Ask an Australian what you should eat while you are here and you will get an argument, not an answer. One person will insist on a pie from a particular bakery. Another will say it is a crime to leave without a chicken parma. A third will quietly admit the best meal of their year came out of a paper bag at a fish market. They are all right, and that is the problem.
Australian food is not one cuisine with a rulebook. It is British pub habits, Italian and Greek cooking that arrived after the war, Asian and Middle Eastern flavours that came later, and a slowly growing respect for ingredients that grew here long before wheat did. If you want the long academic version, the Wikipedia overview of Australian cuisine covers the history well. This guide is the short, practical one: what to order, roughly what it costs, where a good one is found, and what visitors tend to get wrong.
All prices are in Australian dollars and are rough ranges, because a pie in a country town and a pie in a Sydney laneway bakery are rarely the same price. Check the menu before you order.
Australian food at a glance
If you only have a minute, this table covers the main players. The detail comes after it.
| Food | What it is | Typical price | Easiest place to find it |
| Meat pie | Pastry case of beef or other meat in thick gravy | $5 to $9 | Bakeries, servos, footy grounds |
| Sausage sizzle | Barbecued sausage on white bread | $3 to $6 | Hardware stores, school fetes, polling booths |
| Fish and chips | Battered or grilled fish with hot chips | $12 to $22 | Beachside takeaway shops |
| Chicken parma | Crumbed chicken, napoli sauce, ham and cheese | $20 to $32 | Pubs |
| Burger with the lot | Beef patty with beetroot, egg and pineapple | $10 to $16 | Corner takeaway shops |
| Chiko Roll | Deep-fried roll of cabbage, barley and beef | $4 to $7 | Fish and chip shops |
| Lamington | Sponge cube dipped in chocolate and coconut | $3 to $6 | Bakeries, cafes, school fundraisers |
| Pavlova | Baked meringue with cream and fruit | $7 to $12 a serve | Cafes, family tables |
| Anzac biscuit | Oat, coconut and golden syrup biscuit | $2 to $4 | Bakeries, supermarkets |
| Tim Tam | Chocolate-coated chocolate biscuit | $4 to $6 a packet | Any supermarket |
| Barramundi | Firm, mild white fish | $32 to $48 | Restaurants, strongest in the north |
| Kangaroo fillet | Lean, rich red meat | $30 to $45 | Restaurants, some supermarkets |
| Flat white | Espresso with silky steamed milk | $4.50 to $6.50 | Every cafe in the country |
Here is the same information as a picture, which makes it obvious how cheap a lot of Australia’s best-known food is. You can eat like a local for the price of a coffee in some European cities, then spend a bit more on one proper seafood dinner.
Typical price ranges for popular Australian foods (AUD, approximate)
Pub and takeaway classics
1. The meat pie
If one food had to represent the country, it would probably be this. A proper Australian pie is a hand-sized pastry case of minced or chunky meat in gravy, bought hot from a bakery, a servo (petrol station) or a footy ground, and eaten standing up. Put tomato sauce on it. Then wait a minute, because the filling is hotter than lava and every visitor learns this the hard way.
Want to go further? Try a tiger pie at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels in Sydney, where the pie comes topped with mash, mushy peas and gravy. In Adelaide, look for a pie floater, which is a pie sitting upside down in a bowl of pea soup. It sounds wrong and tastes better than it should.
2. Sausage sizzle
A snag (sausage) on a slice of white bread with fried onion and a squirt of sauce. That is the entire dish, and it is one of the best-loved things in the country. You will find sizzles outside hardware stores, at school fundraisers and on election day, when voters line up for what everyone calls a democracy sausage. The only real debate is whether the onions go under the sausage or on top. Locals will defend their side to the end. It usually costs a few dollars, and the money often goes to a local cause.
3. Fish and chips
Every coastal town has a shop, and the best ones are close to the water. Order the local catch if it is on the board, and ask for the chips with chicken salt, a savoury seasoning that is a bigger deal here than you would expect. Take it to the beach, sit on the sand, and guard it from the seagulls. They have no manners and they are very fast.
