✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
The waiter recommends a $135 Negroni and it turns out they’re not kidding.
“You won’t get one like this anywhere else,” they say.
So Bobbie’s is a little fancy. It’s a plush refuge from the hectic New South Head Road that screeches through Double Bay. Through a curtained doorway, soft table lamps flick off marble surfaces and gold leaf trimmings. Mixologists judder shakers in bow ties and all-white uniforms. Somewhere pictures are sketched into cocktail foam.
The co-owner has something of a name around these parts. Neil Perry – who also owns Bobbie’s next-door neighbours Margaret, Next Door, Baker Bleu and Song Bird – has risen to celebrity status in Sydney’s hospo scene since opening the OG Rockpool back in the eighties. For his first foray into the bar world, Perry has also joined forces with his wife, Samantha, and longtime friends Linden Pride and Nathalie Hudson, known for their acclaimed Dante bars in New York and L.A.
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Bobbie’s is named after Pride’s late grandfather – disc jockey and broadcaster Bob Rogers – who is credited with introducing Top 40 hits to Australian radio in the late fifties and eventually became the nation’s longest-serving radio...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
There’s a reasonable explanation as to why the décor at Disco Pantera feels like a Saturday Night Fever dream. It’s because interior designer Cass Siow has beautifully articulated the vision of brothers Ross and Gordon Purnell (Hawksmoor, Panda & Sons): to capture the nostalgia of a New York cocktail bar from the 1970s.
Siow struck gold with her delivery of the convivial venue, which features electric-blue leather banquettes, chrome bar stools, oxblood walls and Nick Dahlen screenprints that pop off the back bar. Add to this the vintage lighting, floor-to-ceiling Picasso tapestry, deadstock vintage tiles, Walt Disney art illustration studio lamps and a glittering disco ball and you have yourself an excursion to disco utopia.
To venture into this vortex in Quay Quarter Laneways is to become part of an eclectic crowd keen to bop along to everyone from Kylie Minogue to Lenny Kravitz, David Bowie and Blondie. Prepare to be transformed by the music – curated by a rotating roster of weekly DJs – as well as the food and drinks brandished by charismatic venue manager Andy McCorquodale (ex-Old Mate’s Place, Tio’s), who deserves big-ups for his A-grade banter. Apart from the great disco vibe going on at the bar, the venue feels very inclusive and welcoming thanks to...
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The Gidley burger has got a lot of attention this year – it was named the world’s ninth best burger by the World’s 101 Best Steak Restaurants – so it’s no wonder it’s something that’s attracted people to The Rover, since they started serving it up, too. But that’s not all that draws people to this neighbourhoody cocktail bar. The Rover has a lot going for it. The fisherman’s pie, for one (more on that later).
The Rover is a dimly lit cocktail bar in Surry Hills’ Hollywood Quarter (the section of Sydney named the coolest in 2024 by Time Out). If you go to this little intersection of Cambell and Foster Streets, you know you’ll have a good time – perhaps dinner at Pellegrino 2000 across the street, then drinks at The Rover. Or just skip Pellegrino altogether and eat your way through The Rover’s delicious menu, with a couple of cocktails or some wine.
My friend and I start with the burger, of course. It’s double-beef patties made from Riverine sirloin chain meat; Coppertree farms retired dairy cow chuck and brisket, dry-aged at the in-house butchery at one of Liquid & Larder’s other steak venues, Alfie's. Basically, these guys know their meat (as well as Alfie’s and 24th best steak restaurant in the world, The Gidley, they also run Bistecca).
The milk bun is perfectly round on top like in the photos; it looks polished, almost shiny, and we don’t really want to have to cut it in half. They’re thin, smash-style patties – crowd-pleasing because they’re not served rare like they...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Some of the most fun to be had in Byron isn’t on Main Beach. Sure, the crystal-blue waves are great – and it’s intoxicating to bask in the golden sunshine, knocking back a chilled Stone & Wood at the Beach Hotel (maybe I could move to Byron?!). But forget all that and head in the opposite direction from the beach (yes, really) to 139 Jonson Street, past a dramatic velvet curtain, and into Bar Heather.
This Euro-style wine bar and restaurant is run by co-owners James Audas and Tom Sheer, who have a knack for all things low-fi vino. The wine list is excellent, filled with their favourite drops from Australia and Europe, broken up by region and with a focus on natural vino. Their Aussie riff on a Euro Spritz is also spot on – light, laced with herbal notes and not too sweet.
But it’s the food that will really make your ears perk up.
A crisp rectangle potato chip arrives looking like a magic carpet, topped with buttery Manchego cheese, soft raw shiitake mushrooms, and a dusting of earthy mushroom powder (and no, not that kind – get your head outta the gutter). Crunchy, bronzed prawn and bug toast gets a funky kick from a creamy, prawn-oil-spiked Marie Rose sauce.
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Update: Choose your fighter at Old Mate’s Place. Do you want to settle in the vintage-style bar with comfy leather booths, dozens of old books, and a twinkling chandelier? Or race to the sky-high rooftop, compete for one of the in-demand tables, and bask in the sunshine and glory? Wherever you go, it’s sure to be a hit. And say ‘hi’ to Old Mate for us, please.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our review of Old Mate’s Place from 2019 by Pat Nourse.
*****
One hundred and two steps. Rooftop bars are not for the faint of quad. But all that thigh-burning just primes you for the reveal: swing open the door at the top and there you are, in a lushly planted oasis in the Sydney skyline. A smiling bartender hands you a VB throwdown while you flip through the menu. A bowtie is slung around their neck unknotted, Rat Pack-style. It might only be a quarter past six down on street level, but up here, it’s always time to take it easy.
Flip through the list: there’s smarts enough behind the smiles to handle whatever classics you might fancy. And where bars on rooftops in other parts of the world might call to mind sun-bleached bottles of Bombora and lychee liqueur, the back bar at Old Mate’s is quite a different matter – the arrangement of malts, Caribbean rums and fine...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Update: Walking into Double Deuce Lounge is like stepping into That ’70s Show, with slicked-back bartenders donning retro shirts, a golden hue, and cabanossi, cheese and pickled-onion snacks. Named after a dive bar in a cult Patrick Swayze film and inspired by ‘70s porn chic, Double Deuce Lounge is all killer, no filler, delivering on great drinks and even better times. No wonder why it’s one of our favourite bars in Sydney.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our review of Double Deuce Lounge from 2019 by Matty Hirsch.
