Maltese flavours and authenticity are served in a 1922 Barossa primary school building, writes KATIE SPAIN.

Calm and confident, this Euro-leaning newcomer is a charming addition to Fitzroy’s culinary landscape, writes MICHAEL HARDEN.

The Apollo’s new sibling brings good times, Greek taverna classics and Athenian riviera vibes to Redfern’s Wunderlich Lane, writes ALEXANDRA CARLTON.

Hidden deep inside Chinatown, this intimate new restaurant from the Astral Weeks crew is an adventure worth seeking out, writes Max Veenhuyzen.

Sustainability and provenance is a priority at this new no-waste Adelaide Hills wonderland, writes KATIE SPAIN.

Neil Perry’s presumed swan song in Double Bay has found its melody and pitch, writes MATTY HIRSCH.

An underground dumpling bar and restaurant is bringing the flavours and energy of Hong Kong to Brisbane’s CBD, writes ELLIOT BAKER.

Contemporary Middle Eastern and North African fare in a neighbourhood setting is the bright new kid on the block, writes KATIE SPAIN.

A once-exclusive building now houses a European-style eatery blending modern elegance with old-world charm, writes ELLIOT BAKER.

Refined Anglo-Aussie comfort food is back in full force at the fringe CBD dwelling restaurant, writes MICHAEL HARDEN.

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Con Christopoulos’ new venture with chef Victor Liong brings a sushi train loaded with delicious hits and Brazilian good times, writes MICHAEL HARDEN.

A relaxed inner-city newcomer from a talented young duo is making all the right moves at West End, writes ELLIOT BAKER.

An intriguing, exciting addition to the burgeoning Melb-Korean food scene arrives in the CBD, writes MICHAEL HARDEN.

Sun-drenched flavours on the water’s edge get a Tasmanian twist, writes ALIX DAVIS.

The first interstate foray by Andrew McConnell’s Trader House is a pleasant surprise – it’s bold, beautiful and entirely different to the original, writes ELLIOT BAKER.

Annual Restaurant Guide: South Australia Top 10

With its ornate, palatial room full of hand-finished details and a squadron of white-jacketed waiters, this seaside brasserie talks the talk. But with a menu full of subtle flourishes and a heavyweight cellar teeming with riches, Gibney more than walks the walk.

Annual Restaurant Guide: SA top 10

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: Queensland Top 15

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: Queensland Top 15

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: Queensland Top 15

Annual Restaurant Guide: Queensland Top 15

Annual Restaurant Guide: Queensland Top 15

Annual Restaurant Guide: Tasmania Top 5

Annual Restaurant Guide: Tasmania Top 5

Annual Restaurant Guide: ACT top 5

Annual Restaurant Guide: South Australia Top 10

Annual Restaurant Guide: South Australia Top 10

Annual Restaurant Guide: Western Australia Top 10

Annual Restaurant Guide: Victoria Top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: Victoria Top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: Victoria Top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: Victoria Top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: Victoria Top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: Victoria Top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: ACT Top 5

Annual Restaurant Guide: Victoria Top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: New South Wales Top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: Victoria Top 25

Annual Restaurant Guide: Queensland Top 15

Annual Restaurant Guide: South Australia Top 10

The new wine bar from Italian veteran Scopri lands with style, charm and confidence.

It's been a minute, but Merivale is back with a vengeance – and a concept that's hard to pin down, writes MATTY HIRSCH.

Aussie nostalgia plus modern-day restaurant and wine-bar thinking equals a likeable new player in WA’s pizza landscape.

Old-school pleasure plus modern-day kitchen skills equals a neighbourhood Italian restaurant delivering the best of both worlds.

Old-school Greek hospitality is alive and well after more than four decades, which is a rare feat.

At a new Korean hotspot in Sydney's CBD, the level of creativity is as high as the decibel count, writes MATTY HIRSCH.

The art of hospitality is on show with Gerald's Bar alumni forging something new and excellent.

The Spanish sibling returns with a serious new look and seriously good food.

