Inside the Aussie restaurant named one of the best in the WORLD – and Nigella Lawson is a huge fan

An acclaimed Sydney restaurant has just scored a mouth-watering win on the global stage.

Making serious waves in the culinary world, it seems the little fish has made a splash in a very big pond.

Saint Peter, the groundbreaking seafood eatery helmed by Australian chef and restaurateur Josh Niland and his wife Julie, has landed at No.66 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025 extended list.

The incredible honour puts it shoulder-to-shoulder with the planet’s most celebrated dining destinations.

Josh shared the impressive news on social media after his Paddington restaurant jumped 32 spots on the list, up from No.98 last year. 

‘What an outstanding achievement,’ Niland said on Instagram.

‘Julie and I couldn’t be more grateful and proud of the superhuman efforts of the entire team… Alongside our own team, we celebrate the long list of suppliers, producers and artisans that make Saint Peter the special place it is.’

Spread across 25 destinations and 37 cities, the extended list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025 features some of the most esteemed dining spots in the world.

Places including Atxondo, Fürstenau, Macau, Queenstown, São Paulo, San Francisco and Tulum, among many others are on the list.

While it’s not every day a local restaurant gets mentioned in the same breath as culinary giants worldwide, this momentous nod proves what many Aussie foodies have known for years: Saint Peter is in a league of its own.

And if you needed more convincing, Nigella Lawson herself is a devout fan.

The British culinary queen has raved about Saint Peter on her multiple trips to Australia, calling chef Josh Niland ‘a genius’ and describing her meals at the restaurant as nothing short of transcendent.

‘Josh Niland is, simply, a genius,’ Lawson wrote in one of her now-famous Instagram food reviews.

‘His inventiveness, delicate touch, exquisite care, and joyful gift for flavour and texture just bowl me over.’

This year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list praised Saint Peter for ‘taking the great Australian seafood tradition to previously unexplored heights’ – and they’re not wrong.

The small but mighty restaurant, tucked away in the inner Eastern-Sydney suburb of Paddington, is unlike any other.

Niland, affectionately dubbed ‘the fish butcher’, has redefined how chefs think about seafood with his bold gill-to-fin approach, utilising every edible part of the fish, from the bones and eyes to the scales and even the offal.

Inspired by techniques traditionally used in meat cookery, Josh’s pioneering philosophy has sparked a global movement in sustainable seafood.

And his menu? It changes daily, based on what’s fresh and available that morning.

Nigella’s long list of unforgettable dishes at Saint Peter reads like a love letter to Niland’s genius.

She’s waxed lyrical about ‘the sensational oysters,’ ‘coral trout bone noodles in maitake mushroom broth,’ and a show-stopping raw bream dish with marigold ponzu, cucumber and purple daikon.

Then there’s the ‘crazily wonderful fish charcuterie,’ a Saint Peter signature made from the secondary cuts into things like spiced yellowfin tuna and Murray cod chorizo, silky rock flathead mortadella, and John Dory liver pâté.

Other favourites? A Balmain Bug. ‘The most luscious crustacean, a species of slipper lobster, grilled and daubed with chilli-inflected mayonnaise,’ calamari sliced like tagliatelle with yellowfin tuna ‘nduja, and a jaw-dropping dessert of caviar-topped canelés. 

‘I know it sounds weird,’ Lawson confessed of the caviar dessert, ‘but that rich saltiness against the sweet crunchy creaminess was sensational!’

At just 36, Josh Niland has become one of the most important voices in modern seafood cuisine.

The head chef even made a guest appearance on MasterChef Australia in May this year to showcase the very broad potential of a Yellowfin Tuna.

Since opening Saint Peter in 2016 with his wife and business partner Julie, Josh has earned global recognition for his boundary-pushing food philosophy and zero-waste ethos.

The original (very intimate) premises they ran on Oxford Street, Sydney for the best part of eight years has recently moved around the corner to a much larger location underneath The Grand National Hotel in Paddington.

Josh is also the author of several award-winning cookbooks – including The Whole Fish Cookbook – which have inspired chefs and home cooks to rethink how they treat seafood.

And Saint Peter is just the beginning.

Niland also runs the Fish Butchery, a one-of-a-kind seafood shop in Waterloo Sydney, and Charcoal Fish in Rose Bay, a casual eatery serving up fire-grilled fish in the style of Aussie chicken shops.

Being named one of the Top 100 restaurants in the world is no small feat and for Sydney’s Saint Peter, it’s a sign that Australia’s culinary scene can rival the best of the best.

Whether it’s Nigella Lawson gushing on Instagram, foodies queuing for a table, or global judges recognising Niland’s artistry, it’s clear that Josh, his wife, and his team are making a real difference.

And now, the whole world knows it.