*****
A cocktail joint named after a dive bar in a cult Patrick Swayze flick with a ’70s aesthetic inspired by the Golden Age of Porn. It sounds like a cockeyed concept that, in most hands, would go terribly, painfully, catastrophically awry. But “Cosmo” Soto, Dardan Shervashidze and Charlie Lehmann are not most hands – they’re Baxter Inn alumni, the rabble-rousers who glorified “shit tins” and shirtless overalls at the Ramblin’ Rascal Tavern and two-time winners of the Time Out Bar Award for Best Bar Team. These are the right guys for the job.
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Things are thoroughly cheeky at their second venture, down in a booze-stocked, retro-panelled bunker...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Update: If you’re looking for a special spot for a Big Night Out in Parramatta, head to the sky-high cocktail and Champagne bar, Nick & Nora’s, on the 26th floor of V by Crown Parramatta. All class and style, Nick & Nora’s is home to a rooftop terrace featuring expansive cityscape views – and it’s got your name on it.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our review of Nick & Nora's from 2018 by Emily Lloyd-Tait.
*****
All it took for Parramatta’s bar scene to go from burgeoning to baller was 270-degree views that stretch from the Blue Mountains on one side to a teeny tiny Harbour Bridge on the other horizon. The first Western Sydney enterprise from the Speakeasy Group (Eau De Vie, Mjolner) is a stunner. You need to seek it out on the 26th floor of the shiny new V by Crown building, which houses Skye Hotel Suites, as well as schmick apartments. This context is important, because Nick and Nora’s gives off swanky hotel bar vibes – which is good and proper, given it functions as one.
It makes all the luxury finishes make more sense, like the demijohn of rare cognac on the outdoor bar, the liquid nitrogen tap installed in the garnish table, and the humidor full of cigars you can smoke out on the devoted smokers’ balcony. Don’t worry, the non-smokers get a bigger one,...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Update: Redfern’s fairy-lit hangout Arcadia has been going strong for more than a decade, fuelling Sydneysiders with excellent drinks and toasties. It’s a prime spot for a first date (trust us) or knock-off drinks. And you can swing by on Sundays for cheap Margs.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our review of Arcadia Liquors from 2016 by Emily Lloyd-Tait.
*****
One of Redfern’s original small bars is still as loud, fairy-lit and friendly as ever. And cheap. Where else can you get a eminently drinkable semillon sauvignon for six bucks and a grilled ham cheese and tomato sandwich for a fiver, other than student housing?
There is a wonderful reliability to any visit to Arcadia. It’s always full but somehow you can manage to rustle up a bar stool or one of those vintage metal chairs, or find a spot out in the brick courtyard featuring many hanging plants and all the nautical paintings available at Vinnies. Since the smoking laws changed the back is saved for the smokers – if you’re hanging out for a chicken or ham and salami sarnie off the fancy toastie menu, stick to indoor seats.
They haven’t changed much since first opening – if it ain’t broke and all that – which means there’s still three beer taps featuring something German and two local brews – Tooheys was...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Update: Some of the most clever, creative and damn tasty drinks are found in this hidden CBD cocktail bar, which has been shaking and pouring tipples – and winning hearts – since 2016. If you’re only going to come one night, make sure it’s a Tuesday for PS40’s Takeover Tuesday, where the team collaborates with the city’s best. Book ahead.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our review of PS40 from 2019 by Matty Hirsch.
*****
In the middle of 2019, PS40 co-owners Michael Chiem and Thor Bergquist nixed their cocktail list and formulated an entirely new menu inspired by their favourite festivals around the world. They even gave that menu a name: Festivus. If that sounds a little silly to you, remember that no bar commits to reinvention with more conviction than PS40, and that any idea or theme is just an excuse to let these gifted imaginations run totally free.
Thanksgiving isn’t even a festival, it’s a holiday. It’s also what they’ve called their delicious riff on a Rye Whisky Sour, spiked with sweet potato and sage, because why the hell not? Hanami, named after Japan’s cherry blossom festival, takes a slightly more literal approach by drawing deep red colour and ripe perfume from clarified beetroot juice before layering it with dark rum, vermouth and orange...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Update: There may be a new chef on the pans at this Paddington gem, but it’s still a Sydney institution, thanks to its on-point pastas, cosy and teeny-tiny dining room and, of course, the heaven-like warm pretzel with whipped bottarga. This is one of our fave spots in town for a date night.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our review of 10 William St from 2019 by Emily Lloyd-Tait.
*****
Trisha Greentree is very open to the power of suggestion. The freshly minted head chef of Paddington’s beloved Italian wine bar 10 William Street has stepped into the space left by outgoing chef Enrico Tomelleri, and is letting the wine and the produce dictate where the menu goes – within strict boundaries, of course. It wouldn’t be 10 William Street if it didn’t have the pretzel and whipped bottarga on the menu, three pastas and the tiramisù, which possesses more airy lift than a helium balloon.
Seeking a new perspective and a break from the kitchen at Dan Hunter’s Brae in Birregurra, Greentree started working full time in the market gardens at the restaurant. “You learn as chef, but as a farmer you learn what a chef needs,” she tells Time Out. When 10 William owners Marco Ambrosino, Enrico Paradiso and Giovanni Paradiso approached her with an offer to take on stewardship of...
There is a demonic gargoyle on the bar at the Absinthe Salon, a poster of Marilyn Manson on the wall and our waitress is wearing a tight, leather corset. The bar itself, just beyond the bottle shop you pass through upon entering, is aiming for La Belle Époque – French-style café seating, a green fairy splashed across one wall – but the overall feel is a little more Rob Zombie than Moulin Rouge. And we can get down with that. Especially when a pre-dinner drink at the Absinthe Salon is so much fun.