4. Chicken parma
Crumbed chicken breast, napoli sauce, ham and melted cheese, served with chips and salad. It is Italian in spirit and thoroughly Australian in size. Most pubs serve one, many run a cheap parma night midweek, and people hold strong opinions on whether it is a parma or a parmi depending on which state they grew up in. Expect a plate big enough to share. If you like the Italian side of the story, the best Italian restaurants in Sydney show where the real thing is done properly.
5. A burger with the lot
Order a burger “with the lot” at a local takeaway and you get beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese, a fried egg, a slice of pineapple and a slice of tinned beetroot. The beetroot is the part visitors question, and the part they end up missing when they go home. It is messy, so grab extra napkins.
6. The Chiko Roll
Born in regional Victoria in the 1950s, the Chiko Roll is a thick, deep-fried roll filled with cabbage, barley, beef and vegetables. It was built to be eaten one-handed at the footy. Despite the name there is no chicken in it. It is not fine dining, but it is a proper bit of Australian history, and you will find it behind the counter at most fish and chip shops.
Sweet things worth a detour
7. Lamington
A square of sponge cake dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut. Some come split with cream or jam. The name comes from a Queensland governor, Lord Lamington, and the cake has been a bakery and fundraiser staple ever since. Buy one with a cup of tea. A dry lamington is a sad thing, so pick one that looks fresh.
8. Pavlova
A crisp meringue shell with a soft marshmallow centre, topped with whipped cream and fruit, usually passionfruit, strawberries and kiwi fruit. It turns up at Christmas lunch and summer barbecues. Yes, New Zealand claims it too, and the evidence for who invented it is genuinely tangled. The Wikipedia page on pavlova lays out both sides if you want to pick a team.
9. Anzac biscuits
Oats, coconut, flour and golden syrup, baked until chewy at the middle and crisp at the edge. They are tied to Anzac Day on 25 April and to the soldiers of the First World War, and they are on every bakery shelf around that date. Good with tea, even better a day or two old.
10. Tim Tams
Two chocolate biscuits with chocolate cream between them, coated in more chocolate. Buy a packet at any supermarket, then do the Tim Tam Slam. Bite off two opposite corners, use the biscuit as a straw for hot tea or coffee, and eat it before it collapses. You will make a mess. That is the point.
11. Fairy bread and the vanilla slice
Fairy bread is buttered white bread covered in hundreds and thousands, cut into triangles. You will only really see it at children’s birthday parties, so ask a friend with kids. The vanilla slice, sometimes called a snot block by the people who love it, is a wobbling layer of custard between puff pastry with icing on top. Pubs and bakeries both sell it. Be brave.
The salty stuff: Vegemite and chicken salt
12. Vegemite
A dark, salty spread made from yeast extract, created in Melbourne in the early 1920s. Visitors either love it or spit it out. The trick is restraint. Butter a hot slice of toast generously, then scrape a thin layer of Vegemite across it. If you spread it like peanut butter, you have made a mistake and you will tell everyone Vegemite is disgusting. Try it properly once before deciding.
13. Chicken salt
It is a seasoning, not a dish, but it belongs on this list. Most brands contain no actual chicken, and the flavour is savoury, a little sweet and a little herby. It turns plain chips into something you cannot stop eating. Look for it at fish and chip shops, and buy a shaker from a supermarket to take home.
Seafood and native ingredients
14. Barramundi
Firm, mild, white and slightly sweet, barramundi is the fish most associated with the tropical north, though farmed fish now reaches menus across the country. Grilled with lemon, pan fried with crispy skin or in a beer-battered basket, it is a good gateway to local seafood. If you are heading north, the best restaurants in Port Douglas are a good place to eat it fresh with a harbour view.
