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Sydney · Open Sunday · 2026 Edition

Best Restaurants Open on Sunday in Sydney 2026

Photo: Google Places. Hero: the dining room at Aria, Circular Quay Sydney.

Sydney has no Michelin Guide, and most of its three-hat rooms lock the doors on Sunday. The tasting-menu houses close the weekend tail to rest their kitchens, so a visitor flying in for the harbour and expecting a serious Sunday table is often turned away. What stays open is the Sydney that lives on the water: the grand Circular Quay rooms, the Opera House dining room, the Bondi and Rose Bay institutions that have never closed a Sunday. Six of them confirm Sunday hours below, ranked by what each is for, in Australian dollars.

Why a Sunday list matters in Sydney

Australia runs no Michelin Guide, so Sydney's pecking order is set by the Good Food Guide hats rather than stars. The catch for a Sunday visitor is that the hatted rooms keep the strictest weekend closures in the city: the counters and tasting-menu kitchens overwhelmingly go dark Sunday and Monday to give their teams two days off. A diner who lands on a Sunday and assumes the best room in town is a booking away will find a closed door and a voicemail. This is the single most useful thing to know about eating well here on a Sunday.

The rooms that stay open are the harbour institutions, the ones built around a view and a seven-day trade rather than a tasting menu. They lead with Circular Quay and the Opera House and run out to Bondi and Rose Bay. The order below opens with the grand harbourfront rooms you should book ahead and closes with the CBD yum cha that fills at short notice. A note on timing: Sunday lunch on the water is the prime Sydney slot, and a 10 to 15 percent Sunday surcharge is standard across these rooms. Hours are checked against each restaurant's published schedule. For the wider week, start with the Sydney dining guide.

The Sunday list

1

Aria

Modern Australian · Circular Quay, Sydney · A$195 set menu

Sunday hours: Sunday lunch from 12:00, dinner 17:30–21:30

Matt Moran's Aria sits at 1 Macquarie Street with the Opera House sails and the Harbour Bridge framed in the window, and it is the grandest room on this list that opens Sunday. The set menu runs around A$195 a head, built on Moran's lamb and the day's local seafood, with a cellar deep in Hunter Valley semillon. Sunday lunch is the calmer service and the better photograph, the bridge and the sails in full afternoon light. Book a window table a week or two ahead, particularly across summer when the harbour is at its busiest.

2

Bennelong

Modern Australian · Opera House, Sydney · A$120–190 per head

Sunday hours: Sunday lunch 12:00–15:30, dinner 17:30–20:45

Bennelong is the restaurant inside the Opera House itself, under the smallest of the sails, and Peter Gilmore cooks a menu that reads as a love letter to Australian produce. The Sydney rock oysters and the cherry-jam lamington dessert are the dishes people return for, with a meal landing between A$120 and A$190 a head. It opens for Sunday lunch and dinner both, the only night the room runs a shorter evening service. Sit in the Restaurant tier for the full kitchen menu, or the Cured and Cultured bar below for oysters and a glass without the booking pressure.

3

Icebergs Dining Room

Italian · Bondi Beach, Sydney · A$110–180 per head

Sunday hours: Sunday, 12:00–22:00

Maurice Terzini's Icebergs looks straight down the arc of Bondi Beach from 1 Notts Avenue, above the ocean pool, and has done the long Italian lunch better than anyone in the city since 2002. The crudo, the house-made pasta and the wood-grilled fish are the order, and a meal runs about A$110 to A$180 a head. It keeps the most generous Sunday hours on this list, noon straight through to ten, so a long lunch can roll into an early dinner without leaving the table. Book the front row for the beach, or perch at the bar for a negroni and the view.

4

Mr Wong

Cantonese · CBD, Sydney · A$40–70 yum cha, A$80–120 dinner

Sunday hours: Yum cha 10:30–15:00, dinner 17:30–22:00

Mr Wong is Merivale's Cantonese flagship in a lantern-lit basement off Bridge Lane in the CBD, and Sunday is its yum cha day. Trolleys of har gow, prawn dumplings and char siu bao circle the room from 10:30 to three, with a full graze landing around A$40 to A$70 a head, a fraction of the harbour set menus. Dinner follows from 5:30 with the roast meats and Peking duck. It is the easiest upscale Sunday table in the city to fill at short notice, and the value pick for a group that cannot agree on a budget.

