Top 5 restaurants in Walsh Bay, NSW
Five restaurants in Walsh Bay worth the booking, what each is built for, and how long it takes to walk from the table to your seat.
Walsh Bay is the rare Sydney precinct where the restaurants and the theatres share one street. Hickson Road runs along the water from Dawes Point to Millers Point, and three theatres sit inside four hundred metres of a dozen dining rooms.
Five restaurants in Walsh Bay worth the booking, what each is built for, and how long it takes to walk from the table to your seat.
The top 5
| # | Restaurant | Where | The night it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elements Bar and Grill, Walsh Bay | Pier 8/9, 23 Hickson Rd | When dinner is the event, ticket or no ticket |
| 2 | Folio | 22 Hickson Rd | You have forty five minutes before curtain |
| 3 | The Gantry | Pier One, 11 Hickson Rd | The view is the occasion |
| 4 | The Wharf | Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Rd | Your show is directly upstairs |
| 5 | Jounieh | 2/17 Hickson Rd | Eight people who want one banquet |
1. Elements Bar and Grill, Walsh Bay
The room on this street where dinner is the occasion rather than the warm up. A charcoal steakhouse on Pier 8/9, a heritage finger wharf with water on three sides and a long run of glass down the eastern face.
Steak is the centre of the menu rather than an item on it, running up to a two kilogram MB9 wagyu tomahawk for a table that wants an event out of dinner. It is also the one you can sit on in afterwards, while most of Hickson Road goes dark.
It holds up to 248 seated and 500 standing, with 200 inside and 48 out on the boardwalk. There are no separate private rooms; Walsh Bay is taken exclusively rather than by the room, which suits a bigger celebration, while smaller groups take a long table in the restaurant.
The Walsh Bay venue page has the capacities and the hire detail.
Menus, hours and current specials sit on the restaurant’s own site, so book through the Elements Bar and Grill reservations page.
2. Folio, 22 Hickson Road
A New York speakeasy inspired bar built inside the Roslyn Packer Theatre itself, doing share plates, cured meats, smoked prawns and martinis mixed at the table. It also runs as the theatre’s pre-show and interval bar, so you can order your interval drink before the lights go down and find it waiting.
Hard to beat on a tight turnaround. It sits at two because it is a bar doing very good food, and on a night when dinner is the event rather than the prelude you will want more than share plates.
3. The Gantry, Pier One, 11 Hickson Road
Modern Australian fine dining inside Pier One Sydney Harbour, a hotel built on and over the water. This is the address people mean when they talk about eating under the Harbour Bridge, because Pier One sits directly beneath it.
It is the most expensive way to eat in Walsh Bay and the outlook justifies a fair share of it. Pier Dining and Bar One are the easier options in the same building, with a sunset hour worth building the evening around.
4. The Wharf, Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Road
Sydney Theatre Company’s own restaurant, upstairs from the Wharf Theatres, with seasonal modern Australian cooking and harbour views straight down the pier.
If your show is at Wharf 1 or Wharf 2 the argument is over, because you never step outside. On a wet Tuesday in July that single fact counts for a great deal. If your show is at the Roslyn Packer it is a three minute walk, which is still nothing.
5. Jounieh, 2/17 Hickson Road
Contemporary Middle Eastern in a nautical room, with caramelised prawns and a proper share style offering. It is the smart pre-show order for a group, because everything lands at once instead of arriving in a sequence you have to sit through.
Take it when you are six or more and nobody wants to make decisions before a play.
Also on Hickson Road
The precinct runs deeper than five. Ventuno does contemporary Italian a minute from the theatre door, and Lavana covers tapas and marbled steak by the water. Fish At The Rocks has been shucking oysters up the hill on Kent Street since 1988, without a single flourish.
For something quicker, Lotus Dumpling Bar will have you fed in forty minutes, The Bund does dim sum, and Walsh Bay Crabhouse is chilli crab and a spare shirt. Walsh Bay Kitchen publishes both pre and post theatre menus, which makes it the first call when a late curtain leaves you hungry. Up the hill, Hotel Palisade has traded since 1915 with Henry Deane on the roof, alongside the Lord Nelson Brewery and the Hero of Waterloo.
Which theatre are you actually going to?
Three venues sit inside about four hundred metres and people regularly walk to the wrong one.
| Venue | Address | What plays there |
|---|---|---|
| Roslyn Packer Theatre | 22 Hickson Rd | Sydney Theatre Company’s largest space, up to 896 seats |
| Wharf 1 and Wharf 2 | Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Rd | The smaller STC rooms, about 150m away |
| Pier 2/3 | Hickson Rd | ACO On The Pier, Bell Shakespeare, Australian Theatre for Young People |
Sydney Dance Company and the Sydney Writers’ Festival also perform across the precinct, so a Walsh Bay ticket does not automatically mean a play. Check access and transport on the Sydney Theatre Company visitor page before you go.
