The ultimate guide to Australia's best restaurants

Here's the thing about destination dining. A great meal is elevated to even greater heights if it's enjoyed in an extra-special spot. Some of Australia's finest dining experiences are tucked into unexpected backstreets or within gleaming skyscrapers. They're found in rural hamlets and coastal villages, atop desert dunes and even, astonishingly, under a sprawling fig tree. While it can take military-style planning to score a reservation at some of these restaurants, believe us when we say these nine are worth the effort.

From the 26th floor of Barangaroo's Crown Sydney, feast your eyes on glittering Sydney Harbour while devouring the oh-so-pretty handiwork of celebrated British chef Clare Smyth. Her Antipodean outpost celebrates signature dishes from her London restaurant, Core, such as Potato and Roe. She also showcases the very best of Australian produce: Sydney rock oysters, grilled marron and pearl meat have all starred within the botanically forward compositions. crownsydney.com.au

In under-the-radar Pottsville, on the balmy NSW Far North Coast, is Pipit. Despite its unlikely location, this fine-diner attracts rave reviews from big-city critics and diners alike. They flock for the creative rethinking of hyperlocal subtropical produce (sourdough with smoked macadamia and kefir butter, anyone?). Vegans can also tuck in to a mouth-watering version of the signature eight-course menu. pipitrestaurant.com

After 12 years in the Rialto Towers, the three-hatted, 55th-floor dazzler Vue de Monde will reopen next month after a $3 million refresh of the kitchen, dining room and cocktail bar. What won't change, though, is executive chef Hugh Allen's commitment to haute Australiana with dishes such as kangaroo and nasturtium, and chocolate souffle with billy tea ice-cream. vuedemonde.com.au

The produce list from Brae's organic farm - "the last figs, baby leeks, sprouting broccoli" - reads like pure poetry. So imagine what it's like to encounter Dan Hunter's multi-course menu, presented in a light-filled dining room in rural Birregurra behind the Great Otway National Park. Best of all, this is a restaurant with rooms so go ahead and order those matched wines. braerestaurant.com

Double-dare you to find something better than ordering seafood while overlooking the sparkling waters of Gulf St Vincent. The Star of Greece (not a Greek restaurant but named for a nearby shipwreck) is perched on the cliffs of Port Willunga south of Adelaide. Feast on local chargrilled king prawns, Kangaroo Island's King George whiting, red snapper or squid. starofgreece.com.au

The Agrarian Kitchen in New Norfolk, a 40-minute drive from Hobart, prides itself in being unpretentious. Even though there's plenty to crow about - such as produce plucked straight from the kitchen garden and neighbouring community garden, and in-house cheese-making, bread-baking and whole-animal butchery - the low-key restaurant simply lets its dishes speak for themselves. theagrariankitchen.com

Any meal that comes with a front-row view of sunset-gilded Uluru is already a winner. Yet this fine-dining experience atop a red desert dune is memorable in so many other ways. Think bush flavours melded into haute fare, a million-star night sky, charming staff, dishes miraculously conjured from a shack kitchen, fine wines and campfire yarns before you reluctantly return to Ayers Rock Resort. ayersrockresort.com.au

It sounds like the stuff of fairytales. On Kangaroo Island, wander in among the colossal limbs of a 120-year-old fig tree to dine within its cocooning green canopy. This deciduous "living venue" is a seasonal pop-up; with spring now working its magic, the Enchanted Fig Tree reopens for lunch and starlit dining from November 8 (until April 8, 2024). gastronomodining.com.au

Within an unremarkable backstreet brick warehouse is one of Australia's most outstanding restaurants. The wood-fired bistro uses multiple fire pits and timber species to conjure pure magic from ingredients. Boutique wines (many of them natural) stand up to the bold fire-enhanced flavours. agnesrestaurant.com.au

There's more to Peru than Machu Picchu and alpacas. Foodies flock to restaurants that regularly make the annual World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Lima is home to four of this year's Top 50. First-placed Central transports diners through Peru's altitudes, from seafood from the Pacific Ocean's depths to colourful tubers unearthed from the Andes' slopes.

In bustling Bangkok, Kolkata-born chef Gaggan Anand is putting beauty and fun into his eponymous haute take on Indian cuisine. The sneaker-wearing rebel chef's eponymous restaurant nabbed the World's 50 Best list's 17th spot.

Copenhagen's Alchemist is much more than a restaurant. Diners buy a "ticket" to a theatrical experience that includes a 50-impression menu and a journey through several acts.

New York City's Atomix is an unlikely culinary star. Just 14 diners work their way through a 12-course tasting menu of refined Korean fare in a basement near Manhattan's Koreatown.

Read more on Explore: