David Moyle’s beard is grizzly enough to suggest he knows a thing or two about cooking with fire. In fact, Franklin (Right – 30 Argyle St), Hobart CBD’s latest high-calibre venue, revolves around that notion. The austere polished concrete and white-walled space is centred around a huge scotch oven that lends smoke, char and flame to the dishes coming off the pass. You won’t find many foams, soils or brush strokes, but you will encounter balanced, nuanced and intelligently prepared food handled by someone letting excellent produce tell its own story, be it brunch by day, bar snacks and natural wine by night at the front bar, or full menu fare. Read the full review for Franklin.

Located half way between glitzy Gold Coast and relaxed Byron Bay, is Cabarita Beach and it’s nothing like either of its neighbours. A sleek, relaxed boutique hotel has opened up right there, bringing an old motel to life with 21 rooms showcasing bright wallpapers, lots of white, patterns and Palm Spring cool. Noma alumnus Ben Devlin heads up Halcyon’s restaurant Paper Daisy, named after the Australian wildflowers that grow on the headland. The chef does Australian classics and innovative dishes – think paperbark-grilled cod and a prawn roll with avocado, mayo and iceberg lettuce. It’s one hell of a hotel restaurant. Reviewer: Kate Gibbs. This is why you should get to Halcyon House and Paper Daisy, today.

It’s hard to think of a venue that embodies what’s so great about dining in Melbourne more than Saint Crispin. It’s got owner-operators in the kitchen, a hip locale; the always busy, quietly stylish dining room filled with a broad cross section of eaters who come for two or three courses of refined, sublime, contemporary fare. Our review for Saint Crispin, Collingwood VIC

Ollie Gould takes up his new Perth digs with aplomb at Shorehouse. Gould is very much at home in what is the coastal hot ticket for the summer. Reviewer: Max Brearley.

Two Wrongs in cool kid Chapel St, South Yarra is a cheeky, fun locale with laid-back service that’s secretly sharp, and great surprises coming out of the kitchen. Think pork doughnuts. So many shades of right. Reviewer: Dan Stock.

Buzo is back. It’s as good as ever. It’s difficult to quantify, universally at least, what makes a good restaurant. There can be many contributing factors all with varying degrees of importance. But, you’ll know a restaurant is good if it’s one you’d recommend to your friends. It really is that simple. Think about it. You just wouldn’t send the people you care about to a venue unless it offered the value for money and required volumes of deliciousness to make you happy, and conversely them too. Simple, honest and the conduit of happy. Damn it’s a bloody good restaurant. So, here I am recommending Buzo to you Our review for Buzo, Sydney

The irony is that it has taken an outsider, Scottish owner/chef and occasional TV star Jock Zonfrillo, to realise this potential as he catalogues and experiments with the species he finds like a restless culinary anthropologist. Put all that aside, however, and this modestly proportioned and furnished dining room, sitting above a sibling bar, delivers surprises and moments of supreme pleasure with a consistency that rivals almost anywhere in the country. The only trouble will be getting a table at short notice. See our review for Orana, Adelaide

Get out of town, see the world outside Sydney, and drop in for a coffee and a bite, an afternoon snack or lunch at the stunning Biota. Headed up by chef James Viles, Biota is on every foodie’s must-eat list, but the more casual offering next door is perfect for a Sunday drive-by in style. See our review for Biota lounge and bar

It’s the kind of place you want to explore as soon as you sit down. Make your way to the two-story mural of a woman’s face, find the train-carriage toilets, gaze at the golden Chinese ducks that hang behind glass, shimmering and promising in gilded, roasted glory, then attend to the menu and your dining partner. At Mr Wong, for once, nobody tries to explain that there is a principle of sharing plates here. Dumplings are dumplings are dumplings, after all: you don’t need some waitress telling you it’s a good chance to try a few things. There’s xiao long bao, scallop and lobster, wild mushroom, king prawn with bamboo shoot; you’ll need to share else turn into a dumpling yourself. The textured salad of poached chicken and jellyfish is the same sort of clever slippery, nutty texture play we see at Merivale’s Ms G’s. Read our full review for Mr Wong

P-Bay – as the kids say – is worth the windy 30 minute drive from Hobart’s CBD. If only for a glass of sparkling on the deck in the summer sun. Nestled on four acres of waterfront headland in southern Tasmania, Peppermint Bay offers casual dining in an award-winning space. Read our review for Peppermint Bay, Tasmania

Descending into the subterranean world of Indu in Sydney’s CBD literally whips you to another time and place: the heady, sensual side of India, romanticised in literature. Low, moody lighting is at once perfectly ambient and futile – waiters are armed with small torches to illuminate the menu and you can forget about instagramming your dinner. Read our full review of Indu.