Once you're seated, one of the waitresses working the floor will float over and explain what absinthe is (anise-flavoured spirit, highly alcoholic, made more complex with different herbs); what absinthe isn't ("it is not a hallucinogenic, but it will make you feel amazing"); and how to drink it. Here, she will demonstrate: ice is placed in the lamp-like absinthe fountain on your table, along with water; a cube of sugar is sat on an absinthe spoon above your glass; and a faucet on the fountain is turned so that water drips onto the cube, slowly dissolving the sugar as it trickles down into your glass of absinthe below. The green liquid grows cloudy and you begin to smell the herbs.
It's an elaborate process, so reserve time if you're popping in. And do take their advice: while the more potent absinthe varieties here are more interesting and complex (up to 75 per cent proof), start with something milder (like the Francois Guy, from Pontarlier, 45 per cent proof) if, like us,...
The Angel Hotel in the CBD is a time capsule for old-school inner-city drinking. Don’t get us wrong. Come 5pm our city’s workforce still hit the bars with undiminished ferocity, but with the influx of small bars, cocktail caves, craft beer barns and high-end establishments, the old-fashioned boozer slinging pints and pies is a dying breed. They like the old ways at the Angel so we get called sweetie when we order a frosty schooner of Coopers, but we’re not sweet enough to get access to the 100 Pints Club. The engraved glasses hung above the low wooden bar are all that remains of this defunct, and no doubt merry, club. The bar is laid with beautiful, ornate tiles and the windows out onto Angel Place are the kind of rippled stained glass that wouldn’t look out of place in a Victorian manor. There’s a dedicated sandwich menu at lunchtime; after work you can get a pie or sausage roll from the warmer behind the bar; or there’s always a bag of crisps. They keep things similarly stripped back on the taps. There’s Coopers Green, Heineken, Super Dry, New, James Squires Pale Ale and a cider. It’s not a huge range but they are cold, clean and properly poured. Below ground is where they keep the gaming lounge and upstairs is a worn-in lounge bar with red velvet chairs, chesterfields and ornate lampshades that look like they were borrowed from a Parisian cat-house. Never change, old friend.
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
In the basement of a heritage warehouse in Sydney’s CBD you’ll find a Sicilian-inspired cocktail bar named for the ill-fated wife of Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 mobster masterpiece, The Godfather. But don’t let that put you off. For those of us who have been lying about having seen The Godfather their whole lives, good news. Every page of the drinks menu will run you through the storyline (spoilers lie within, but it’s literally been 50 years) so you can impress your date with cinematic knowledge while sipping on a Letter Never Sent, a standout concoction of wheat vodka, honey liquor, pineapple, clove, housemade almond syrup and fresh nutmeg, shaken and served over ice.
Dimly lit and dramatic as the movie itself, Apollonia is, by sheer geography alone, a triumph. Carved into the sandstone bedrock of Customs House, the hand-chipped, 150-year-old walls have been ambitiously transported to the 21st century, with accents of marble bars, deeply stained wooden finishes, mismatched tiles and red leather banquette seating. The vibe is sophisticated and plush, a naturally cosy cave with dark carpeted flooring that we suspect this will be a top after-work date bar for years to come. With gold and velvet finishings and abundant in (oh, so...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Update: Redfern’s fairy-lit hangout Arcadia has been going strong for more than a decade, fuelling Sydneysiders with excellent drinks and toasties. It’s a prime spot for a first date (trust us) or knock-off drinks. And you can swing by on Sundays for cheap Margs.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our review of Arcadia Liquors from 2016 by Emily Lloyd-Tait.
*****
One of Redfern’s original small bars is still as loud, fairy-lit and friendly as ever. And cheap. Where else can you get a eminently drinkable semillon sauvignon for six bucks and a grilled ham cheese and tomato sandwich for a fiver, other than student housing?
There is a wonderful reliability to any visit to Arcadia. It’s always full but somehow you can manage to rustle up a bar stool or one of those vintage metal chairs, or find a spot out in the brick courtyard featuring many hanging plants and all the nautical paintings available at Vinnies. Since the smoking laws changed the back is saved for the smokers – if you’re hanging out for a chicken or ham and salami sarnie off the fancy toastie menu, stick to indoor seats.
They haven’t changed much since first opening – if it ain’t broke and all that – which means there’s still three beer taps featuring something German and two local brews – Tooheys was...
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Ever since they pulled the dust cloths off the shining copper stills in the distillery back in March of 2014 and started pumping out gin, vodka, rum and white rye we’ve been singing the praises of this impressive operation located on Rosebery’s most innovative block. Not only is it one of Sydney's most beautiful bars, the local edge and carefully crafted spirits do nothing but add to the romance.
Under the watchful eye of head of hospitality, Harriet Leigh (ex Hazy Rose and Henrietta Supper Club) you can be sure they're stirring up a five-star house gin Martini with a precise brine balance. You are in very good hands here.
A gutsy cocktail list is ever evolving and playful, with tipples like the Papaya Don't Preach; a concoction of Archie Rose Native Botanical Vodka, blood orange, lime, papaya, peach, pineapple and chili salt; The Pear Necessities that combines Archie Rose Distiller’s Strength Gin, bergamot, lavender, lemon, pear and sparkling wine; or the Baby Got Mac – Archie Rose White Rye, citrus, coconut, wattleseed, macadamia and mango. As well as investing in the use of native botanicals, the crew at Archie Rose don't shy away from a dizzying number of collabs with other local legends. A glance at the cocktail list boasts input from the Sydney Opera House, Blasphemy Coffee and even the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The room is the last word in industrial elegance. It’s separated from the distillery by a heavy-duty metal grille and a wall of spirit barrels. On the bar side,...
