Askal is a portmanteau of “asong kalye”, a Tagalog term meaning “street dog”. As contributor Sandra Tan wrote in her first look story, it’s “a mascot of Filipino resilience, resourcefulness and adaptability that resonates particularly with the diaspora”. A group of Filipino hospitality pros – John Rivera, Michael Mabuti, Ralph Libo-on and Carlos Consunji – opened this restaurant in February. Chef Rivera (ex-Amaru, Sunda, Lume) starts with a strong snack game, exemplified by a standout barbeque pork skewer with staple Filipino condiment banana ketchup and atchara (Filipino pickled papaya). He continues serving hits right through to dessert. Libo-on looks after drinks and uses ingredients like calamansi and coconut sap (and he somehow made me a durian convert with his Cecil’s Sour). But what makes Askal an essential visit is the sense of community throughout the space – While venues can sometimes feel cookie-cutter, you leave this one with the feeling that only this specific group of people could have opened this restaurant. – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food & drink editor

Hospo couple Brad Cooper – formerly the head chef at Bar Francine and Florence – and Matilda Riek, who worked front-of-house at both venues are behind this stunning, light-filled restaurant in a heritage-listed 136-year-old church. Begin with ox tongue and green tomato fritters, and an entrée of asparagus with hazelnut oil vinaigrette and hollandaise before moving on to radicchio with lamb breast and a mint-and-anchovy dressing, or a mud crab omelette. Larger plates include a foie-gras-stuffed chicken crown with peas à la Française and grilled flounder with vongole, butter beans and saffron butter. Riek keeps the drinks menu concise and approachable, offering a short list of classic cocktails, tins of beer, and a 30-bottle wine list. – Elliot Baker, contributor

When he was a kid, Tom Tilbury went to lunch at the Botanic Gardens Restaurant for his grandma’s birthday. The lunch inspired him to become a chef. Now, a couple of decades on, Tilbury is cooking in a beautifully appointed kitchen, right in the middle of the Botanic Gardens. Its menu is approachable but exceptionally executed and dripping in nostalgia. The menu features a pasty served on a crumpled tuck shop bag and a crumbed Tommy Ruff sandwich served with iceberg lettuce and mayo on white bread (with the crusts cut off). Desserts include a take on a Golden Gaytime and elevated lamingtons with quandong jam. – Lucy Bell Bird, assistant national editor

You’d be sorry to miss this small, dark and intimate restaurant at the not-so-frequented end of Little Collins Street. Mika Chae’s cooking takes classic Korean flavours and puts them through a very Melbourne lens: small plates, lots of moody styling, and a whole heap of funk and spice. The aptly named Doju potato is my favourite and a dish you shouldn’t miss. It’s potato pavé topped with butter and shaved truffle – the perfect pairing for Chae’s doenjang-marinated Berkshire pork chop. – Claire Adey, contributor

The unwavering hospitality at Firepop comes, seemingly, as easily as breathing to husband-wife team Raymond Hou and Alina Van. They inhale a welcoming warmth and exhale some of the most creative dishes Sydney’s seen this year. The bulk of the menu echoes the meat-on-a-stick that Firepop loyalists know from the food truck pop-up days: marble score 9+ Wagyu beef; lamb seasoned with cumin, dukkah, chilli and Davidson’s plum; chicken hearts; chicken tail with sesame; and Sichuan-seasoned tofu. And though meat does star, blistered Padron peppers (served with grey sea salt and a chaser of frozen pickled grapes to curb the searing heat) and a corn rib heaped with caciocavallo, garlic and house-made yoghurt butter both serve vegos well. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food & drink editor

The luxe brasserie and grill from the Kaillis Group offers views from South Cottesloe to Rottnest, waistcoated staff and a menu of classic French cooking from James Cole Bowen. The seafood bar serves pacific oysters kilpatrick with preserved chilli and smoked lardo. And the grill cooks western rock lobster with curried buckwheat and vadouvan butter. The Gibney Caesar (served tableside) and Fremantle swordfish (300 grams) are knockouts. For dessert, there’s chocolate cake with olive oil gelato and strawberries and cream, with shaved red berry ice and strawberry consommé. The vast drinks menu includes Perth’s largest champagne selection. But the tableside cocktails, particularly the smoked Negroni, steal the show. – Clare Ryan, contributor

