One night in Sydney (enroute to Cairns) -- where to eat/stay?

[stomsf]

So we have one night in Sydney en route to Cairns in late March. We land at around 8 pm, am thinking we'd like a nice place to stay with a nice dinner to get us through the night before our flight to Cairns the next day.

Any suggestions? We are definite carnivores, like great food and don't mind paying if it's worth it. Am equally happy with a $5 entree as well as a $50 entree. Love most ethnic food, not run of the mill. Dining in San Francisco has spoiled us, but we enjoy exploring. We won't have a car though, as we're only there for the night.

Ideas and suggestions are welcome! Keep em coming as we'll have another night in Sydney on the way back in early April....

[Beach Chick]

We enjoy the Four Seasons Sydney...top floor corner suites facing Darling harbour are lovely with the Opera house.
PhilD is always spot on with his suggestions..sailors thai is awesome and I love having drinks at the crusty Fortune of War pub...and love Lord Nelson's..you can walk to both since they are in the Rocks..two of Sydney's oldest pubs..
After flying almost 18 hours, all I want to do is throw back a bunch of drinks and have a cheeseburger.
Quay is excellent and Rockpool would be an excellent choice too.
Go to Tetsuya's in April on your way back..it is stellar!

[PhilD]

Stay in the centre of town, lots of hotels here. It allows you to hit the restaurants by the water, or head to some of the inner suburbs. My concern though is that if you arrive at 8:00 (from SF?) it will be 9:30 before you reach your hotel so you are looking for a good restaurant that is open late, many close for orders at 10:00 (Quay), some 10:30 (Aria, Marque, Becasse) though some like the Rockpool's go to 11:00.

I tend to find I don't want a big meal after a long flight, a drink and a snack suits me better, unfortunately the best Thai's like "Spice I am" and "sailors Thai" also close at 10:00, another option could be "Mamak" for Malaysian which may be open longer.