Officially, this little pub on Oxford Street is called the Arts Bar. However locals and old timers will often refer to it as the Rose Shamrock and Thistle, or even the Three Weeds: it depends on who you’re talking to. Arts Bar makes sense, given its proximity to the College of Fine Arts. Though it’s housed in a beautiful Art Deco Building there’s nothing hifalutin about this public house. It’s got the cream mottled tiles and multiple doorways opening out onto the street of your classic corner boozer and the floor inside is a mix of concrete and tiles – you could easily hose the whole place out if needed. Inside it’s all green and yellow tiles, glowing orange and yellow light boxes, tall stools, swivel chairs and old orange vinyl chairs. They pull a pretty mixed crowd, with young and elastic students talking earnestly about their ‘practice’ and making plans for surfing adventures while retirees sit opposite and share a little late night ice cream out of a curled glass bowl. The variety might be due to the very friendly staff who adopt a more-the-merrier approach, or perhaps it’s the Tuesday special of slow-cooked lamb that’s pulling people through the doors. They pour a decent Kilkenny if you like Irish cream ale, but for our money we’ll take a pint of Young Henrys, Stone and Wood or Murray’s Angry Man instead. They tick the boxes on all the pub food staples, and also do bananas in rum and a chocolate pudding that comes highly recommended by our smiling barman. The Arts Bar...
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You may well be able to lob a tennis ball from George Street to this quiet pedestrian alley but you wouldn’t know it from the relaxed pace of the punters stopping in for a glass of wine at this little bistro. Decompress out in the breezy laneway or up at the bar where French house featuring atmospheric horns keeps the vibe on a low simmer and devote all your remaining energies to the wine menu. They have an internationally diverse, by-the-glass list that lets you sample the wines of Austria, Romania, South Africa, Greece, Argentina, Germany, the US, Chile and Slovenia, in addition to Italy, France, Australia and New Zealand. And the best part is they offer tasting glasses for half the price of a full pour so you take a little tour without breaking the bank. Depending on the weather and the day you’ve had they might steer you towards a bright, fruity Domaine de Beavernay gamay from Beaujolais, or possibly a ribolla gialla from Friuli. There’s not much to the operation here. The open-plan space spills out into the lane and the wine is stored up high in black timber racks. The kitchen can sort out a serious hunger with lamb cutlets or grilled spitchcock, but a rich, golden toastie with jamon and truffled gruyere will also stop hunger in its tracks.
Time Out Awards
2010Best Wine Bar
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In case of fire, assemble at the designated meeting spot. In case of thirst, go get cocktails at Assembly. You might not expect an ace bar to be hiding down on the lower ground floor of what is ostensibly a hub of Asian cheap eats, but the buzzy precinct behind the KFC on the corner of George and Bathurst Streets has many secrets. Not only can you get a kooky soft-serve in a halo of fairy floss from Aqua S; a fragrant char kway teo from Sedap Malaysian Kopitiam; and a king’s ransom in rice paper rolls from Miss Chu – there’s booze too. This must be what heaven is like.
When something gets an award everyone wants to get involved – especially if it’s delicious. Sullivans Cove French oak barrel-aged single malt sold out after they won a world whisky award in 2014, and people are still queuing for a taste of the mandorla affogato gelato from Cow and the Moon. And at Assembly you can order a stack of award-winning cocktails. The Linda Russian, crowned by a 2014 Stoli comp, proves you don’t need an ingredient list a mile long to make a good drink. Almond syrup is an excellent foil to the zingy punch of fresh pineapple juice – and with a glug of vodka in the mix you’ve got a summer refresher that demands an encore.
The up’n’go qualities of a Vodka Espresso are perfect fuel before a gig over at the Metro, but these guys have chucked out the vodka and are shaking up rum, Frangelico, Kahlua and cold drip coffee, and the results are excellent.
There are a ridiculous number of dining...
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There’s something to be said for setting up your brewery and pub in the North West of Sydney – there’s a lot of space out this way. The Australian Hotel and Brewery (conveniently located next door to Bunnings, FYI) is set on a massive block just off Old Winsor Road. From the outside it looks like a warehouse with an enormous parking lot. But inside it’s a pub-lovers Disneyland. It’s been kitted out in good Australian fashion with exposed brick, warm lighting, raw timber and rusty iron decorations. In addition to housing the brewery itself they’ve got a spacious bistro, sports bar, pokies lounge and games room, plus an enormous bar operating at the centre of everything. Love watching sport but hate sitting on a bar stool? They’ve got cushy leather recliners lined up like a mini sports cinema. Brought your ankle biters with you? Here they have a dedicated kids club with a jungle gym and a super-soft play area for really tiny humans. They even host kids birthday parties. When you have the same amount of space as a standard Chippendale block you can do whatever you damn well please. They keep a collection of standard lagers on tap but the interesting stuff here is the brews they make on site. Their Mexican lager served with fresh lime is a light, summery glass of refreshment, but if you aren’t afraid of some forceful flavours go the extra hoppy ale – a coppery amber ale with a fresh, bitter finish. They also make a pilsner, pale ale, strong Belgium golden ale, steam ale, amber...
At Bacco, you can eat, drink or simply get some pastries to go. But we like to drink. The cocktail list will be right up your alley if you like floral, fruity drinks but you can totally ignore the list if your tastes run to straighter stuff - the bar staff are incredibly accomplished and can make anything you hit them with. If you do order off the list, try the Caesar's Cup - served long, it's a mix of gin, red wine and house-made mint lemonade, garnished with a wedge of grapefruit and a wedge of cucumber. The Giorgio il Bello involves a glass rolled in rhubarb sugar and filled with a mix of Aperol, St Germain elderflower liqueur and pinot grigio, topped with more of that house-made lemonade. Sweet? Yes. Deadly? Most certainly. The L'Arrogante is the winner off the list: tequila, house-made sweet vermouth and fresh squeezed grapefruit served short. If cocktails and spirits aren't your thing, Delicado's Ben Moechtar has put together the wine list. They also give you little snacks (spuntini) through the night. They're gratis, and delicious. The space, designed by Michael McCann, is all warm wood, low, long booths and tinkling, grape-shaped purple lights. Sit up at the bar, admire the huge booze selection, marvel at the cold larder filled with cured meats and raise a glass to Bacchus - the guy that loved a drink.
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Update: Choose your fighter at Old Mate’s Place. Do you want to settle in the vintage-style bar with comfy leather booths, dozens of old books, and a twinkling chandelier? Or race to the sky-high rooftop, compete for one of the in-demand tables, and bask in the sunshine and glory? Wherever you go, it’s sure to be a hit. And say ‘hi’ to Old Mate for us, please.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our review of Old Mate’s Place from 2019 by Pat Nourse.