Same Same's main room provides dining drama aplenty: flames flashing, woks hissing in the central open kitchen, bustling communal tables channelling Thailand's streets through a glamorous lens.

It's a rare and impressive feat for a restaurant to both rock a theme and look cool doing it.

Of course there's (very good) steak at a restaurant focused on cooking with fire, but the joys of Arkhé are in the unconventional.

You'd be crazy to forgo the flavour-forward $75 prix fixe menu at this bastion of fair pricing, but be sure to add a turnip cake or two.

Patience. You'll need it to land one of six seats at chef Jung Eun Chae's Cockatoo home, where the seasonal, medicinal, ferment-heavy Korean menu unfolds.

The signature restaurant at the swish new Capella Sydney nails the five-star hotel restaurant brief.

In a city so packed with New York-style chophouses it's starting to feel like Manhattan Lite, Clam Bar's edgier riff on the genre is a welcome relief.

Annual Restaurant Guide: NSW top 25

This serene eatery is a lesson in temaki sushi and female-brewed sake.

Good times (and good tunes) are in abundance at this Brisbane newcomer.

A friendly neighbourhood pizza joint brings wood-fired Italian-inspired dishes and good times to Adelaide.

Greece is the word at this formidable newcomer where open-fire cooking and sharp restaurant craft come together.

Left-of-centre pasta plays lead alongside excellent snacks at this new-wave Italian-ish spot.

Housed in an historic inner-city terrace, Clarence doesn't appear avant-garde but it's quietly radical.

Pizze, good times and silky gelato make this disco-diner a destination

A new dining trend is taking over Melbourne with this wine bar at the fore.

Come for the pastoral eye candy and linger for a long lunch at this cool farmhouse.

A freewheeling newcomer combines global dining pedigree with love for its hometown

Good friends should go into business more often if this is the result.

This neighbourhood bar finds its groove with great classics and service.

Commune's newcomer delivers good times and plenty of Aussie-Cantonese soul.

Bandita’s freewheeling wood-fired take on Mexican cuisine is a breezy crowd-pleaser.

Bursting with Nordic culinary ideas, this clever diner always delivers flavour.

A reverence for Thai flavours is turning heads at this family-run Haymarket joint.

This Euro-style bistro is a welcome arrival to the Hobart scene.

A clever new wine bar in Collingwood offers exciting pours and applause-worthy snacks to match.

Melbourne doesn’t have a brilliant track record with restaurants in cultural institutions. Hero, at Fed Square’s ACMI, bucks that trend emphatically.

Think excellent flatbread served with “lumpy” butter and pickled green tomatoes, or parsnip dumplings with caramelised onion and yoghurt.

A day trip to this Instagram-ready cellar-door restaurant in the Perth Hills remains one of the west’s finest lunch dates.

When it comes to more-is-more cooking, Frui Momento’s tightly composed plates are among the west’s best.

Lulu La Delizia is a neighbourhood restaurant brimming with confidence.

This community-driven, philosophically minded Adelaide Hills restaurant plays an important role in the burgeoning natural wine scene.

The word “epicurean” gets thrown around a lot, but the owners of this regional pub live and breathe it.

Recent renovations have enhanced the effortless charm of this family-run establishment, which is also home to Ottelia Wines.

There’s an instant sense of comfort about Herringbone, tucked in a calm, almost suburban city backstreet.

Canberra’s appetite for contemporary Asian-inspired food seems unquenchable, with glitzy Wilma joining the ranks of established hotspots plying updates on classic Chinese dishes and familiar flavours from the rest of the continent.

Corella might be the kind of sunny wine bar/restaurant hybrid that would feel at home anywhere in the country.

Take a seat in this light-filled, gallery-like corner room, and prepare to have your senses stimulated by Matt Blackwell’s nuanced cooking.

It all comes to life on the upper level of a Paddington terrace crammed with Parisian curio.

The menu spotlights Spanish-accented hits from Gildas, patatas bravas and croquetas through to a Basque cheesecake that rules them all.