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The view at Quay, Australia's best restaurant

Sydney has been named as one of the world's top gastronomic destinations by a panel of UK food critics and travel writers.

The harbourside city came in third on the list, published by consumer group Which?, after San Sebastian in northern Spain and the Japanese capital Tokyo.

In another win for the Aussie city, Sydney, home to the nation's top restaurant, Quay, and the newest outpost of New York hot spot, Momofuku Seiobo, polled ahead of Paris and New York, cities famed for their top notch foodie scenes.

In recent times Sydney's dining world has undergone a period of change, following a raft of closures of established restaurants, including Berowra Waters Inn and Manly Pavilion. The passing of the old guard has been countered however by new arrivals on the scene like the long awaited food trucks, and a thriving casual dining culture.

In a win for interstate rivalry, Sydney also ranked above Melbourne, often considered Australia's epicurean epicentre.

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Copenhagen in Denmark, home of Noma, the world's best restaurant, also featured in the top ten, along with Hong Kong and the Italian region of Emilia Romagna.

The Spanish coastal town of San Sebastian, located on the Bay of Biscay, boasts the highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants (including Arzak and Akellare) per capita in the world.

A lively pintxos scene in the Basque city plays a strong supporting role to the high-end Michelin-starred restaurants. The Basque version of tapas, pintxos is a type of bar snack usually 'spiked' (where the name comes from; 'pintxo' means 'spike') with a toothpick.

Pintxos comes in individual serves, and the bill is calculated on how many toothpicks you collect.

The top 10 list:

1. San Sebastian, Spain

2. Tokyo, Japan

3. Sydney, Australia

=4. New York, USA and Paris, France

6. Emilia Romagna, Italy

7. Hong Kong

8. Melbourne, Australia

9. Sicily, Italy

10. Copenhagen, Denmark

Last week at Café Culture: Is Sydney the nation's new foodie capital?

Read more from Nicola Heath at Coffee, I Salute You.

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