Le Kiosk, Sydney, Australia

Le Kiosk is a french/euro/fusion place just around the corner from Manly beach. It is set in its own cove and overlooks Manly which is a great view as the sun sets. Sitting on the beach it ticks all the boxes for ambiance straight-off.

Next is the attentive, quiet, relaxed and charming service. First-rate, unhurried but without the starchiness of other high-brow Sydney restaurants.

Then the food. OK there could be a little more choice but in each case the dishes were simply delicious, plentiful, and very fresh. You'd be mad not to try one of the several fine fish dishes. The white wine is also very good with a better choice than average. But you can't go far wrong than opt for the local Hunter Valley Semillons.

By way of a yardstick, we went to this place on the last night of a 3 week tour of the Sydney area and had eaten well along the way. This place, however, easily beat the rest of a strong field. I can't put it more bluntly than that.