Greville Street’s alluring new Sri Lankan restaurant is by Jason Jones and Brahman (Bremi) Perera, the same pair behind Entrecote. In the convivial dining room, you might spot Perera’s mother roaming between tables, welcoming guests and sharing stories of the menu (like why the mango fluff is a tribute to Bremi’s grandmother). As its name suggests, this place is all about hoppers, the bowl-shaped “pancakes” (made from fermented ground rice and coconut milk), which accompany punchy sambals and curries on stainless-steel trays. Ring the antique bell on your table and waitstaff will whisk out some freshies from the open kitchen. – Stephanie Vigilante, head of social media

This Latin American dining room is grand, and it marks Alejandro Saravia’s (of Melbourne’s Farmer’s Daughters) return to Sydney. At least one ceviche is essential, along with the perfected eggplant arepa and the melty ox tongue anticuchos; a mighty swordfish Milanesa is a knockout main. The takeover of the heritage GPO building is special, with an open kitchen, gold-framed paintings from Saravia’s grandmother’s collection in Peru and postcards to send in the classic bright-red box outside. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food & drink editor

The Adelaide Hills is full of exciting food and drink pairings; Ondeen is one of the best of them. It’s inside a heritage Verdun homestead with spectacular panoramic views. The menu is by Topiary’s Kane Pollard, who’s bringing his locavore philosophy to the equation. And there are small-batch spirits by Full Circle. As part-owner and culinary director, Pollard’s à la carte and set menus embrace the bounty of the landscape. Opening menu highlights included brined tomato and smoked mussels on fried toast; pickled sardines served with cauliflower cream and sweet corn; and a honey malt crème caramel with fresh honeycomb. In harmony with Pollard’s closed-loop cooking, head distiller and Ondeen co-owner Rose Kentish offers multiple Full Circle spirit tastings including of vodka, gin, liqueur and whisky, as well as a non-alcoholic tasting. – Lucy Bell Bird, assistant national editor

It took eight years for Josh and Julie Niland's tiny fish eatery in Paddington to become one of Australia’s most important restaurants. Why risk it all by completely changing things up as soon as they hit the top? Why not sit back and enjoy the view for a moment? In hindsight, of course, we had nothing to worry about. The relocated, expanded and reimagined Saint Peter at the Grand National Hotel is triumphant, self-assured, and as fundamentally special as the Oxford Street original. Whether it’s a yellowfin tuna cheeseburger and a Martini at the bar or the thrilling set menu experience in the restaurant proper, Saint Peter continues to be an essential Sydney dining experience. Some things never change. – Callum McDermott, contributor

Former Hentley Farm chef Clare Falzon is one of Adelaide’s brightest young talents. At Staguni she’s team up with four other people (who own regional art space Wonderground Gallery, a wine label of the same name, and Mirus Vineyards) to open a restaurant in a former brick schoolhouse built in 1922. On the classroom’s original blackboard, specials and wine by the glass are scrawled in chalk. Inspired by Falzon’s Maltese heritage, the menu draws on Mediterranean cooking influenced by the island’s neighbours Sicily, North Africa and the Middle East.Then there’s beverage director Christopher Stagg, who’s back in his native state after 25 years working in top bars across Sydney, New York and London. Currently on the menu are Spanish omelettes, pickled octopus and leek nicoise, Coorong mullet with almond and capers, and other Spanish-leaning dishes. – Lucy Bell Bird, assistant national editor

Thelma isn’t a cafe, nor is it really a bistro, but the quality and the creativity of the food served here puts it firmly in the restaurant category. It’s an all-day dining destination inside the old Brid space inspired by venues in Europe where you can have your morning coffee, grab a glass of wine and a snack, or pick up provisions and produce. The trio of James Spreadbury (service directory at Copenhagen’s Noma), Loc’s Olivia Moore and former Summertown Aristologist chef Tom Campbell shares a similar approach to food, wine and hospitality, and a deep respect for produce and provenance. The food at Thelma is best described as European country cooking, informed by what Spreadbury’s brother Tim is growing at his highly regarded small-scale market garden, Presqil. That might mean evolving, grazing-style breakfast plates – made up of bits and pieces like seasonal veggies, cheese slices, house-made sourdough and a boiled egg – or Comte tarts, escargots and savoury pizzettas. For lunch, expect nourishing, produce-led, French-leaning dishes alongside local and European wines made as purely as possible. – Max Veenhuyzen, contributor