Sydney's new Good Food Guide elevates Sixpenny and Saint Peter

Sixpenny and Saint Peter are the clearest three-hat results in the new Good Food Guide Sydney results, while Manly is forming Sydney’s next high-spend dining cluster. The 42nd Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide has narrowed the city’s three-hat field to Sixpenny in Stanmore and Saint Peter by Josh Niland, while, according to Brisbane Times Good Food, Stanley has given Manly its first two-hat restaurant. Sydney’s peak fine-dining tier has become smaller, while the map of affluent dining has widened (Brisbane Times) (Brisbane Times¹).

Good Food Guide Sydney Trends: Fewer Three-Hat Rooms, More Precinct Drama

Prestige now sits with two three-hatted restaurants: Sixpenny and Saint Peter. Momentum sits in places like Manly, where Stanley earned two hats, Felons Seafood received one, and Cibaria retained its hat while its cocktail lounge landed in the Guide’s Top 20 Sydney Bars (Brisbane Times) (Brisbane Times¹).

The Guide covers restaurants across NSW and the ACT, and its reviews are available through the Good Food app. Sydney now has only two three-hatted restaurants, Sixpenny and Saint Peter. The last time Sydney had only two three-hatted restaurants was 1988, when Berowra Waters Inn and Claude’s led the Guide (Brisbane Times¹).

Two closures explain much of the contraction. Oncore at Crown closed in 2026 after UK-based chef Clare Smyth did not renew her contract. Quay also closed in 2026 after restaurateur Leon Fink ended its 38-year run. Peter Gilmore received a standing ovation at the Guide launch for his contribution to Australian cuisine (Brisbane Times¹).

Melbourne now has the stronger three-hat count on paper. At The Age Good Food Guide Awards on October 12, Melbourne claimed four three-hatted restaurants: Yiaga, Amaru, Minamishima and Vue de Monde, plus Brae in regional Victoria. Sydney has fewer established flagships, more room for new power rooms, and Manly has entered the premium conversation with hats (Theage²).

The Three-Hat Shortlist

Sixpenny (Stanmore)

Sixpenny is the safest prestige booking in Sydney right now because it carries both three hats and T2 Tea Restaurant of the Year. Three hats put it at the Guide’s highest level; Restaurant of the Year gives it the broader verdict from this edition.

Newtown and the Inner West Council area recorded 16 hatted restaurants, up from 12 last year and zero in 2005. The Inner West is no longer a side note in Sydney dining. Sixpenny sits at the top of that shift, which makes it a better booking for diners who want to understand where Sydney’s fine-dining credibility is spreading beyond the CBD and harbourside icons.

Sixpenny has the stronger awards profile than Saint Peter. Saint Peter is the stronger pick for Josh Niland’s fish-focused cooking.

Saint Peter (Sydney)

Saint Peter is Sydney’s other three-hat room, and Josh Niland’s name gives it a different pull from Sixpenny. The Guide identifies Saint Peter as fish-focused, giving it a more tightly defined point of view than a broader fine-dining format. In a year when Sydney has only two three-hatted restaurants, that specificity helps rather than limits it.

Niland’s restaurant now sits in a smaller club than it did when Oncore and Quay were still in play. Sydney’s current three-hat tier has two identities: Sixpenny as the Restaurant of the Year benchmark and Saint Peter as the fish-led flagship.

Saint Peter helps Sydney compete with Melbourne despite Melbourne’s stronger three-hat count. Melbourne has more three-hatted restaurants in the current comparison, but Saint Peter gives Sydney a format that is harder to substitute.

The Two-Hat Climbers

Porcine (Paddington)

Porcine’s second hat gives Paddington a reason to re-enter the conversation alongside newer Inner West and northern beaches momentum. It is the kind of promotion that matters because the two-hat tier is where repeat spending often starts. Three hats create destination bookings; two hats create regular luxury habits.

Porcine’s promotion sits inside that higher-spend tier rather than the novelty tier. Porcine is the urban pick, while Stanley is the precinct-changing pick.

Porcine is a hatted Sydney dinner without a three-hat production. Porcine now has enough Good Food Guide weight to justify planning around it, especially for an inner east itinerary.

Gran Torino (Sydney)

Neil Perry’s Gran Torino moved from one hat to two, which gives it one of the more useful signals in the Guide: upward movement from a known operator. Perry’s name already brings recognition; the second hat gives diners a current reason to prioritize the restaurant rather than file it under legacy interest.

The separate bar matters for how affluent diners actually use restaurants now. A two-hat dining room with a bar attached or adjacent lets the night stay within one venue. The Guide’s trend analysis places Gran Torino among restaurants creating more ways for diners to spend with the same operator, which is a practical advantage for groups and hosts.