*****
One hundred and two steps. Rooftop bars are not for the faint of quad. But all that thigh-burning just primes you for the reveal: swing open the door at the top and there you are, in a lushly planted oasis in the Sydney skyline. A smiling bartender hands you a VB throwdown while you flip through the menu. A bowtie is slung around their neck unknotted, Rat Pack-style. It might only be a quarter past six down on street level, but up here, it’s always time to take it easy.
Flip through the list: there’s smarts enough behind the smiles to handle whatever classics you might fancy. And where bars on rooftops in other parts of the world might call to mind sun-bleached bottles of Bombora and lychee liqueur, the back bar at Old Mate’s is quite a different matter – the arrangement of malts, Caribbean rums and fine...
Sydney’s CBD is full of bars. Irish- and English-style pubs, American-style sports bars, Japanese whiskey bars, German beer cafés, Spanish tapas bars and, now, hundreds of little wine bars like those you might find in Italy. Sky Bar – which sits at the peak of the multi-tiered venue Shell House – brings a little bit of New York to Sydney. And it's a showstopper.
Sky Bar has floor-to-ceiling windows so that you’re looking, on three sides of the building, out at Sydney’s CBD – including at the 400-tonne heritage Shell House Clocktower that the building is centred around. It’s not The Most spectacular view of the Emerald City, in that there’s no sparkling harbour or Opera House in sight (hey, there's a lot of competition, right?). But you’re situated smack-back in among skyscrapers, in the sky above the most bustling part of the city. Plant yourself up here in the beautifully designed modern Art Deco-style space with a cocktail to watch the sun go down on the day, and you can easily imagine yourself in the Big Apple.
We arrive during happy hour (4-6pm every Tues to Sat) and make the most of it, ordering a $15 Don Julio Margarita, as well as a $15 snack, which, today is a prawn sandwich with a gold-crumbed prawn, housemade cucumber pickle, and a generous lashing of chunky tartare on crust-free white bread. Both the drink and the snack are small (you’d baulk at paying more than $15 for each – NYC vibe, NYC prices), but they’re delicious. The salty-rimmed Margarita is the right...
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For a Sydney bar to be considered as having a great view, it's usually mandatory to have the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the line of sight. Or at the very least, an unobstructed glimpse of some water. But at Dean and Nancy on 22, its seemingly duff location, surrounded on all sides by CBD skyscrapers, is very much part of the appeal. Summoning the spirit of a 1960s New York cocktail lounge, you could very well mistake Sydney’s city blocks for those of Downtown Manhattan (if you don't look too closely). Sure, it may not be quite Madison Avenue, but George Street will still do.
Created by the team behind multi-award-winning cocktail bar Maybe Sammy, this lofty lounge isn’t just resting on the laurels of its penthouse perch, 22 storeys up atop the A by Adina hotel tower. George Livissianis’ interiors are a glossy timewarp of tiger-striped carpets, dusky-veined black marble, leather upholstery and brushed brass accents that mirror both the amber sunsets that dance off every polished surface in the afternoon and the golden illuminations that light up the double-height ceilings after dark. It’s Vegas. It’s Mafia-chic. It’s the Rat Pack and Mad Men and Frank Sinatra crooning to Monroe and Kennedy. But (somewhat astonishingly) it’s not a cliche. This is largely thanks to the tongue-in-cheek charisma that underpins the vision for this bar, reminding you that, for all its luxe finery, it doesn't take itself too seriously. Far from being the sole haunt of the New York elites of...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Some Sydney restaurants are “inspired by” eateries from other lands. Others, like Deux Freres, can transport you directly to somewhere on the other side of the world. This laneway pintxos bar plucks you right out of your Circular Quay surrounds and plonks you, magically, into one of the tiny bars that Spain’s Basque country is famous for. And right now there’s no place I’d rather be.
As I sit at the marble-top bar – tightly packed in between my dining companion and a stranger on the other side – I watch the staff behind the counter prepping bar snacks centred around cured meats, Spanish and French cheeses, and crusty bread. Pintxos comes from the Spanish verb “pinchar” meaning to poke/prick – because the snacks are generally served with a toothpick to hold them together.
It’s drinking food, and the drinks menu takes you on a journey from vermouth to Spanish and French wines to beer, as well as spirits. We order a carafe of Spanish red, a 2016 tempranillo that tastes the way I like it to taste – just the right balance of rich and mellow; highly drinkable in warm weather.
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We start with gildas. The tiny fish fillets skewered between two green olives, two little wedges...
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If there’s anyone who can take a former underground gentlemen’s club and turn it into a lava-hot spot right now, it’s Swillhouse. If you’re not familiar with the name, you sure as hell love their venues. Who amongst us hasn't had a romantic rendezvous at Hubert? Knocked back one too many Whisky Apples at The Baxter Inn? Reminisced about sweaty gigs at Frankie’s Pizza? You get the gist.
Unlike most big openings, there was no carefully curated Instagram build-up about The Caterpillar Club, no months-long PR strategy. On a Wednesday in December, the team announced they were open with a walk-through video of the venue. Immediately, they caught us: hook, line and sinker. The excitement felt akin to New Year’s Eve when you’re 16 and about to see your crush, and by night two there was already a line snaking outside. Fast-forward a few months to April, and the caterpillar's tail is growing by the day.
The Caterpillar Club’s entrance is just off Martin Place. Walking in you’ll first see a gigantic black and white piece by artist Allie Webb. Frilly lights hang from above and the walls are painted burgundy. We descend the stairs and open a door to get inside. It’s clear we’ve stepped into something special.
The space is L-shaped and curves around like a caterpillar, anchored by the longest bar I have ever seen. Abstract works by Webb charm from the walls, and dozens more of those frilly lights create a warm glow. Behind the bar are thousands of old-school records. There’s a DJ booth...
We spot the candy cane umbrellas first. Red and white striped, they stand tall out the front of Woolloomooloo’s historic Old Fitzroy Hotel. The three-storey brick and butter building looks well-worn yet strong – which makes sense when you consider the Old Fitz is around 150 years old. The pub is surrounded by leafy green trees, punters are out the front knocking back cold ones, and today it’s glowing in the spring sunshine. Just from the exterior, you can tell the old boozer has more character and charm than a new opening could dream of.
