La Botte D'Oro

Dining with real Italians is more than just a possibility at Leichardt’s La Botte D’Oro. Sure the inner west Sydney suburb has long been a stronghold for the city’s Italian community, but few can boast the pedigree of La Botte D’Oro, helmed by Roman emigre Guglielmo ‘Memmo’ Petrini, who arrived on Australian shores in the heady days of 1969. Since 1977, this Italian restaurant has held steadfast at the same Marion Street premises, offering a menu packed with traditional Italian dishes, a core offering that has more or less remained unchanged even as the number of loyal patrons, and the size of the restaurant, has grown over the decades.

Yenikoy’s menus cover all the bases, and then some, beginning with breakfast and running through lunch to dinner. It’s also a cafe, inviting those in search of a good (Turkish) coffee to drop in on their way down Newtown’s King Street. But Yenikoy goes the extra mile with its lavish banquets, and offers one of the best Ramadan menus in Sydney, perfect for iftar or the long-awaited eid. Winding back to breakfast, Yenikoy is fast becoming a popular spot in the inner west come the weekend, so if traditional gozleme, menemen, borek, sucuk and cheese pide, or kiymali yumurta (our favourite: fried eggs and veggies with spicy ground grass-fed beef served on toasted Turkish bread) tickle your Saturday or Sunday morning fancy, we’d advise you to book.

Lunch at Yenikoy sees this Newtown Turkish restaurant and cafe throwing inventive burgers into the mix, with the Yenikoy Royale topping the list: organic, grass-fed beef with organic cheddar, rocket, caramelised onion and mustard on sourdough. There’s a big emphasis here on organic produce, with organic chicken or lamb finding itself alongside apricot rice and sauteed vegetables in the traditional Turkish sac kavurma come dinner time. A fine way to explore not only what’s on offer at Yenikoy’s King Street premises but also one of Sydney’s finest and most diverse offerings of Turkish cuisine is to book a banquet. Put yourself and your next celebration in the capable hands of these veteran restaurateurs and really indulge.