Cherry jam lamington, Bennelong

Peter Gilmore predicted his cherry jam lamington at his new Sydney Opera house venue would be a hit, and he’s right. The sponge, together with cherry jam, coconut cream, rich chocolate ganache and cherry ice-cream, is glided with chocolate glaze, and liquid nitrogen-worked coconut parfait that’s shaved in a pretty wreath as a nod to the original.
Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, (02) 9240 8000, full bennelong review

Duck broth, dumplings, Momofuku Seiobo

At Momofuku Seiobo, the New-York chef David Chang-inspired menu is a constant updated list of new ideas. Recently, it featured a bowl of duck broth with springy noodles, duck heart and dumplings. Let’s hope it’s here to stay.
The Star, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont, (02) 9777 9000, full Momofuku review

Tartare of beef with roasted oysters, ester

The blood sausage ‘sanga’ at Ester has been enough reason for us to visit this Chippendale favourite for a while now. Lately it’s Matt Lindsay’s tartare of beef with roasted oysters, fried egg sauce and fresh mustard leaf that has us reeling at the deliciousness of it all.
46-52 Meagher st, Chippendale, (02) 8068 8279, ester-restaurant.com.au – full ester review.

Spanner crab on seed biscuit, Moon Park

When Redfern’s Moon Park served up lightly charred sea urchin resting on a seed biscuit, it basically broke Instagram. The urchin has now been replaced with spanner crab and black garlic, and the delicate seed biscuit remains the brilliant edible utensil.
34 Redfern St, Redfern, (02) 9690 0111, moon-park.com.au

Fat soy ramen, Chaco Bar

Order less fat, normal or extra fat in your tonkotsu broth by chef Keita Abe, who’s helping sate Sydney’s growing ramen addiction.
238 Crown St, Darlinghurst, (02) 9007 8352, full Chaco Bar review

Macaroni, pig’s head and egg yolk, ACME

Chef Mitch Orr makes this delicate macaroni in-house, and brilliant, gooey shreds or gelatinous meat are topped with a whole egg yolk. It’s suggestive of cabonara, but with a punchy Asian twist.
60 Bayswater Rd, Rushcutters Bay, (02) 8068 0923, weareacme.com.au – full ACME review

Mum’s roses, Biota

James Viles’ dish is in demand at this beautiful Bowral restaurant (not technically Sydney but an easy day trip all the same). Hybrid tea roses are matched with peach and stone fruits, and Viles infuses eggwhites in rose petals for weeks to distil a rose essence. As the name suggests, Viles’ own mum tends to the property’s rose gardens that exclusively supply the dish.
18 Kangaloon Rd, Bowral, (02) 4862 2005, biotadining.com – full Biota review

Fass’s chicken bread parfait and apple chutney, 4Fourteen

At Colin Fassnidge‘s 4Fourteen, co-owned with head chef Carla Jones, a slab of Iggy’s sourdough is soaked in chicken and pork stock infused with sage. It’s baked in the oven, then served crispy but laden with juices, topped with chicken liver parfait and apple chutney.
414 Bourke St, Surry Hills, (02) 9331 5399, 4fourteen.com.au – full 4Fourteen review

The golden egg, Sepia

The golden egg is a stunning display of culinary engineering. Chef Martin Benn’s duck-egg moulded shell of mannitol sugar and edible gold, filled with a ‘yolk’ of hachiya persimmon and an ‘eggwhite’ of frozen meringue of yuzu and cream, is a cracking dessert.
201 Sussex St, Sydney, (02) 9283 1990, sepiarestaurant.com.au – full Sepia review

The aged beef rib, Firedoor

Lennox Hastie‘s 150-day-dry-aged Angus beef rib on the bone is cooked over glowing embers. The flavor comes from the extreme ageing, as well as the wood on the fire. So hot right now.
23-33 Mary St, Surry Hills, (02) 8204 0800, firedoor.com.au – full Firedoor review