Fun fact: The Old Fitzroy Hotel is the only remaining theatre pub in Australia (it’s found out the back and down the stairs). Locals have been coming here for decades to see some of the most interesting and cutting-edge theatre in the country, overseen by Red Line Productions who look after the whole shebang. Our arts & culture editor tells us just last week she saw two of Australia's most legendary cabaret artists – Paul Capsis and iOTA – perform in a reimagining of absurdist classic The Chairs directed by trailblazing director Gale Edwards. Impressive.
Inside, touches of ritz and old-world glamour are juxtaposed with grit and grunge. Sparkling chandeliers drip crystals from the intricate pressed-tin ceiling, and portraits of Australia’s most famous playwrights dress the walls. The furniture is mis-matched, the carpet crimson, and you can tell there’s been many a rollicking late night within those walls. We wish we were there.
A friendly...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
In the basement of a heritage warehouse in Sydney’s CBD you’ll find a Sicilian-inspired cocktail bar named for the ill-fated wife of Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 mobster masterpiece, The Godfather. But don’t let that put you off. For those of us who have been lying about having seen The Godfather their whole lives, good news. Every page of the drinks menu will run you through the storyline (spoilers lie within, but it’s literally been 50 years) so you can impress your date with cinematic knowledge while sipping on a Letter Never Sent, a standout concoction of wheat vodka, honey liquor, pineapple, clove, housemade almond syrup and fresh nutmeg, shaken and served over ice.
Dimly lit and dramatic as the movie itself, Apollonia is, by sheer geography alone, a triumph. Carved into the sandstone bedrock of Customs House, the hand-chipped, 150-year-old walls have been ambitiously transported to the 21st century, with accents of marble bars, deeply stained wooden finishes, mismatched tiles and red leather banquette seating. The vibe is sophisticated and plush, a naturally cosy cave with dark carpeted flooring that we suspect this will be a top after-work date bar for years to come. With gold and velvet finishings and abundant in (oh, so...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
It’s about as difficult to define 'cool' as it is to pin the tail on the donkey blindfolded after a coupla Negronis. Crocs were not but now they are; laughing emojis are (apparently) not; and even the humble burrata looks like it’s on its way out (RIP). If it’s difficult to define, it’s even more challenging to manufacture, as the action of trying to be cool is very much uncool. When you see cool, you just know. And that’s exactly what will happen if you stroll into Bar Copains, Surry Hills’ new friendly neighbourhood wine bar.
'Copains' means 'friends' in French, which is an apt name for this gem by longtime mates and chefs Morgan McGlone (culinary director of Potts Point’s Sunday, and founder of Belles Hot Chicken) and Nathan Sasi (the founding chef of Nomad). Sasi’s partner, Sali, is also co-owner. Friends since their paths crossed in 2010, the duo long dreamed about opening a little wine bar where they could catch up and enjoy good bottles of natural wine. And in late 2022, that’s exactly what they did.
Fun fact: McGlone and Sasi have both donated hundreds of wines from their personal collections that they have been building up over the years for Bar Copains, some of which are proudly lined up on shelves along the wall like kids' swimming trophies....
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Suspend your reality for a moment. Imagine it's 1980s Australia and you're a True Blue Bruce. This is truly your time. On the cusp of its five-year birthday, Hawke's Brewing Company, the brewery co-founded by former prime minister Bob Hawke, has thrown open the doors of a flagship venue, housed inside its newly built 2,100 square-metre brewery in Marrickville.
Dubbed the Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in honour of the company’s late namesake, the club is a cathedralesque space adorned with enormous brew tanks, museum-like pool rooms, and a nostalgic RLS-style Australian-Chinese bistro from one of Sydney's top chefs.
The venue is delivering a full service bar, fronted by ten taps pouring Hawke’s core range beers, plus a rotation of new “One Hit Wonder” limited release styles. The addition of the venue’s Chinese-Australian bistro rounds out the Leisure Centre’s quintessential '80s-pub and community club experience. If your mind is immediately cast back to your childhood of sizzling black bean steak, honey prawns, san choy bao and deep-fried ice cream – in this case, an equally '80s-tastic Vienetta – you're spot on.
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Developed by chef Nic Wong (Cho Cho San,...
There are plenty of bars with views out over Sydney – but there are few that offer up almost 360-degree vistas, where you can lap up the Harbour Bridge, the city skyline, the beginnings of the Parramatta River and even Barangaroo below. Henry Deane serves up a feast for the eyes, and anyone who has the pleasure of whiling away a sparkling afternoon followed by a sunset here – like we have – feels actually on top of the world.
Although Henry Deane’s views are grand, he’s an approachable space. During our visit we find a varied mix of visitors: Boomers huddled on lounges, Millennial couples on dates, work colleagues clocking off, and out-of-towners on the deck taking pics of the Opera House. There’s a smart casual dress code, but this isn't the type of place where you’ll get side-eyed for what you’re wearing or who you’re with. Perhaps because, instead of being atop a modern skyscraper or luxe hotel, it’s perched up above a humble Millers Point pub, Hotel Palisade. The Palisade was built more than a century ago, back in 1916, and it’s the sort of vintage nautical-styled pub you can drop by to enjoy an after-work schooner on a wobbly wooden stool.
From the pub you take the lift up to the double-floored Henry Deane bar at the top on levels four and five, and step out into a naturally lit, glass-walled cocktail lounge that makes you feel like you’ve discovered a secret. Henry Deane is small and intimate, so you’ll want to make sure you have a booking if you’re coming by at a...
Take some of the biggest trends of the past five years or so: natural wines; a nascent obsession with amaro; an interest in lesser-seen pasta shapes; the resurgence of fat; strong, graphic branding; a preference for snacking; Spritzes; Negronis; cacio e pepe; anchovies; butter. Ragazzi, the third venture from the people behind Love, Tilly Devine and Dear Sainte Éloise, ties them all together. For the cynical, it might look like trend-servicing. For the rest, it just looks like a good time.
