Mark your calendar: The Herald and Age Good Food Guides launch in October

Food and drink fans, the 46th Age and the 42nd Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guides will be released next month, delivering comprehensive reviews written anonymously to offer an annual snapshot of the most outstanding and exciting venues you need to know about in Victoria, NSW and the ACT.

Both Good Food Guides – presented by Oceania Cruises and T2 Tea – feature more than 500 reviews of the best restaurants, bars, pubs and cafes across various price points, cuisines, styles and suburbs.

As in previous years, the guides include reviews of hatted restaurants – from one to the pinnacle of three hats – and awards for everything from Restaurant of the Year to Pub of the Year, Good Food Guide Legend and many more.

The reviews are written by a team of editors, senior food critics and a diverse group of freelance reviewers. Importantly, no venue can pay to be included.

“We review as anonymously as possible, and book through the same online platforms and phone numbers as everyone else,” says The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide editor Callan Boys.

“There isn’t another publication that comes remotely close to this level of independent restaurant criticism in Australia.”

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The Age Good Food Guide drops first, launching on Monday, October 12 with a celebration for the industry at Port Melbourne’s Timber Yard. All Victorian reviews will be available in the Good Food app from 8pm. The Good Food team will be live-blogging the award ceremony from 3pm on The Age website, allowing subscribers and readers to track the winners and action.

The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide launches two weeks later at a ceremony at Sydney’s Carriageworks on Monday, October 26. The chef-studded event will also be live-blogged via the Herald website from 3pm, and all NSW and ACT reviews will be available in the Good Food app from 8pm.

“More than ever, this year’s Guides are a snapshot of what it’s like to eat in each state right now,” The Age Good Food Guide co-editor Emma Breheny says. “We’ve included hundreds of hatted restaurants but also plenty of meals that make you feel a million bucks without having to spend a week’s rent, whether it’s an excellent-value banquet or a spectacular bowl of soup.”

Since its launch three years ago, the Good Food app is the home of the Good Food Guide and features more than 2000 reviews and recommendations, including the lists of winners and signature collections, regional destination guides and Critics’ Picks. You can save Guide venues, search via the map’s nearby function, and filter by price, suburb and more.

While every Good Food Guide review is available via the app – and that’s where you can get the most user-friendly experience – a free 56-page Good Food Guide liftout will be inserted in The Age on Tuesday, October 13, and in The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday, October 27.

The liftouts include award winners, a list of every hatted restaurant, as well as 100 Essential Restaurants – a snapshot of the most vital places to eat right now in NSW, Victoria and the ACT. The Victorian liftout also has regional destination guides, while NSW’s has wraps of Sydney’s best pizza, ramen and pubs.

“The new 100 Essential Restaurants lists champion food across all price points and cuisines,” says Boys. “There’s a lot more to the Good Food Guide than fine-diners where a night out for one couple costs more than a second-hand Corolla.”

The winners of the 46th Age Good Food Guide Awards will be announced on Monday, October 12. The ceremony will be live-blogged via The Age from 3pm; the Guide reviews will be on the Good Food app from 8pm. Pick up a free 56-page Good Food Guide liftout in The Age on Tuesday, October 13.

The winners of the 42nd Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Awards will be announced on Monday, October 26. The ceremony will be live-blogged via the Herald from 3pm; the Guide reviews will be on the Good Food app from 8pm. Pick up a free 56-page Good Food Guide liftout in the Herald on Tuesday, October 27.

The Good Food app is free for premium subscribers of The Age and The Herald and also as a standalone subscription. You can download the Good Food app here.