The best restaurateurs in Sydney are excellent at reading the moment; giving people what they want even before they want it. And this point in time belongs to tighter budgets. The reality bites hard as corporate entertainment spends are capped and cost of living increases.
Of course, classic three-course meals and dégustations will always have their place, but increasingly, diners are looking for more entry points to the establishments they love. They want snacks at the bar, set lunch menus, and generous golden hours.
They want it with finesse, knowing the cash they are parting with is money well spent. As ever, hospitality is about being hospitable and some of Sydney’s best industry minds are tailoring their menus to oblige.
As Tristen Rosier, founder of Jane in Sydney explains, it’s about finding creative ways to offer great value so that “people want to keep coming back”. And at $2 an oyster, surely, we will.
If this is the year of democratic fine dining, book us in for an express table or seat at the bar.
Here are Sydney’s best lunch specials, set menus, happy hours, and bar menus.
Best lunch specials and set menus in Sydney
Experience an abridged version of Peter Gilmore’s famous Quay menu with the special four-course dining experience, Quay to Lunch. Currently available on weekends, $220 will get you a seat at one of the country’s best restaurants and those magical harbour views. And for those ready to settle in for a little extra, Quay is also offering a complimentary upgrade from the six-to-eight-course menu. When in Rome, right?
Dinner at this Japanese fine-diner is a three-figure affair but on Fridays and Saturdays it throws open its door for lunch, where the express lunch set starts at $50, with choices such as scallop sashimi with fennel, apple and nori as an entrée and koji marinated sand whiting fritto with a clam cream sauce for mains.
To experience a quick taste of Paul Farag’s wood-fired Middle Eastern menu at Aalia, try the express lunch option, where $60 will get you a snack and a choice of entrée and main to share — including dry-aged Murray cod with biber salcasi or lamb neck shawarma.
It may not be as grand as its big sister brasserie next door but The Charles Bar serves up chic NYC energy with its all-day bar menu and generous lunch special every Monday to Saturday, which features their aged wagyu cheeseburger and choice if house wine or beer for just $25.
From Wednesday to Saturday, Esteban’s $65 Almuerzo Pequeño menu (Spanish for “little lunch”) offers three quick and quality courses: starting with a yellowfin tuna tartare with pickled garlic and crispy potato, followed by a prawn taco, before the crescendo of steak with black garlic and chipotle butter, and smoked kipfler potatoes.
The team at Monopole are ushering in a new era with their newly reimagined French restaurant. Best of all, they’re introducing a Menu Á Prixe, where $55 will get you two courses of French-inspired fare, including duck liver parfait or pot-au-feu. Add dessert to make it three courses for a neat $70.
Woolahra favourite Bistro Moncur has a daily two-course lunch menu for just $65 per person, which includes crowdpleasers like tuna tartare and steak frites. Or try their four-course French feasting menu for $120 per person.
Bennelong
Traditionally, Bennelong keeps their dining tight with set menus, putting their best foot forward in the best order possible, always. This year, things are changing slightly. Enter Bennelong’s a la carte dining debut, so you can sample some of the best Sydney has to offer, in a way that’s comfortable for you.
Best happy hours in Sydney
Happy hour cocktails at Rockpool Bar & Grill
At Jane in Surry Hills, where founder Tristan Rosier emphasises that his Australiano Hour offers the same dishes you get at regular service, just in a cheaper, more snackable form. “You can get our kangaroo tartare, which is a signature, or $3 oysters with a punchy guava vinaigrette, with the exact same oysters we normally use,” he says. “Quality for us is paramount, not just cutting the price.” Must-orders include the lamb dumplings and creatively grilled cucumbers. Run, don’t walk.
Surry Hills’ The Rover is offering $2 freshly shucked oysters and $10 mini Martinis poured tableside in its elegant upstairs restaurant. These happy hour specials are available daily from 4-6pm, making them an ideal pre-dinner deal.