Gran Torino has a chef-restaurateur with a long public track record and a venue that just gained Guide momentum. It is less urgent than Sixpenny or Saint Peter for a once-per-trip booking, but it is exactly the kind of two-hat room to use for a second dinner or a client night.

Grandfathers (CBD)

Grandfathers rising to two hats keeps the CBD relevant at a moment when much of the energy is shifting outward. The restaurant comes from the team behind Clam Bar and Pellegrino 2000, which gives it a clear operator signal for diners who follow Sydney groups closely. In a city where the CBD, Barangaroo and Circular Quay still hold 35 hatted restaurants, Grandfathers gives central Sydney a newer two-hat answer.

Grandfathers is the room to consider when convenience matters and you still want current Guide heat. The CBD remains the densest hatted zone, but density can blur the decision. Grandfathers helps cut through that because it moved up, rather than simply held position.

Compare it with Gran Torino this way: Gran Torino gives you the Neil Perry factor and a bar extension; Grandfathers gives you the Clam Bar and Pellegrino 2000 team in the CBD. For a visitor staying near Barangaroo or Circular Quay, Grandfathers is the more efficient two-hat booking. For a local building a night around the operator, both belong on the shortlist.

Manly’s Hat Cluster

Stanley (Manly)

Stanley is the Manly booking that matters most because it gave the suburb its first two-hat restaurant. The restaurant is Cantonese-focused and led by Louis Tikaram, a former Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year. That combination turns Manly’s rise from a beachside dining story into a luxury dining story with a named chef and a measurable Guide result.

The 1989 Good Food Guide included four Manly listings: Indian Experience, Imperial Peking, Le Kiosk and Just Prawns. In 2026, Manly has more hats than ever before, and Stanley is the venue setting the new ceiling. That is why it should be your first Manly booking, ahead of the one-hat venues, if you want to understand the suburb’s new position (Theage²).

Stanley is also the strongest peer comparison for anyone deciding between the CBD and the northern beaches. Grandfathers offers central convenience and an operator track record; Stanley offers a first-of-its-kind two-hat credential for Manly. If you have one dinner north of the harbour, choose Stanley. If you are building a Manly crawl, start here and add Felons Seafood or Cibaria around it.

Felons Seafood (Manly Wharf)

Felons Seafood received its first hat after opening last year, and its location on Manly Wharf makes it the clearest arrival marker for the precinct. Stanley may carry the higher hat count, but Felons Seafood shows that Manly’s momentum is not tied to one room. A second hatted venue on the wharf-adjacent circuit changes how diners should plan the area.

Manly can now support a high-spend dining plan without asking you to gamble on a single reservation. If Stanley is full, Felons Seafood gives you another Guide-backed reason to cross the harbour. If you already have Stanley booked, Felons Seafood makes the area viable for a longer afternoon-to-dinner plan.

Use Felons Seafood as the flexible Manly pick. It does not carry the same credential weight as Stanley, but a first hat in a suburb setting new records matters. Compared with Cibaria, Felons Seafood is the newer Guide arrival; compared with Stanley, it is the supporting evidence that Manly’s rise has depth.

Cibaria (Manly)

That dual recognition is the reason to book it differently from Stanley or Felons Seafood. Stanley is the two-hat anchor. Felons Seafood is the newer one-hat arrival. Cibaria is the dining-and-drinks play.

Chef Alessandro Pavoni’s Manly Beach long-luncher gives the precinct an all-day luxury rhythm, especially for diners who want the meal and the bar program in the same orbit. The Top 20 Sydney Bars recognition matters because Sydney’s most useful premium restaurants increasingly solve the whole evening.

If you are choosing one Manly venue purely by Guide hierarchy, Stanley wins. If you are choosing the venue that can carry a long lunch into cocktails, Cibaria has the stronger use case. Pairing a retained hat with bar recognition makes it one of the more practical bookings for groups who care about the full arc of the outing.

What’s Next

Manly is the precinct to track next. Chris Lucas has announced a Chin Chin outpost planned for mid-2027 at Two Tides on Raglan Street, and that matters because Lucas is arriving in a suburb already anchored by Stanley’s two hats, Felons Seafood’s first hat, and Cibaria’s retained hat with bar recognition.

Sydney’s fine-dining power has not disappeared; it has become more selective and more geographically interesting. Sixpenny and Saint Peter are the two three-hat anchors from the current Good Food Guide Sydney results, the CBD still has the largest hatted count with 35 across the city core, Barangaroo and Circular Quay, and Manly now has enough credentialed rooms to justify a dedicated dining itinerary. Watch the next Guide for whether Sydney rebuilds its three-hat ranks, or whether the smarter move is still to follow the hats north across the harbour.