Step into the squeezy space on Angel Place and the bar’s full, the banquettes are jammed, and there’s a buzz amplified by the close quarters. At one table, a couple preface a show at City Recital Hall next door with vermouth on ice and pasta fritta. At another, twentysomethings snap flat-lays of pasta complemented by coasters shouting CIAO and RAGAZZI in bold red typeface. Lights are low, a mirror is backlit, the room dressed, like so many models in this year’s fall catalogues, in shades of caramel, coffee and camel.
When chef and co-owner Scott Williams cooked around the corner at Bacco Osteria, his snacks and pasta were always highlights. At Ragazzi, they’re almost the whole menu. It’s a concept as easy to get behind as a plate of al dente spaghetti tossed in a sauce of pecorino and pepper bound with pasta water and butter. It’s a cacio e pepe with good levels of warmth and sharpness, plus some sweet heat from Espelette pepper. A glorious goat rotolo, meanwhile, sees the braised meat...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Update: Choose your fighter at Old Mate’s Place. Do you want to settle in the vintage-style bar with comfy leather booths, dozens of old books, and a twinkling chandelier? Or race to the sky-high rooftop, compete for one of the in-demand tables, and bask in the sunshine and glory? Wherever you go, it’s sure to be a hit. And say ‘hi’ to Old Mate for us, please.
– Avril Treasure
Read on for our review of Old Mate’s Place from 2019 by Pat Nourse.
*****
One hundred and two steps. Rooftop bars are not for the faint of quad. But all that thigh-burning just primes you for the reveal: swing open the door at the top and there you are, in a lushly planted oasis in the Sydney skyline. A smiling bartender hands you a VB throwdown while you flip through the menu. A bowtie is slung around their neck unknotted, Rat Pack-style. It might only be a quarter past six down on street level, but up here, it’s always time to take it easy.
Flip through the list: there’s smarts enough behind the smiles to handle whatever classics you might fancy. And where bars on rooftops in other parts of the world might call to mind sun-bleached bottles of Bombora and lychee liqueur, the back bar at Old Mate’s is quite a different matter – the arrangement of malts, Caribbean rums and fine...
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✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Where does one start when reviewing one of the most recognisable restaurants in the world, and arguably, Sydney’s most famous? I could set the scene with gravitas and list all the A-list celebs who have dined at this coastal Italian fine diner over the past two decades since its 2002 opening. Mick Jagger, for one. Chris Hemsworth, Oprah Winfrey, Matt Damon. Mee-crow-wah-vay goddess Nigella Lawson said it’s her favourite restaurant in the whole world. I could also begin by noting that trailblazer and Icebergs’ owner Maurice Terzini reopened the clifftop restaurant in 2022 after a seven-month renovation, with a fresh look, a new dining room and a swish glass seafood counter, pointing to the fact that the Bondi institution is not resting on its laurels. But I’m going to start with the view, because really, that’s why we’re here. It’s impossible to overstate just how beautiful it is.
Walking into Icebergs is like stepping into a calming sea of blue.
There are cool greens and ocean blues and turquoise. And that’s just in the room, which overlooks Bondi’s golden beach and that famous aqua pool. The combination of the waves crashing, the clinking of glassware, the hubbub of diners and sound of a piano, plus that million-dollar view, makes you feel good in an...
Sydney’s CBD is full of bars. Irish- and English-style pubs, American-style sports bars, Japanese whiskey bars, German beer cafés, Spanish tapas bars and, now, hundreds of little wine bars like those you might find in Italy. Sky Bar – which sits at the peak of the multi-tiered venue Shell House – brings a little bit of New York to Sydney. And it's a showstopper.
Sky Bar has floor-to-ceiling windows so that you’re looking, on three sides of the building, out at Sydney’s CBD – including at the 400-tonne heritage Shell House Clocktower that the building is centred around. It’s not The Most spectacular view of the Emerald City, in that there’s no sparkling harbour or Opera House in sight (hey, there's a lot of competition, right?). But you’re situated smack-back in among skyscrapers, in the sky above the most bustling part of the city. Plant yourself up here in the beautifully designed modern Art Deco-style space with a cocktail to watch the sun go down on the day, and you can easily imagine yourself in the Big Apple.
We arrive during happy hour (4-6pm every Tues to Sat) and make the most of it, ordering a $15 Don Julio Margarita, as well as a $15 snack, which, today is a prawn sandwich with a gold-crumbed prawn, housemade cucumber pickle, and a generous lashing of chunky tartare on crust-free white bread. Both the drink and the snack are small (you’d baulk at paying more than $15 for each – NYC vibe, NYC prices), but they’re delicious. The salty-rimmed Margarita is the right...
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For a Sydney bar to be considered as having a great view, it's usually mandatory to have the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the line of sight. Or at the very least, an unobstructed glimpse of some water. But at Dean and Nancy on 22, its seemingly duff location, surrounded on all sides by CBD skyscrapers, is very much part of the appeal. Summoning the spirit of a 1960s New York cocktail lounge, you could very well mistake Sydney’s city blocks for those of Downtown Manhattan (if you don't look too closely). Sure, it may not be quite Madison Avenue, but George Street will still do.
Created by the team behind multi-award-winning cocktail bar Maybe Sammy, this lofty lounge isn’t just resting on the laurels of its penthouse perch, 22 storeys up atop the A by Adina hotel tower. George Livissianis’ interiors are a glossy timewarp of tiger-striped carpets, dusky-veined black marble, leather upholstery and brushed brass accents that mirror both the amber sunsets that dance off every polished surface in the afternoon and the golden illuminations that light up the double-height ceilings after dark. It’s Vegas. It’s Mafia-chic. It’s the Rat Pack and Mad Men and Frank Sinatra crooning to Monroe and Kennedy. But (somewhat astonishingly) it’s not a cliche. This is largely thanks to the tongue-in-cheek charisma that underpins the vision for this bar, reminding you that, for all its luxe finery, it doesn't take itself too seriously. Far from being the sole haunt of the New York elites of...
Sydney is a city of renovators. There’s a reason that The Block is one of our most-watched television shows — when we’re not knocking down walls and tiling kitchen floors, we love watching others do the same. So, when Darlinghurst’s Hotel William gets a cool $5 million revamp, we sit up and take notice. The ugly duckling pub on the corner of Yurong and William Streets has been rebranded as Hyde Park House, and comes complete with a glam izakaya rooftop bar to boot.