Also in Surry Hills, Lennox Hastie’s San Sebastián-inspired wine bar Gildas celebrates after-work occasions with its Gildas Golden Hour. On offer on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5.30–6.30pm, Golden Hour sees $12 cocktails and wines alongside its namesake snack for $5 and $12 off-menu specials. Plus, it’s launched a reasonable $59 pre-theatre menu which could see you eating gildas, grilled Bundarra pork with romesco and baby leeks and rice pudding soft serve with warm salted caramel, plus more.
Pulling up a seat at Rockpool’s bar is always a good idea but there’s an even better reason now. RP Hour hits the bar for two hours every weekday between 4pm and 6pm, with $12 Martinis, wines by the glass for $15 and reasonably priced snacks.
One of the world’s best bars, Maybe Sammy, continues to offer up its teeny Martinis at an approachable price point. From 4.30–5.30pm every Tuesday to Saturday, you can score classic Martinis as well as the Chamomile Martini in miniature form for $7, plus more mini cocktails such as a mini Eucalyptus Gimlet and mini Irish Coffee.
Sydney’s contemporary Japanese diner Saké has launched Saké Hour at its three Sydney locations — The Rocks, Double Bay and Manly — running from 4–6pm at The Rocks and Double Bay and from 3–5pm at Manly, Monday to Friday. Available exclusively at the bar, the happy hour sees $10 wines and $12 cocktails, plus a stack of value-packed snacks.
Escape to Pleasure Club’s suave happy hour. Kicking off every Wednesday to Sunday from 4-7pm, find $9 LP’s dogs and vegan dogs alongside $15 cocktails and $10 non-alcoholic cocktails.
Newtown’s Euro-inspired hotspot is now slinging happy hour prices from 4-6pm, Tuesday to Friday. Roll in for $15 Martinis and Negronis and a snazzy array of snacks, including a $12 cheeseburger, $7 potato scallop with crème fraîche and Avruga, and $8 zucchini flowers topped with togarashi.
Get shucked at Sydney’s oyster hotspot, Morrison’s. Enjoy the signature oyster hour every Wednesday from 6-7pm, where Sydney Rock Oysters are freshly shucked to order (and $1.50 to boot). And if oysters aren’t your thing, from 4-6pm on weekdays, happy hour is serving up $10 Negronis and Aperol Spritz, alongside $7 beer, wine and spirits and a chef’s selection of snacks.
Continuing Sydney’s salty trend for cheap as chip molluscs, Shell House’s Sky Bar has expanded their Golden Hour offer to include everyone’s favourite shelled critter: the oyster. Between 4-6pm every Tuesday to Saturday, guests are able to purchase oysters for $2, a signature prawn katsu sando for $15 and a Margarita for $15. Bookings are encouraged but walk-ins are welcome. Golden, indeed.
Sunday evening has been given a luxury upgrade with Dunes happy hour. While the afternoon away from 4-6pm with half price oysters, $15 Margaritas, $10 rosé and $7 coronas, all set to an iconic seaside backdrop.
Best bar menus in Sydney
The bar at Bentley Restaurant and Bar
The bar has never been an afterthought at CBD heavyweight Bentley. Bites include beef tartare, piquillo pepper and capers, or WA scallop, salted grape tomato and shisho, or dive into king prawn with smoked lime butter and sundew. The seafood platter is also one of the best in the city.
Whether you’re heading for pre-show snacks or looking for a snacky meal backdropped by some of the best views in the city, the bar at Bennelong always dazzles. Order oysters with lemon pepper granita, prawn toast with fermented chilly aioli and zucchini, goat’s curd, pepita and hemp arancini and you can’t go wrong.
The Seasons menu at Clare Smyth’s fine-diner at the top of Crown Sydney won’t leave you with much change under $400. But the bar menu offers a way to sample her cooking with a little less commitment, for both your wallet and your time.
A North Sydney favourite, Rafi’s bar menu is one for the records. Dishing up bites such as house made sourdough pita & hummus, their renowned South Coast tuna with tomato, tahini and fragrant chilli oil or their more substantial Cheeseburger with dill pickles and RAFI sauce, these bar snacks are worth shelling out for
This article was recently updated in November 2024.
