10 of Sydney’s best private dining rooms

The Theatre Royale dining room at Restaurant Hubert,
Credit: Restaurant Hubert

Whether it’s a business dinner, party or just a big family to feed, sometimes you want to eat, drink and be merry in private. Here are Sydney’s best private dining rooms and entire restaurants you can book.

1) Restaurant Hubert

What you can book: This transportive, underground French bistro in the CBD offers several cool spaces for your crew. For smaller dinners, the intimate Port Cave has you surrounded by vintage bottles, while the Botero Boardroom is inspired by artist Fernando Botero – both fit 10 people. For bigger events, The Theatre Royale – a beautifully restored theatre fitted with red velvet drapes, an elevated stage and vintage seating – fits 45 seated guests or 60 standing, and is a working theatre for presentations, live music or speakers. If you’re really splashing out, hire out the entire restaurant, which seats up to 100 and has the option of a live jazz band.

What’s on the menu: Guests will be served from one of two banquet menus, with your choice of Hubert favourites such as the duck parfait, chicken fricassee, beef tartare and crème caramel.

2) Icebergs Dining Room and Bar

What you can book: Perfect for out-of-towners or lunchtime events where you need to impress, Icebergs’ iconic Bondi Beach views provide the ultimate Sydney backdrop to your meal. With a glass-balustrade balcony overlooking the turquoise water and golden sand of Sydney’s most famous beach, the restaurant’s aquamarine Pacific Dining Room fits up to 40 people and has its own private bar.

What’s on the menu: Groups here will be served the same Italian-inspired, seafood-leaning menu as the main dining room, with a tasting menu option that includes yellowfin tuna crostini, prawn risotto, Aquna Murray cod and more.

3) Sizzling Fillo

What you can book: Experience a true Filipino fiesta at a boodle fight, a feast where a bounty of traditional dishes are spread across a banana-leaf-covered table for guests to share (usually with their hands). Sizzling Fillo in Lidcombe in Sydney’s western suburbs offers a range of boodle menus for three to 60 people (you’ll need a group of at least 50 to hire out the entire restaurant), from ‘basic’ eight-dish options to deluxe sizzling feasts.

What’s on the menu: Most of the boodle menus include Filipino standards like garlic rice and crispy pata (pork leg), but the deluxe versions also include sizzling sisig (spiced minced pork with lime), grilled prawns and scallops, and a dessert of either leche flan or halo halo (layered ice dessert). Kids boodle menus are available, too.

4) The Eight

The private dining room at The Eight, Haymarket
Credit: The Eight

What you can book: At this beloved Chinatown yum cha and Cantonese dining spot, private groups are whisked away into a cosy Chinese-inspired room decorated with abacus beads, fine porcelain vases and, of course, a big lazy Susan. There are five private dining rooms available, and the entire restaurant can also be booked out for big events, with a capacity of up to 750 people.

What’s on the menu: There are three banquet menus to choose from – ‘Love’, ‘Faithful’ and ‘Kindness’ – which offer both Cantonese and other Chinese classics like dim sum, XO pipis, salt and pepper mud crab, Peking duck and more.

5) The Apollo

What you can book: Want to watch the kitchen in action? The Chefs Table room at Potts Point’s modern Greek bistro The Apollo is right beside the kitchen and seats up to 12 people. It can be booked for lunch Fridays to Sundays, or dinners any evening of the week. The full restaurant can be hired for exclusive use for up to 80 people.

What’s on the menu: Guests will be served either the eight-course ‘Full Greek’ or the 13-course ‘Apollo’s Feast’ – both of which feature two of The Apollo’s cult-favourite dishes, the slow-cooked lamb shoulder and sizzling honey-drenched saganaki. A vegan set menu is also available.

6) Shell House

What you can book: Every dining space in this multi-level CBD bar and restaurant looks like a luxurious, retro Italian hotel and can be booked for exclusive use, from the 200-person ground-floor Menzies Bar to the 10th-floor, 140-person Sky Bar. There are two smaller group-dining spaces, too – 24 guests can have a seat in the semi-private space in the main dining room, while the ninth-floor Clocktower Bar fits up to 40 exclusively, with the roof of the restored, 400-tonne clocktower soaring above.

What’s on the menu: Guests can dine from one of three shared four-course banquet menus, with dishes like butternut-and-ricotta ravioli, dry-aged Angus beef, coal-roasted whole lobster and more.

7) Porcine

What you can book: Located above boutique Paddington wine store P&V, Porcine is known for nose-to-tail French dishes paired with small-batch wines. While there’s no private dining room in this warm and homely nook on Oxford Street, guests can book out the entire dining room for exclusive dinners, with a capacity of up to 40 people.

What’s on the menu: You’ll be treated to a seasonal set menu, which may include their iconic pâté en croûte (pastry-wrapped pie), baked ruby snapper with lobster butter and French fries.

8) Sea Raes

Sea Raes yacht, Sydney Harbour - Credit: Sea Raes

What you can book: An extension of their Byron Bay restaurant and retreat, Raes on Wategos, Sea Raes gives Sydneysiders a chance to experience the tropical luxury closer to home on a 100-foot, three-deck luxury yacht. Up to 10 guests can have exclusive use on daily or overnight charters, departing from Sydney Harbour or Pittwater from November to April, with their own chef on board.

What’s on the menu: All menus are designed exclusively by Raes’ executive chef Jason Saxby, who has curated a Mediterranean culinary journey as luxe as the yacht setting and sparkling views. From breakfast through to aperitivos, dishes include oysters with finger lime, salt-baked snapper, bay lobster and more.

9) Yan

What you can book: Awarded one hat in the 2023 Good Food Guide, this ‘Asian smokehouse’ in Wolli Creek has been celebrated for its modern take on Southeast Asian cuisine. The restaurant can be booked out for the exclusive use of up to 30 people for lunches from Wednesday to Sunday.

What’s on the menu: Yan (meaning ‘smoke’ in Cantonese) serves a range of smoked foods in a fine-dining style: prawns, chicken katsu, lamb ribs, pork and more. The cocktails here are also mixed to match the creativity of the menu, from a smoky lemon-ginger whisky highball to a genmaicha (roasted-rice green tea) sake.

10) emendi

What you can book: Take your group to experience authentic Yemeni cuisine at Sydney’s only Yemeni restaurant, located in Beverly Hills in southwest Sydney. There are three Middle Eastern-inspired private rooms to choose from: one booth that fits eight to 10 people; and two Arabic-style, rug-covered, floor-seated rooms for up to 20 people each.

What’s on the menu: Yemendi specialises in mandi: a spiced and smoked broth-cooked rice layered with slow-cooked lamb or chicken. Other dishes include a tomato and prawn curry cooked in a traditional stone pot, and a rich lamb and bread soup. Finish your meal with a traditional Adeni tea, a sweet black tea with condensed milk, cardamom and cloves.

* Destination NSW