The ground-level Public Bar has had a spruce, but still exudes classic ‘Aussie pub’ vibes with counter meals to match; upstairs, the Jessie’s cocktail bar, is big on comfy lounges and zebra taxidermy. But we’re here for the rooftop bar, which opened fashionably late in the first week of July. Slim’s Rooftop is named after American socialite photographer Slim Aarons, though it could equally refer to the narrow stairs leading to rooftop — there’s a good amount of side-sashaying and waiting-on-the-landing as staff and patrons patiently wait to climb up or down the stairs.
But don’t despair, because it’s a stairway to heaven. Slim’s is an open-air oasis with succulent plants and low walls, allowing for stunning views of the art-deco buildings on William Street and the glittery skyscrapers of the not-too-distant CBD. There’s a few rooftop bars in this part of Sydney — the Taphouse and the East Village Hotel are not too far away — but neither sport the glorious ruffled pink umbrellas found here.
Food-wise, there’s...
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Look, who among us hasn’t had a dig at the Far East, what with their beautiful homes, jaw-dropping views and the ability to wear white linen without looking like they’ve slept in their clothes? And sure, the drive to South Head is no picnic, but once you’re sitting on the terrace of the Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel with a glass of dry rosé, you have to admit that this is a bloody nice place to cash in some down time.
Happily, it’s not merely the domain of wealthy boomers with moorings – Watsons Bay Hotel is also an extremely family-friendly venue. Location alone makes this an excellent spot to bring the next generation: the pub fronts onto the gentle shores of the harbour on one side and a rolling green park on the other. But it’s the dedicated kids’ activities, events and on-site café serving kid-friendly fare that really marks this venue out as somewhere your child-toting friends are not just tolerated, but welcomed. Don’t believe us? Last school holidays they hosted cookie-making classes, petting zoos and a pirate day, complete with face painting and treasure hunts – these guys are totally cool with the underage set.
When it’s sunny they get hit hard at lunch, so arrive early for a shot at one of the tables right against the banister and this way you’ll also barely make it across the courtyard with your buzzer before your serve of fish and chips with a punchy tartare sauce is ready to go. Pair it with a glass of the King Valley rosé from winemaker Eddie McDougall, which...
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Some Sydney restaurants are “inspired by” eateries from other lands. Others, like Deux Freres, can transport you directly to somewhere on the other side of the world. This laneway pintxos bar plucks you right out of your Circular Quay surrounds and plonks you, magically, into one of the tiny bars that Spain’s Basque country is famous for. And right now there’s no place I’d rather be.
As I sit at the marble-top bar – tightly packed in between my dining companion and a stranger on the other side – I watch the staff behind the counter prepping bar snacks centred around cured meats, Spanish and French cheeses, and crusty bread. Pintxos comes from the Spanish verb “pinchar” meaning to poke/prick – because the snacks are generally served with a toothpick to hold them together.
It’s drinking food, and the drinks menu takes you on a journey from vermouth to Spanish and French wines to beer, as well as spirits. We order a carafe of Spanish red, a 2016 tempranillo that tastes the way I like it to taste – just the right balance of rich and mellow; highly drinkable in warm weather.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Alice Ellis (@alicecellis)
We start with gildas. The tiny fish fillets skewered between two green olives, two little wedges...
Advertising
If there’s anyone who can take a former underground gentlemen’s club and turn it into a lava-hot spot right now, it’s Swillhouse. If you’re not familiar with the name, you sure as hell love their venues. Who amongst us hasn't had a romantic rendezvous at Hubert? Knocked back one too many Whisky Apples at The Baxter Inn? Reminisced about sweaty gigs at Frankie’s Pizza? You get the gist.
Unlike most big openings, there was no carefully curated Instagram build-up about The Caterpillar Club, no months-long PR strategy. On a Wednesday in December, the team announced they were open with a walk-through video of the venue. Immediately, they caught us: hook, line and sinker. The excitement felt akin to New Year’s Eve when you’re 16 and about to see your crush, and by night two there was already a line snaking outside. Fast-forward a few months to April, and the caterpillar's tail is growing by the day.
The Caterpillar Club’s entrance is just off Martin Place. Walking in you’ll first see a gigantic black and white piece by artist Allie Webb. Frilly lights hang from above and the walls are painted burgundy. We descend the stairs and open a door to get inside. It’s clear we’ve stepped into something special.
The space is L-shaped and curves around like a caterpillar, anchored by the longest bar I have ever seen. Abstract works by Webb charm from the walls, and dozens more of those frilly lights create a warm glow. Behind the bar are thousands of old-school records. There’s a DJ booth...
We spot the candy cane umbrellas first. Red and white striped, they stand tall out the front of Woolloomooloo’s historic Old Fitzroy Hotel. The three-storey brick and butter building looks well-worn yet strong – which makes sense when you consider the Old Fitz is around 150 years old. The pub is surrounded by leafy green trees, punters are out the front knocking back cold ones, and today it’s glowing in the spring sunshine. Just from the exterior, you can tell the old boozer has more character and charm than a new opening could dream of.
Fun fact: The Old Fitzroy Hotel is the only remaining theatre pub in Australia (it’s found out the back and down the stairs). Locals have been coming here for decades to see some of the most interesting and cutting-edge theatre in the country, overseen by Red Line Productions who look after the whole shebang. Our arts & culture editor tells us just last week she saw two of Australia's most legendary cabaret artists – Paul Capsis and iOTA – perform in a reimagining of absurdist classic The Chairs directed by trailblazing director Gale Edwards. Impressive.
Inside, touches of ritz and old-world glamour are juxtaposed with grit and grunge. Sparkling chandeliers drip crystals from the intricate pressed-tin ceiling, and portraits of Australia’s most famous playwrights dress the walls. The furniture is mis-matched, the carpet crimson, and you can tell there’s been many a rollicking late night within those walls. We wish we were there.
A friendly...
Looking for the best of the best
We scoured the city to find the best drinks, greatest chat, most perfectly crafted playlists, tastiest snacks and top vibes to be had in Sydney. We put our livers and our sleep patterns on the line to bring you, dear reader, a comprehensive guide to the best bars in town.
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