People sitting inside bar at Little Felix
Photograph: Anna Kucera
Photograph: Anna Kucera

The best bars for date night

Sydney is teeming with bars that make for perfect date night venues, any day of the week

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So, you've got a date. Now, the question remains. Where is the best place to take a date in Sydney? To our mind, a bar should probably be your number one option. There are a lot of very good reasons to take your date to a bar instead of a restaurant. To start with, eating isn't always the most becoming of activities. Bars are great because you can stay as long or as little as you like, you've always got something to do with your hands and the playlist is often spot on. Plus, the social lubrication helps. When date night rolls round, these are the best Sydney bars we make a beeline for. 

Don't like booze? How about you take your cutie on one of Sydney's very best free (and cheap) dates, or hit up one of Sydney's very best alfresco dining spots  for a spot of fresh air and romance. 

  • Cocktail bars
  • Redfern
  • price 2 of 4

It's easy to find a swoon-worthy date spot if you're a Redfern resident (or dating one). This airy Pitt Street bar will shake you up a great cocktail, and it's intimate enough to feel special, but not so fancy that it feels OTT for a first date. All that caramel timber, golden light and flowers arranged about the room makes the space warm and welcoming, even while the glass front leaves you exposed to the world outside.

  • Cocktail bars
  • Sydney
  • price 3 of 4

If you're looking for a place with fantastic (read: low and warm) lighting, as well as CBD proximity, you've found it. A monochromatic forest-green colour scheme lets you believe you could be in some grand European city, maybe Paris in the '20s. Merivale channels the escapism elegantly and imaginatively at this petite cocktail parlour in the Ivy complex.

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  • Wine bars
  • Marrickville
  • price 1 of 4

Every now and then, a bar comes along so righteously in tune with its neighbourhood that you wonder how locals ever functioned without it. Marrickville is lucky to have this little wine bar, home to one of the best natural-leaning wine lists in town. Very friendly staff and very comfy furniture come in very handy, so don't feel like you need to be the one making all the right moves.

  • Redfern
  • price 1 of 4

Another Redfern establishment, the Bearded Tit is a great date spot if you want to test your date's level of comfort in the vicinity of crochet pensises. Between those, the taxidermy, the caravan in the back courtyard, the gender-neutral toilets or the great weekly queer performances, there are plenty of first date ice breakers at this colourful Regent Street bar. 

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  • Bondi North
  • price 2 of 4
North Bondi Fish is a prime day-date location. It's all about Margaritas and seafood in every shape and size this chic, waterfront bar. With its  NoBo location, it’s perfect for people watching, and as far as impressive backdrops go, you’d be hard pressed finding anything to beat Bondi Beach. Bring your swimmers for a quick dip and then get comfortable on the open deck with the East's glamorous set. 
  • Pubs
  • Millers Point
The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel
The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel

Nothing says romance like an open fire, so settle in by the hearth, order a ploughman's lunch and one of six award-winning ales brewed on premises. If the night is right, take a gander around the historic Rocks district. You won't be disappointed by the twinkling harbour after dark. 

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  • Glebe
  • price 1 of 4
The Little Guy
The Little Guy

This lively little Glebe bar is a top spot for date night. Catch up over a quiet drink during the week or get in early at the week’s end to nab one of the cosy couches upstairs. The cocktail menu changes regularly, but it’s consistently good – order a barrel-aged Negroni if it’s available – or just keep things simple with a craft beer and a bowl or three of buttery, seasoned popcorn.

Want some aphrodisiacs with that?

There's not really much middle ground with these tasty treats of the sea. And if there's one thing that unites oyster enthusiasts, it's the joy of being able to eat them by the dozen and have change to spare for a great glass of sparkling on the side.

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