SAINT PETER

362 Oxford Street, Paddington; (02) 8937 2530 saintpeter.com.au Open Saturday-Sunday for brunch (11am3pm), Friday for lunch and Tuesday-Sunday for dinner

By night, this slender, rowdy bistro with exposed brick and elbow-to-elbow seating is the seafood restaurant we’ve been yearning for. The just-out-of-the-water fish is cooked with care and accompanied by a few ingredients that let the hero of the dish shine. But as much as we adore dinner at Saint Peter, the brunches have reached cult status (so make a booking). Guided by the same ethos, Josh Niland shows why he’s one of Australia’s best seafood chefs. Pambula sea urchin arrives with housemade crumpets. Small, sweet Kinkawooka Shellfish mussels are served in an omelette. Tasmanian octopus head is given the Scotch-egg treatment. And a soft-boiled egg and spinach-like fat hen greens sidle up to salt-baked Petuna ocean trout. A stunning start to the day.