Cafe Paci

This venue is included in Good Food’s 100 Essential Restaurants list.

Chances are, Cafe Paci is your favourite chef’s favourite Sydney restaurant, but this isn’t just a hospitality hangout. Midweek, the leather banquettes are at capacity, staff focused and flitting between bistro tables. Finnish owner-chef Pasi Petanen maps his culinary journey to the plate, weaving the big flavours and technical prowess gained over a career spanning Marque and Lankan Filling Station into a menu of uniform excellence and wine bar sensibilities.

Everyone orders the staples; heady slices of potato bread painted in sticky-sweet molasses; rye tacos, soft and saucy with ox tongue; and potato dumplings in caramelised trout XO. Stray to the specials scrawled on the mirror for fresh takes on trends like raw tuna on toast, here presented as delicate layers of crudo sheathed in lardo, sharpened with horseradish. Petanen has a penchant for unexpected pairings, but there’s comfort, too, in those final spoonfuls of a strawberry rhubarb tart with toasty hazelnut sauce.

Good to know: Book ahead. Yes, even on a Monday.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.

Last visited: September 2026

More:

• Newtown
• Cafe Paci
• Sydney
• Contemporary
• Accepts bookings
• Separate bar
• Vegan-friendly
• Good for solo diners
• Late-night dining
• Licensed
• Date night
• Vegetarian-friendly
• Gluten-free options
• Restaurant
• Wine bar
• Reviews
• Good Food Guide
• 100 Essential Restaurants
• Critics’ Pick