The timing rule
Book your table for ninety minutes before curtain. Not two hours, which leaves you loitering on a windy wharf, and not one, which turns dinner into a race the kitchen will lose.
Ninety minutes covers two courses at a civilised pace with fifteen minutes spare to walk and find your seat. Then say the words when you book, because every kitchen on this street handles pre-theatre tables constantly and will pace your courses accordingly, but only if you tell them you have a show.
Getting there and parking
Barangaroo Metro is about six minutes on foot from the Roslyn Packer, which has quietly made this the easiest arts precinct in Sydney to reach. Buses 324 and 325 stop outside the theatre, and Circular Quay and Wynyard are both roughly fifteen minutes’ walk.
Driving is harder. On-street parking on Hickson Road is limited and goes early on performance nights. Barangaroo Point, Barangaroo Reserve and Bond One all offer night and weekend rates a short walk away. Park once and leave the car until after the show.
Walsh Bay restaurants: common questions
What is the best restaurant in Walsh Bay?
Elements Bar and Grill, for most nights. It is the room where dinner can be the event itself rather than the prelude, and the one you can stay in afterwards. The others each suit a narrower job: a view, a show directly upstairs, or a very tight turnaround.
How early should you book dinner before a show at Walsh Bay?
Ninety minutes before curtain for two courses without rushing. Tell the restaurant you have a show when you book. Start times vary by production and company, so read your ticket rather than assuming, and allow half an hour at the theatre itself.
Can you eat inside the theatres themselves?
Yes, at two of them. Folio sits inside the Roslyn Packer building at 22 Hickson Road and doubles as the pre-show and interval bar. The Wharf restaurant is upstairs in the Wharf 4/5 building at 15 Hickson Road. In bad weather, either means you never step outside.
Which Walsh Bay restaurant is under the Harbour Bridge?
Pier One Sydney Harbour at 11 Hickson Road sits directly beneath it, and The Gantry, Pier Dining and Bar One are its venues. The rest of Hickson Road looks out down the piers and across the water instead, which on a clear evening is the better outlook, but Pier One is the one literally under the span.
Where can you eat at Walsh Bay after a show?
Fewer places than before it. Most Hickson Road kitchens wind down by the time a late curtain falls, though the bars trade on and the Pier One venues run later. Walsh Bay Kitchen publishes a post theatre menu, and Elements Bar and Grill runs till late seven nights. Decide before the show rather than after.
Can you hold a private event at Walsh Bay?
Yes, though not by the room. Elements Bar and Grill Walsh Bay is taken exclusively rather than in sections, which gives you the pier and the harbour on three sides, and The Bayview sits on the same wharf for weddings and larger events. The guide to Walsh Bay wedding venues walks through both.
Is Walsh Bay expensive?
It is a harbourfront arts precinct, so it sits above suburban pricing and roughly in line with Circular Quay and Barangaroo. The range within one street is wide though, from dumplings and pub schnitzel to fine dining, so the precinct handles a cheap weeknight and a proper occasion equally well.
Booking in Walsh Bay
Walsh Bay rewards a booking more than most Sydney precincts, because the rooms are small, the curtain does not wait, and the whole street fills whenever three theatres open on the same night.
If the water is the point, the waterfront restaurants guide compares Sydney’s harbourside rooms side by side.
Book through the Dine with Elements booking page, or call 1300 ELEMENTS (1300 353 636). Give the team your numbers and your curtain time when you book, and flag any dietary requirements at the same time.
Frequently asked
What is the best restaurant in Walsh Bay?
Elements Bar and Grill, for most nights. It is the room where dinner can be the event itself rather than the prelude, and the one you can stay in afterwards.
How early should you book dinner before a show at Walsh Bay?
Ninety minutes before curtain for two courses without rushing. Tell the restaurant you have a show when you book, and allow half an hour at the theatre itself.
Can you eat inside the theatres themselves?
Yes, at two of them. Folio sits inside the Roslyn Packer building at 22 Hickson Road, and The Wharf restaurant is upstairs in the Wharf 4/5 building at 15 Hickson Road.
Which Walsh Bay restaurant is under the Harbour Bridge?
Pier One Sydney Harbour at 11 Hickson Road sits directly beneath it. The rest of Hickson Road looks out down the piers and across the water instead.
Where can you eat at Walsh Bay after a show?
Fewer places than before it. Most Hickson Road kitchens wind down by the time a late curtain falls, though the bars trade on and Elements Bar and Grill runs till late seven nights.
Can you hold a private event at Walsh Bay?
Yes, though not by the room. Elements Bar and Grill Walsh Bay is taken exclusively rather than in sections, and The Bayview sits on the same wharf for weddings and larger events.
Is Walsh Bay expensive?
It sits above suburban pricing and roughly in line with Circular Quay and Barangaroo, but the range within one street is wide, from dumplings to fine dining.
