Chef Tristan Rosier and his partner Bec Fanning have transformed their Surry Hills restaurant Arthur into a larger, more casual dining experience in 2024. The new iteration features seating for up to 55 guests and an à la carte menu, replacing the previous tasting-menu-only format. The article highlights the restaurant's focus on Australian ingredients and balanced, harmonious dishes, such as Sydney rock oysters served with shallot vinaigrette and a buttery sourdough accompaniment.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
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Story summary
In Surry Hills, Sydney, the restaurant Arthur has undergone significant changes in 2024. Previously operating as a 25-seat venue focusing on an intimate tasting menu experience since 2016, chef Tristan Rosier and partner Bec Fanning decided to revamp their concept for longevity and conviviality. The new iteration of Arthur now accommodates up to 55 guests and offers à la carte dining options, including popular dishes like quail parma ($36), cheese tart ($14), ebi prawns ($18), and lamb leg ham ($14). The establishment also boasts an all-Australian wine list with some non-alcoholic alternatives. A meal for two at Arthur averages around $220, excluding drinks, making it a versatile spot for both casual dining and special occasions.
Written for “Arthur Restaurant Renovation” on 2026-09-14,
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It’s old school.
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For the past eight years, Rosier and his partner, Bec Fanning, had run this Surry Hills restaurant as an intimate, 25-seat tasting menu-only experience.
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But back in 2024, the couple began to think about what the next iteration of Arthur would look like.
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iteration → begin → Arthur
Ultimately, that was a place they would be comfortable dining in themselves over the next decade or longer.
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That meant extending the seating to 55 to allow them to welcome walk-ins, and ditching the tasting menu.
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So this is Arthur Mark II, offering lots of things I want to eat, in the way I like to eat best: luxuriously, with time on my side.
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Oysters can be ordered by the piece, which could very well prove to be the perfect metric for how well a date’s going.
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Today’s are both Sydney rock – lean, iodine-y Wallis Lakes and sweeter, creamier Merimbulas – served with friendly, informed enthusiasm and a little shallot vinaigrette.
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House-made sourdough arrives warm with a side of kefir butter – it’s a beautiful accompaniment to the oysters.
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A whole steamed globe artichoke is served at room temperature, its heart filled with a little pool of mandarin oil.
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It’s a nice nod to the world of retro cold appetisers – particularly when paired with a locally made port and tonic.
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You’ll see Rosier on the pans, working with a quiet economy.
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Raw prawns no larger than the top of my thumb are draped with razor-thin slices of cured swordfish belly that melt on the tongue.
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Dressed with a mix of prawn oil, bergamot juice and zest, each is a concentrated little explosion of flavour.
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(Take a preview by walking out the back of the dining room and into a dark, tiled antechamber where cabinets are filled with dry-ageing cuts of meat.)
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But now that I’ve met it, I can see we’re going to remain close friends.
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The little gamebird with its sweet, musky meat is butterflied, stuffed with ham, crumbed and fried ’til crisp and garnished with soft herbs.
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We treat it as our main course and build a few little dishes around it.
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Consider the sauteed bitter greens with macadamia and parsley, and a side of sugarloaf cabbage – its frills sweetly charred – finished with a native pepper and pear sauce.
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And while the potato scroll – ribbons of potato tightly wound into a sort of starchy pinwheel, baked until crisp and golden and crusted in salt – is a little rawer in the middle than I’d like
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, the smoked seaweed butter sauce it’s served on has a beautifully deep savour.
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Rags of juicy cured lamb (they’re calling it lamb ham on the menu) is sweetened with a pickled muntrie chutney, it’s like something I imagine they might have served at smoko on a sheep station 50 years ago.
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The Arthur cheese tart has a similar vibe.
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While the short, crumbly pastry holding sweet pear jam covered in shavings of bitey Bruny Island C2 cheese is technically part of the dessert menu, I’d happily eat a plate of these with a crisp beer as an afternoon snack.
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You can see why they’ve never taken it off the menu.
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I’m a little sad to miss out on the macadamia and passionfruit Alaska (who can resist that level of ice-cream drama?) but there’s real elegant simplicity in a dense, wattleseed-crusted custard tart.
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The vibe might be relaxed, but it’s a dining experience executed with skill and care.
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They’ve even tailored the acoustics to prioritise good table conversation.
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Low-talkers and the industrially deaf, this one’s for you.
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The low-down
Atmosphere: Easy, relaxed drinking and dining built to outlast trends
Go-to dishes: Quail parma ($36); cheese tart ($14); ebi prawns ($18); lamb leg ham ($14)
Drinks: A proudly all-Aussie wine and spirits list with some fun booze-free options
Cost: About $220 for two, excluding drinks
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently.
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A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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