Australia’s Top 500 Restaurants released, who will win?

Some of the country's newest and trendiest restaurants made their debut today in The Australian Financial Review Australia’s Top Restaurants shortlist.

The one-of-a-kind national restaurant awards program presented by Qantas is not only celebrating it’s second birthday, but Australia’s dynamic and evolving culinary scene.

Chefs and restaurateurs cast the votes themselves, which makes this list the ultimate insiders’ guide to the best Australian dining.

So what defines best? Restaurants at the very top of their form and who are delivering consistent world class standards across all aspects of the foodie experience.

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Australia-wide Good Food Guide editors, reviewers and industry experts look for the culinary creators who offer the very best food made with quality ingredients, flavour, skill, seasonality, creativity and excitement, and of course paired with the best beverages.

Out of the 500 that made it on the list, 113 were new entries.

They range from Sydney's game-changing Continental Deli Bar Bistro to Adelaide’s modern Italian gem Osteria Oggi, Perth’s Long Chim by David Thompson to Melbourne’s boundary pushing Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.

Foodies will be glad to know the 500 included last year’s favourites, Attica, Quay, Brae and Sepia, which reigned in at number one for both the Top 100 list and Australia’s Top Chef Award.

From golden oldies and fine dining greats, to new bistros and bars in laneways to shady vineyards, “the Top 500 is living proof that the Australian dining scene doesn’t stand still for a minute,” says renowned restaurant critic Terry Durack.

“Victoria wins with the most new entries in 2016, although Western Australia is experiencing a new boom that’s dining, not mining, with 21 out of the 56 Western Australian entries being new to the list,” says Durak.

Durak and his famous food writer in crime, Jill Dupleix, return as the 2016 Australia’s Top Restaurants co-directors and are in for some heavy edible research until May 3 when the final Top 100 will be published in The Australian Financial Review.

The Top 500 also captures the new dining trends to follow for the year ahead.

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The list sheds light on the kitchen garden trends and on-site butchering, as seen at the Yarra Valley’s Healesville Hotel and Western Australia’s Co-Op Dining.

“We’re also seeing new restaurants open with more counter dining than table seating,” says Dupleix.

“The likes of Fleet at Brunswick Heads, Franklin in Hobart and Sydney’s Kensington Street Social make it fun to get up close and personal with the chefs,” she says.

But It’s not just the chefs who get to have their say, Australians can also weigh in when voting commences for The People’s Award on 1 March.

Australians can choose their favourite restaurant by voting from the list of 500 and the winner will be announced with the Top 100 list at a Gala Awards ceremony in Sydney on May 2.

Until then, we’re going to be eating our way around the country, ticking off each restaurant, bar, cafe and bistro one by one for our own culinary critic awards…

To see the full list, click here.

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