15. Oysters, prawns and Moreton Bay bugs
Australia has a long coastline and the seafood shows it. Sydney rock oysters, Coffin Bay oysters from South Australia and Tasmanian oysters are all worth ordering by the half dozen. Prawns are a national Christmas tradition, and Moreton Bay bugs, which are small flat lobster-like crustaceans, are a Queensland favourite. If you only visit one seafood market, the Sydney Fish Market is the obvious one. The address is in the venue table below.
16. Kangaroo
Yes, people eat it. Kangaroo is very lean and rich in iron, with a flavour somewhere between beef and venison. It is easy to overcook, so ask for it rare to medium rare. You will find it on restaurant menus and in the meat aisle of many supermarkets. If you are curious but nervous, start with a kangaroo burger or skewer before committing to a fillet.
17. Bush tucker
Indigenous Australians have eaten native plants and animals for tens of thousands of years, and the ingredients are finally getting their due in restaurants. Look for lemon myrtle, wattleseed, finger lime, Kakadu plum, quandong and saltbush on menus. If you want to buy them to take home, choose Indigenous-owned suppliers where you can, so the money goes back to the communities who know these foods best.
Coffee, brunch and the multicultural table
18. A flat white
A short espresso with milk steamed to a velvety texture, sitting somewhere between a latte and a cappuccino. Both Australia and New Zealand claim it, and the argument is never going to end. Melbourne and Sydney take it very seriously, and a mediocre coffee in a good cafe is rare. Our guide to Melbourne’s best coffee roasters is a good place to start if you are in Victoria.
19. Smashed avocado on toast
Brunch is practically a sport here. The classic order is avocado crushed on sourdough with feta, lemon and a poached egg. It is not unique to Australia any more, but the cafe culture around it is, and it makes a very good breakfast on a travel day.
20. Whatever the migrants brought
This is the part of Australian food that surprises visitors most. Greek souvlaki, Vietnamese pork rolls, dim sims, Lebanese bakeries, Korean fried chicken and a lot of excellent Thai food are as Australian today as a meat pie. In Adelaide, for example, the best Thai restaurants tell you plenty about how the local food scene has grown. Do not skip them just because they are not “traditional”.
Where to try these foods: addresses and ratings
These are well-known places where you can try some of the foods above. Ratings come from Google Maps at the time of writing and will move around, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a promise.
| Place | Address | Try this | Google rating |
| Harry’s Cafe de Wheels | Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011 | Tiger pie, milkshake | 4.3 out of 5 |
| Sydney Fish Market | 1 Bridge Rd, Glebe NSW 2037 | Oysters, prawns, seafood platters | 4.2 out of 5 |
| Young and Jacksons | 1 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000 | Chicken parma, fish and chips, barramundi | 4.2 out of 5 |
| Queen Victoria Market | Queen St, Melbourne VIC 3000 | Bakery items, fresh produce, street food | 4.5 out of 5 |
| Adelaide Central Market | 44-60 Gouger St, Adelaide SA 5000 | Pies, cheese, fresh produce, coffee | 4.6 out of 5 |
| Joe’s Fish Shack | 42 Mews Rd, Fremantle WA 6160 | Fish and chips, seafood platter | 4.1 out of 5 |
Markets in particular keep odd hours, and some are closed on certain weekdays, so check the opening days before you travel. Adelaide Central Market and Queen Victoria Market both skip a couple of days a week.
What to look for in each state
| State or territory | Food to hunt down |
| New South Wales | Sydney rock oysters, tiger pies, harbourside seafood, a strong Italian and Asian dining scene |
| Victoria | Coffee culture, laneway bakeries, vanilla slices, Greek and Vietnamese food |
| Queensland | Moreton Bay bugs, tropical fruit, mud crab, lamingtons in their home state |
| South Australia | Pie floaters, Coffin Bay oysters, Barossa wines, the Central Market |
| Western Australia | Fremantle seafood, Margaret River wineries, cray (rock lobster) |
| Tasmania | Scallop pie, fresh oysters, cool-climate cheese and apples |
| Northern Territory | Barramundi, native ingredients, laksa in Darwin |
Aussie food words you will need
Half the trouble ordering here is the vocabulary. This short table will save you a confused conversation at the counter.
