts Point restaurant is a vast, four-story cavern of fun. A Merivale outpost, Ms.G's serves pan-Asian food from the mind of Dan Hong—also of Mr Wong—so everything is big and bold, and absolutely packed with flavour.
They’ve got off-the-wall cheeseburger spring rolls, Vietnamese tartare with prawn crackers, and Malaysian-style king prawns in brown butter, curry and lime.
Pair the vibrant eats with fun cocktails like yuzu slushies and the sparkly city skyline and you're in for a winner.
Yellow
57 Macleay Street, Potts Point
Image credit: Yellow | Instagram
This Potts Point restaurant is a firm favourite and a must for any special-occasion dining in the area—not to mention it's completely vegan.
Executive chef Brent Savage and the team behind Bentley, Monopole and Cirrus boldly transformed the place into veggie-only in 2016 and haven’t looked back, turning out all sorts of fresh, seasonal produce into unrecognisable and delicious forms. The dining experience offers one, six-course set menu that spans snacks, hearty main dishes and elegant desserts for $105pp, with wine and non-alcoholic pairings available.
Macleay St Bistro
71A Macleay Street, Potts Point
Macleay St Bistro has been serving up impeccable French fare in Potts Point for over 30 years, garnering loyal patronage and glowing reviews along the way.
Suitable found in the "Paris end" of Potts Point, you can expect French food as classic as it comes, with warm service, white tablecloths, and a couple of coveted streetside spots for a major Emily in Paris moment. There's free BYO on Sundays—or it's $14 per bottle otherwise—so make a booking for a special occasion and bring that bottle you've been saving.
Chester White Cured Diner
3 Orwell Street, Potts Point
Image credit: Chester White | Instagram
In an old terrace house, Chester White feels like a home kitchen. It doesn’t really follow any style, with a menu packed with an eclectic assortment of dishes from across Europe, but it ties it all together with an emphasis on good times and non-stop country music.
Their spaghetti, which gets served to you from a Sardinian truffled pecorino cheese wheel, is prepped in front of you (as is everything else in the open-plan kitchen) and the tiny space sits only a handful, so it’s very intimate.
As the name might suggest, this Potts Point restaurant is meat-forward, so grab yourself a platter of your choosing piled high with cheese, pickled veg, olives, and fruit—and get grazing.
Chaco Bar
186-188 Victoria Street, Potts Point
Chaco Bar is a sister venue to the tiny ramen-ya in Darlinghurst—but you won’t find bone broth here. Instead, the Potts Point outpost specialises in yakitori, meaning char-grilled skewers threaded with everything from chicken, lamb, and pork to ox tongue, hearts and gizzards are the main event.
Dishes are cooked over cherry blossom charcoal and basted in Japanese seasonings giving them a rich, smoky flavour, and the sake is bought from a rotation of small, family-run makers in Japan, packing out their extensive drinks list of shochu and whisky.
Bistro Rex
Shop 1, 50/58 Macleay Street, Potts Point
A contemporary take on the Parisian bistro, Bistro Rex manages to span satisfying weeknight meals, drinks and nibbles, drop-in lunches, and stepped-up nights out.
On Potts Point's main drag, the elegant but comfortable restaurant does tartare or steak with fries, cheese souffles, dry-aged duck with sorghum, a Wagu cheeseburger, and caviar bumps, so it truly ticks every box.
BYO wine is $20, and a three-course $59 prix fixe menu offers incredible value for the area.
For more of Sydney's best, check out:
- Sydney's Best Of The Best Restaurants
- The Best Restaurants In Barangaroo
- Sydney's Most Beautiful Restaurants
Image credit: The Apollo | Instagram
Urban List Best Of: has our highest stamp of approval—curated lists of the very best recommendations for you to eat, do, see, buy or book, carefully chosen by our Editors.