5

Catalina

Seafood · Rose Bay, Sydney · A$110–170 per head

Sunday hours: Sunday lunch 12:00–16:00

Catalina sits right on the water at Lyne Park in Rose Bay, with seaplanes landing on the bay beyond the deck and a thirty-year reputation for the long Sydney lunch. The oysters, the whole local fish and the seafood platter are the reasons to come, with a meal running about A$110 to A$170 a head. Sunday is lunch only, noon to four, the slot Sydney's eastern-suburbs families have booked for decades. Ask for a table on the edge of the deck and let the afternoon run; the harbour does the rest.

6

Cafe Sydney

Modern Australian · Circular Quay, Sydney · A$145 three-course

Sunday hours: Sunday, 12:00–17:00

Cafe Sydney crowns the fifth floor of Customs House at 31 Alfred Street, with a covered terrace looking across Circular Quay to the Opera House. On Sunday it runs a three-course set menu around A$145 a head, leaning on Sydney rock oysters, the wood-fired snapper and a long Australian wine list. A 10 percent Sunday surcharge applies, shown on the menu. It is the harbour Sunday lunch for a table that wants the view and a fixed price rather than the open-ended choice, and it closes by five, which suits an early flight or a slow evening at home.

How to book a Sunday table in Sydney

The first rule of a Sydney Sunday is to stop chasing the hats: the tasting menus are closed, so book a harbour room instead. Aria and Bennelong both take reservations and both reward a week or two's notice for a window table, with Sunday lunch the prime slot rather than dinner. Cafe Sydney and Catalina fill with locals for the long Sunday lunch, so reserve midweek for an edge-of-the-water table. Icebergs holds the longest Sunday hours, noon to ten, and a bar perch is the easiest seat if the dining room is full. Mr Wong takes bookings for yum cha and is the simplest upscale table to land at short notice. For a solo Sunday, the bar at Icebergs and the counter trade at Mr Wong are the friendliest seats and a fine solo-dining move. Entertaining a group that cannot agree? Mr Wong's trolleys settle the argument for a Sydney team dinner.

Frequently asked questions

Are any Michelin restaurants open on Sunday in Sydney?

There is no Michelin Guide in Australia, so Sydney has no Michelin stars. The local benchmark is the Good Food Guide hat. Most of the top hatted rooms, including the tasting-menu houses, close Sunday and Monday to rest their teams. The harbourfront institutions on this list are the serious Sunday option instead, and several still cook at a one or two hat standard.

Is Aria open on Sunday in Sydney?

Yes. Aria at 1 Macquarie Street, Circular Quay opens Sunday for lunch around noon and again for dinner from 5:30pm, with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge filling the window. Matt Moran's set menu runs about A$195 a head before wine. Sunday lunch is the calmer service and the better photograph; book a window table a week or two ahead, especially in summer.

Where can I get a good Sunday lunch on Sydney Harbour?

Cafe Sydney at Customs House and Catalina at Rose Bay are the two best harbour Sunday lunches in the city. Cafe Sydney runs a three-course Sunday menu around A$145 with a rooftop view of Circular Quay, while Catalina serves seafood on the water at Lyne Park until late afternoon. Bennelong at the Opera House and Aria at Circular Quay also open for Sunday lunch if you want the grander room.

What is the best-value restaurant open Sunday in Sydney?

Mr Wong in the CBD. Merivale's Cantonese flagship on Bridge Lane runs yum cha from 10:30am to 3pm on Sunday, with steamer trolleys of dumplings landing around A$40 to A$70 a head, a fraction of the harbour set menus. Dinner follows from 5:30pm. It is the easiest upscale Sunday table to fill at short notice, and the basement room seats hundreds.

Do Sydney restaurants charge a surcharge on Sunday?

Often, yes. A Sunday and public-holiday surcharge of around 10 to 15 percent is standard across upscale Sydney rooms, including Cafe Sydney and most harbourfront venues, to cover penalty pay rates. It is shown on the menu rather than hidden, and it applies to the whole bill. Factor it in when you compare a Sunday set menu against the same room on a weekday.

Keep reading

Plan the rest of the week with the full Sydney dining guide, or by occasion: impress a client in Sydney, a Sydney team dinner, and solo dining at the counter. By cuisine, see the best seafood restaurants worldwide, the best Italian restaurants worldwide and the best Chinese restaurants worldwide. Travelling on through Australia? Compare with the Melbourne dining guide and the Brisbane dining guide. For the global view on closing nights, read where to eat well on a Sunday or Monday.

Hours verified against each restaurant's published schedule as of May 2026; confirm directly before travelling. Restaurants for Kings is editorial, not sponsored. Some reservation links may earn an affiliate commission, which never affects a ranking or a score.