| Word | Meaning |
| Snag | Sausage |
| Servo | Petrol station, which often sells decent pies |
| Takeaway | Food to eat out, or the shop selling it |
| Chips | What Americans call fries, and the thick ones that come with fish |
| Entree | A starter, not the main course |
| Capsicum | Bell pepper |
| Arvo | Afternoon, as in “see you this arvo” |
| Bottle-o | Bottle shop, where you buy beer and wine to take away |
| Esky | A portable cooler for drinks and barbecue food |
Practical tips for eating your way around
- Tipping is not expected. Round up or leave a few dollars for genuinely good service, but nobody will chase you.
- Tap water is free and safe. Ask for it at any restaurant and nobody will blink.
- Some restaurants are BYO, meaning you can bring your own wine for a small corkage fee. Check when booking.
- Tell staff clearly about allergies. Menus usually label gluten, dairy and nuts, but ask anyway.
- Do not carry fresh food into the country. Australia has strict biosecurity rules, and undeclared food can lead to heavy fines.
- Eat at the odd hour. Lunch from 12 to 2 and dinner from 6 to 8 are busiest, so book ahead on Friday and Saturday.
Final thoughts
You do not need to tick off every item here. Pick three or four that appeal to you, say yes to the odd weird recommendation from a local, and leave room for the thing you did not plan on eating. That is usually the meal you remember. Start with a hot pie, finish with a lamington, and you will have a pretty good idea of how Australians eat.
Frequently asked questions
What is the national dish of Australia?
There is no official one. The meat pie, the Sunday roast lamb and the pavlova are the most common answers, and you will get a different one from every person you ask. The Wikipedia article on Australian cuisine explains why the answer is so mixed.
What should I eat first when I arrive in Sydney?
A pie or fish and chips by the water is the easiest start, and a proper pasta dinner is a strong second. For the second, see our list of the best Italian restaurants in Sydney.
Where is the best coffee in Australia?
Most people would point to Melbourne first, though Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide all have excellent cafes. Start with our guide to the best coffee roasters in Melbourne.
Is kangaroo meat safe to eat?
Yes. It is sold commercially in restaurants and supermarkets, and it is very lean. The one thing to watch is cooking time, because overcooked kangaroo turns dry and tough quickly.
Is pavlova from Australia or New Zealand?
Nobody can say for sure. Both countries claim it and the historical evidence is messy. The Wikipedia page on pavlova covers the competing stories if you want to read more.
Is eating out in Australia expensive?
It depends on what you order. Pies, sausage sizzles, bakery goods and takeaway fish and chips are cheap. Restaurant seafood and steak cost more. A trip to somewhere like Port Douglas shows the range, and our guide to the best restaurants in Port Douglas can help you plan the budget.
Is Vegemite worth trying?
Yes, once, and properly. Use a thin layer on buttered toast. If you still hate it, you have at least earned the right to say so.
Where can I find good Asian food in Australia?
Almost everywhere. Capital cities have excellent options in every cuisine. Our guide to the best Thai restaurants in Adelaide is a good example of how deep the local scene goes.
Do I have to tip in Australia?
No. Wages are higher than in many countries and tipping is optional. A few extra dollars for great service is always welcome.
Related posts
- Best Pizza in Brisbane: 20 Local Favourites Worth Your Appetite
- Best Italian Restaurants in Sydney: 20 Tables Worth Booking
- Best Thai Restaurants in Adelaide: 20 Local Picks, Prices and Honest Notes
- Best Restaurants in Port Douglas: Where to Eat from Wharf Street to Macrossan Street
- Best Coffee Roasters in Melbourne: 12 Local Favourites Worth the Queue
Disclaimer
This article is general information for travellers and is not professional dietary, medical or travel advice. Prices, opening hours, addresses and ratings change often, so confirm details with each venue before you go. Ratings are drawn from Google Maps at the time of writing. Anyone with food allergies or dietary needs should speak directly to venue staff before ordering. Mentions of venues are editorial and are not paid placements.
