crows nest

The Nakano Darling Team’s ramen shop is unlike anything in Sydney – but exactly like one you’d find in Japan. Punch your order into the ticket machine, hit the tatami dining room and hoover your soup at a low table. Tokyo dreams are made of this.

One of Sydney’s best places to eat yakitori and drink whisky highballs has brand new digs. It’s the first of three new Japanese venues to hit the multi-storey site, from the crew behind Haymarket’s Nakano Darling.

The chef behind a cult Sydney ramen is dialling up the izakaya energy at this buzzy north-shore diner. Come for the signature soup at lunch, or roll in at night for yakitori skewers, spicy tuna tacos and matcha churros.

Ramen how the Tokyo locals love it.

This unassuming fine diner is helmed by a Persian-born chef, whose dishes reflect his heritage as well as influences from his career working in kitchens across Europe and Asia. Come for inventive snacks, hibachi-grilled proteins, and wines curated by one of Sydney’s best somms.

This German restaurant, which opened in 1961, has a 4000-bottle cellar-slash-dining area you have to see to believe. There’s seven sorts of schnitzel and a killer pork knuckle too, plus a smattering of Dutch-Indonesian dishes. And with 48 hours notice, chef Max Dietz will oblige any special request for an off-menu German dish.

The “unusual” eggs on toast – sourdough topped with fried eggs, stracciatella, peanut butter, sesame sauce and chilli sauce – is the move at this destination all-day diner. It’s been serving some of the north shore’s most creative brunches since 2016.

Pastry chef Elly Kim’s little takeaway spot is a heavy hitter in Sydney’s booming croissanterie scene. The plain croissant is outstanding, but we love the “dirty” chocolate number. Grab one of each and a yuzu-glazed palmier before the trio sells out.

A petite espresso bar doing exactly what it says on the tin. At this decaf- and chai-free zone you have just three milk choices: full-cream, skim and oat. And it’s the only Australian stockist of beans from top US micro-roastery, Sey Coffee.

Everything at Mschief, from the banana and pear bread to the brownies, tarts and cakes, is low in sugar.

Leading the foodie charge in Crows Nest.

Side-street nook coffee fix.

This atmospheric small bar is upping the ante for late-night fun in Crows Nest.

A tiny Japanese-style standing bar in Sydney’s north that doubles as a ramen joint during the day.

A cosy wine and whiskey bar in Crows Nest.

Seasonal share plates and a stellar drinks list from an ex-Rockpool bartender.

A small wine bar experience.

A quintessential village bookshop. This place stacks the shelves with anything and everything locals want to read, as only an independent bookseller can. It also curates the city’s longest-running author event, in partnership with the Stanton Library in North Sydney.

Beer, beer and more beer.