It’s the deli of your dreams from arguably the best restaurant group in Australia. The Porteño Group (Bodega, Bodega 1904, Porteño, Stanbuli) sure know how to dot their i’s and cross their t’s when it comes to restaurants. Continental Deli, Bar and Bistro is the local every suburb wished they had. Amazing smallgoods, cracking cheeses and stellar tinned seafood is just really the start of the equation.

The bistro menu is banging, and the cocktails are contenders for best in Sydney – make sure you order the Mar-tinny or Can-hatten. Downstairs it’s all high chairs at the bar, in the window or along the wall where guests are dining or imbibing in equal measure. Upstairs the quaint terrace offers two small rooms for those who want to enjoy the party on the plate seated at a table.

Start with tinned seafood – order by the can – or get a plate with an ensemble of sea treasures – mackerel, mussels, sea urchin and eel the best picks. Or choose from the intoxicating display of cheeses and smallgoods to create a tasting plate to be reckoned with – all served with housemade chilli pickles and bread. Then move onto something more substantial by chef Jesse Warkentin. Grass-fed sirloin steak tartare is one of the best in town. Cut coarsely, seasoned with capers and Worcestershire, it comes covered in shaved gruyere and housemade mesh-gauzed gaufrette potato chips. Large octopus tentacles partners LP’s Quality Meats nduja, white beans and broad beans, while sweet and sour peppers help cut through the richness of slow-roasted lamb.

The best bit is you can fill your pantry with everything from pickled chillies to seafood and even housemade bread. It’s impossible not to love ‘the Deli’.

Must-eat dish: Order at least one of the following – cheese plate, seafood plate, charcuterie board
Instagram: @continentaldeli