When the sun shines in Oz’s emerald city, as it so very often does, Sydney’s blonde beaches, blue skies, and glistening azure seas come alive with the town’s most comely crowds and amply filled-out cossies.
Natch, all that tanning and frolicking can work up quite an appetite. Here are our fave beachside hangs to beeline to when swimmer’s shoulder and strutter’s butt set in this summer.
The Boathouse Shelly Beach
Whether you’re straight off the sand or ferry, the dreamily dolled-up Boathouse cafe and kiosk is your pastel and whitewashed flopspot du jour, from mushroom and ricotta flatbread brekkie to beer-battered flathead lunch to rock oyster and rosé afternoon refuel. Settle in or grab a cute anchor-topped coffee to go.
The Boathouse Shelly Beach, 1 Marine Parade, Manly Wharf, Sydney, +61 2 9934 9977, theboathousesb.com.au
Papi Chulo
Meanwhile, on the other side of Manly, this wharf-perched griller thriller is sending up fragrant smoke signals not even a vegan could ignore. Six-hour barbecued meats and seafood ride shotgun on this south of the border culinary sojourn, but don’t expect the kitschy decor to match – she’s all crisp white wood panelling, checkered parquetry and raw tabletops here, papi.
Papi Chulo, Shop 22/23, E Esplanade, Manly Wharf, Sydney, +61 2 9240 3000
North Bondi Fish
The freshest local seafood, sliced, roasted, baked, fried and tossed into submission. Raspberry and lemongrass bellinis. Cucumber spritzes. The team behind Chiswick and Aria. That view. Need we say more?
North Bondi Fish, 128 Ramsgate Ave, North Bondi, Sydney, +61 2 9130 2155, northbondifish.com.au
The Bathers’ Pavilion
From no other vantage does glorious Balmoral beach look more stunning than at this restored changing shed now housing a side-by-side fine dining resto and casual caff. Chef Serge Dansereau’s Franc-stralian menu shines like the glittery bay in contempo surrounds beset by pops of cerulean blue and Kerry Lester artwork. Chic.
The Bathers’ Pavilion, 4 The Esplanade, Balmoral Beach, +61 2 9969 5050, batherspavilion.com.au
Harryfields
Wedged in the Mosman Bay Wharf ferry terminal, the teeny wood n’ tile serving box and smattering of tables that is Harryfields punches above its weight for tasty eats and Joe to go. Expect baked eggs, 12-hour pulled pork burgers, Bread and Butter Project loaves, and Pablo and Rusty coffee – and a fight for the best waterside tables.
Harryfields, Mosman Bay Commuter Wharf, Shop 2, 1 Avenue Rd, Mosman, Sydney, +61 2 9960 5377, facebook.com/harryfieldsmosman
For more surf’s up sups in Sydney, check out the LUXE Sydney guide.
