While the city swoons over Josh and Julie Niland’s new-look Paddington flagship,Petermen is ticking along nicely by channelling some of Saint Peter’s ambition,but retaining a touch of neighbourhood eatery in its DNA. The room is comfortable,made even more-so by Sam Martin’s cracking drinks list,and the snacks are clever,particularly lemongrass-fragrant spanner crab broth in periwinkle shells,and dialled up bigeye tuna sobrasada on toast. Niland’s take on XO pipis,meanwhile,comes with a doughnut riffing on youtiao and made for mopping. Expect less whimsy with mains,just expertly cooked fish (King George whiting over charcoal,say) caught by some of the country’s seafood heroes,plus the recent addition of side-by-side surf and turf comparisons. And while there’s no caneles topped with caviar here,as per Saint Peter,kumquat madeleines baked in oyster shells give north shore diners plenty to swoon about.

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North Shore and Northern Beaches

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