Where To Eat in March: Amuro, Beau, El Primo Sanchez, and More

Just like the hidden gems of Tokyo, Amuro is tricky to find (it’s actually on Goulburn Street, even though the address says Crown Street) and it’s tiny. But this sleek, minimal, timber-toned space makes good use of every centimetre here – down to the cute chopstick rests on each table (they’re shaped like Kewpie mayo bottles and frypans sizzling eggs). The menu at this sake bar is smart and compact, too: chef Kei Tokiwa serves a great okra snack with chunky rayu (chilli oil), mushroom tempura with wasabi salt and his coffee jelly dessert from Wan makes a welcome cameo, too. The drinks are interesting, too – from shochu made with leftover sake lees to drops by the legendary Noguchi Naohiko, who has been producing sake since 1949.

This beloved wine bar recently got some media attention for its smoked beetroot dish, which is roasted and dried over ironbark fire. It’s coated with pomegranate molasses, and served with a fried garlic sauce and creamy labneh. It’s a two-day feat that inspires fandom from long distances. Poly also offers kingfish that’s garnished with daikon slices and flavoured with a soy sauce that head chef Jeff Lusis brewed with Wildflower Brewery. It’s a two-way exchange – the shells from Poly’s Wallis Lake Sydney rock oysters (presented here with a zippy addition of Sunrise lime vinegar, oil and just-cracked black pepper) might end up in a future beer by Wildflower.

Like most openings, Beau arrived a little later than scheduled. The complex build involved re-establishing an old laneway between Reservoir and Foster streets that’s been inaccessible for a century or so. This cleared path means the connection between Beau and sister restaurant Nomad is even closer (and just footsteps away). Chef Jacqui Challinor provides another link between both venues – she oversees their menus. If you’ve heard her talk about manoush, you’ll know how much she loves the Lebanese flatbread. You’ll find it in various oven-fresh configurations at Beau & Dough, the all-day eatery at the front of Beau’s building: the menu ranges from the classic za’atar-sprinkled default to a lavish version with pistachio, halva and honey. Your sweet tooth is also well-served at Beau’s newly launched wine bar, located behind the bakery shopfront: its menu includes fig-leaf granita with yoghurt sorbet.

Call (02) 9280 3395 for reservations.

Francobollo is Italian for postage stamp – which is a tribute to this restaurant’s former location as a post office. Now, instead of picking up parcels, buying envelopes or dispatching mail from its 2042 postcode, you can order fresh-made strands of tonnarelli, linguine or pappardelle. Turn to the menu and you might find kingfish carpaccio, burrata with beetroot or Roman-style pizza to enjoy – and perhaps your slices will be topped with four kinds of melted cheese or be carb-rich with cut potato, Italian sausage, crisp rosemary leaves and a creamy dose of fior di latte.

The people behind Maybe Sammy have won countless awards and international recognition for their namesake cocktail bar. So when they open a Mexican-style drinking hole inside The Rose Hotel, you know it’ll be attention-worthy. Bar manager Eduardo Conde made the right move when he called on his talented former No 92 GPR colleague – Alejandro Huerta – to shape the menu. The chef, who was born in Mexico City, has an admirable way of honouring his roots while also presenting a uniquely creative twist on staples. His tacos al pastor is “reverse-engineered”, while the dry-aged steak is flavoured in a jus of mole de olla, which recalls one of his mum’s favourite dishes. His clever remix of fresas con crema (strawberries and cream) features a strawberry cream mousse that’s shaped to look like the namesake fruit, served with compressed berries, pepita crumb and vanilla cream.

Walk-ins only.

For close to a decade, Sydney hung out at Freda’s – and danced and drank there until the very late hours. The Barrie has taken over that institution’s old site and makes its presence known with a very bright sign out front. Although the location has been reinvented as a sleek cocktail bar, The Barrie also carries on its predecessor’s night-owl spirit – how many other places in Sydney allow you to book a booth, lounge or low table until 2.30am? And its doors stay open until 4am on the weekend, too. The reasons to stick around go beyond its line-up of smoked maple old-fashioneds, gin sours and other cocktails. There are also regular DJ sets, comedy sets and trivia nights.

Elvan Fan and her team have rebooted Wan. What used to be a Japanese kissaten (old-school cafe) with a strong Taiwanese influence has now been transformed into a ramen bar. So you can sip a shoyu pork neck ramen or shio chicken broth, and there are cold noodle options, too – like a vegetarian flavour splashed with a bracing citrus, rice vinegar and soy dressing that’s garnished with fried enoki threads and pear salsa. Wan Ramen also highlights its connection to sister cafe, Moon & Back, which is known for its Asian desserts. Here, you might end your meal with a light strawberry chiffon cake or hojicha monaka with warabi mochi.

Walk-ins only.

The Cricketers Arms has been a dependable pub for decades, and now its upstairs area has been transformed into a French bistro and wine bar. At Chef Crix, you can sit down to an oxheart tomato tarte tartin topped with shavings of cured egg yolk and dollops of goats curd or steak frites with a classic red-wine Bordelaise sauce. You can also channel France via your wine glass, too – with some chardonnay from Domaine de la Pinte in Arbois from the Jura, perhaps, or a bottle of G(u)ri gamay D’Auvergne from respected winemaker Catherine Dumora.

Before Yeongjin Park opened his tiny Tenacious Croissant bakery last year, his well-baked goods were already making an impression across the city. His Jinius pastry – a remixed pain au chocolat – was a fixture at Picco Leo and Lode Pies, two venues run by award-winning chef Federico Zanellato (who is also Park’s former boss). At his own patisserie, Park taps into his Korean heritage in inspired ways: his sausage roll is cross-bred with a mandu dumpling, he merges injeolmi with pandoro and turns a Korean bar snack into a wonderfully savoury corn cheese tart.

Walk-ins only.

Allan Grammar sounds like it could be the name of a very conservative private school, but in actual fact, it’s a tongue-in-cheek title for a wine bar. When this venue first opened several years ago, it was a noteworthy launch, because it was a new venture by Sophia and Aaron Bernecki – the team behind much-loved cafe, Henri Marc. The name, then, is a witty response to people who underestimated Sophia, simply because she was home-schooled on Mulgoa’s Allan Street. Allan Grammar might not deal in textbooks or exams, but it definitely serves out courses. You might find yourself deciding between smoked duck with lentil salad and shiitake jus, ocean trout with yuzu, shiso and pickled daikon slices or seared tuna flavoured with tomato dashi, finger lime and basil oil.