Menu Guide

Nomad Menu — What to Order in Surry Hills

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Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Sourced from Nomad Sydney, Broadsheet and Time Out · How we work · Corrections

The verdict. Book Jacqui Challinor's fire kitchen, start with the house charcuterie and the bone-marrow empanada — Surry Hills' best table for a long, wine-led dinner.

Not for: a silent, formal meal or a solo quick bite. The room is loud, social and built for sharing across the table, with a wine list that rewards a group — wrong for a hushed anniversary for two.

What the Nomad Menu Actually Is

Nomad has run at 16 Foster Street in Surry Hills since 2013, and head chef Jacqui Challinor cooks almost everything over fire and smoke, drawing on Spain, Morocco and the Middle East. The menu is built to share: a run of house-cured charcuterie and small plates, wood-roasted mains and a wine list that is one of the deepest in the city. Our Nomad review and scores rate the room near the top of the Sydney file. This is a fire kitchen with a serious cellar, not a tasting-menu room.

What to Order at Nomad

Start with the house charcuterie board: ocean-trout basturma, duck mortadella studded with pistachio and house saucissons, all cured in-house, and the most interesting charcuterie in Sydney. The wood-roasted mushroom and bone-marrow empanada is the plate that has never left the menu, and the woodfired flatbread with carrot hummus and wattleseed za'atar is the table's anchor.

For a main, the wood-roasted rainbow trout wrapped in vine leaves and the Portuguese-style spatchcock marinated in yoghurt and chilli are the two to split. Finish with the olive-oil ice-cream sandwich. Prices run a la carte at the $$$$ register; expect around A$120–150 a head before wine, with the charcuterie and mains the main levers. Let the sommelier steer, because the list is where Nomad spends its ambition.

When to Go and How to Book

Weekend tables are the hardest, and the buzz peaks late; a weeknight is the calmer read on the kitchen. Our guide to booking a table at Nomad covers the release window and the bar seats kept for walk-ins. The room is smart-casual and social, so come ready for volume rather than hush.

The Smart Play

Order the charcuterie and two or three small plates before the mains, and let the wine list do the heavy lifting, because that is how Nomad is built to be eaten. It is a strong Surry Hills room for a first date, a team dinner, or closing a deal over wine. Set it against the Apollo's Greek plates and against Neil Perry's Margaret across town, and read the wider Sydney dining guide for the neighbourhood picture. Menu-guide sibling: what to order at Le Bernardin.

Some booking links are affiliate links. RFK may earn a commission. Our verdicts are editorial and never paid.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What should you order at Nomad Sydney?

Start with the house charcuterie board, then the wood-roasted mushroom and bone-marrow empanada and the woodfired flatbread with carrot hummus. Jacqui Challinor cooks over fire, so the charcuterie and the small plates carry the meal before you reach the mains. Split the vine-leaf-wrapped rainbow trout or the Portuguese-style spatchcock, and finish with the olive-oil ice-cream sandwich.

How much does dinner at Nomad cost?

Nomad is a la carte at the $$$$ register, and a full dinner tends to land around A$120 to $150 a head before wine, with the charcuterie board and the wood-roasted mains the main levers on the bill. The wine list is deep and is where the restaurant spends its ambition, so a good bottle can lift the total quickly. Share plates across the table to keep the per-head cost sensible.

What is Nomad known for?

Nomad is known for cooking over fire and smoke and for the best house-cured charcuterie in Sydney, made in-house from ocean-trout basturma to duck mortadella. Head chef Jacqui Challinor draws on Spain, Morocco and the Middle East, and the bone-marrow empanada and woodfired flatbread are long-running signatures. It pairs that fire kitchen with one of the deepest wine lists in the city, which is the other half of its reputation.

How do you book a table at Nomad?

Nomad takes reservations online, and weekend evenings fill first, so book ahead and aim at a weeknight for a calmer read on the kitchen. Our full booking guide covers the release window and the bar seats held back for walk-ins if the dining room is full. The room is smart-casual and lively, so plan for a social, wine-led night rather than a quiet one.