Sum Yung Guys

1/205 Weyba Road,

Noosaville

(07) 5324 1391

Head Chef: Matt Sinclair

When Matt Sinclair finished as runner-up on MasterChef Australia in 2016, the obvious next move might have been a polished restaurant with his name above the door. Instead, he called his mates. Michael Rickard, Jeremiah Jones and Dylan Campbell had been cooking, eating and dreaming together for years. Sum Yung Guys, which opened in Sunshine Beach in 2017, was never going to be a solo project. It was always going to be a shared table.

The concept was straightforward: bold, inventive modern Asian food, served in small and share plates, in a setting that felt more like a party than a performance. No white tablecloths, no hushed reverence. Just exceptional food, vibrant energy and the kind of cooking that makes people lean across the table and point at each other’s plates.

The early days quickly earned a reputation. Sum Yung Guys had the looseness of a neighbourhood restaurant, but the food carried serious technique and intent. When the time came to grow, the team relocated to a larger space in Noosaville, expanding the room without diminishing the spirit. One chef’s hat from the Australian Good Food Guide in 2021 became two chef’s hats from 2022 onwards, reflecting the consistency and confidence of a restaurant that had found its rhythm.

The menu draws on the pan-Asian pantry: Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Korea and China, filtered through a Queensland sensibility and a commitment to local produce. It is generous, fragrant and full of movement. Share plates arrive in waves, designed to be passed around, argued over and ordered again. There is chilli, citrus, smoke, sweetness, crunch and comfort, all held together by the instinct that food should be as joyful as it is precise. Dylan Campbell’s cocktail program matches the kitchen’s energy beat for beat.

What makes Sum Yung Guys endure is harder to define than technique or awards. It is a restaurant that genuinely enjoys itself, and that enjoyment is infectious. The open kitchen hums. The room fills early and stays full. 

The connection between Sum Yung Guys and the wider Noosa food community runs deep. Matt has served as a Tourism Noosa ambassador, championing the region and its producers at every opportunity. The restaurant’s friendship with Peli’s, the team’s sister venue at Noosa Marina, has also created a natural extension of their hospitality world: mates cooking great food for people they like.

In a region that takes food seriously, Sum Yung Guys remains the restaurant many people want to visit first. Not because it tries to be everything to everyone, but because it knows exactly what it is: generous, loud-hearted, skilful and unmistakably itself.