The most romantic restaurants and bars in Sydney that couples will love

Gildas is a beautiful tribute to the tapas bars that celebrate the best things in life – good food, good wine and great company. The wine bar's fit-out is sleek and sexy: tables are topped with marble, windows are arched, banquettes are olive green, and there are brass finishes everywhere you look. Add in the fact that this wine bar and restaurant is by celebrated chef Lennox Hastie, and you've got yourself one ace option for your next romantic rendezvous.

Bennelong is as peak Sydney as it gets – you’ve ticked off world-class chef, waterfront dining, famous architecture and cultural institution in one fell swoop. The impressive and huge dining space has been a mainstay for years for romantic nights. If you still want the elegant service, the table linens and all the whistles even though time is your enemy, they also have a pre-theatre menu that kicks off just after 5pm to ensure you’re in your seats by the time those theatre bells sound.

If you like the idea of taking your date to Paris but can't afford the airfare, Hubert is your subterrenean, candle-lit solution: a Parisian-inspired resturant in a oak-lined, cavernous space beneath Sydney CBD. The food is confidently classic, the wine list is long, and from a stage lined with heavy red curtains, a jazz band sets the soundtrack. It's a pretty failsafe formula, finished off with something impossible to define: some kind of Hubert magic. Book ahead of time, or arrive before 5pm to score a table for happy hour if you're romancing on a shoestring.

Lap up some of the best views in the city with your date at Cafe Sydney. The huge balcony looks over Circular Quay with sweeping views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. And while daytime is obviously a prime to visit for the above views, at night it really dazzles. Call us Cupid, but there's no doubt about it: love is in the air at Cafe Sydney.

Sitting quietly on Potts Point's main drink-and-dine artery, Macleay Street, is an unassuming glass shopfront. Sheer, floor-to-ceiling drapes veil the interior from the footpath, but tease passersby just a little — emitting a warm, ambient glow. You wouldn’t immediately think this façade sneakily harboured one of the ritziest celebrations of Catalonian cuisine this city has ever seen, but it does. Intimate, stylish, sexy – prime date-night territory – Parlar, t’estimo! 

Dining at Aria will make you fall back in love with Sydney. The warm light of this famous dining room is as dreamy as it is elegant. It’s a kind of romantic alchemy forged by the floor-to-ceiling glass – the only thing between you and the gentle glow of the Sydney Opera House – and flawless courses from the kitchen. 

This fine-dining Middle Eastern restaurant serves up exceptional plates of food in a classy and sophisticated setting with five-star service. Though, this is probably a restaurant to visit when you're past first date territory – the chefs don't go easy on the garlic (which we love). But when you're looking for a fancy spot with big flavours, Aalia delivers.

Famelia is Enmore Road's gorgeous and intimate wine bar, seating just 25 inside. The right-hand side is dotted with round tables, leather stools and banquette seating ready for you and your beau, but the fact that it's almost always packed means there will be no awkward silences if you're on a first date. Sit down and let owner and sommelier Amelia Birch pour you a wine flight (our kind of travel), order a bunch of grown-up snacks and let the butterflies soar.

Newtown's Bloodwood is an cosy cocktail lounge slash tapas bar that has stood the test of time. The majority of the space has been built using recycled and reclaimed materials from the vintage chairs upstairs, to the massive sleepers framing parts of the open kitchen downstairs. Don't expect a fine diner – it's not that kind of place. Instead, you'll find a neighbourhood restaurant bashing out share plates and great cocktails. The best way to do Bloodwood for our dollar, is to start with drinks at neighbouring Earl's Juke Joint, hit the restaurant later in the evening for a better chance of a table (it's walk-ins only for groups smaller than eight) then take a turn up at Mary's for a nightcap.

Alberto's Lounge is one of the most packed, and thus, intimate restaurants in town. The teeny Italian eatery is by the group behind Hubert, Shady Pines, the Baxter Inn, Le Foote, the sadly departed Frankie's and its sexy predecessor the Caterpillar Club, and the stellar dishes, pillar candles and semi-underground locale have had romantics flocking since the doors swung open back in 2019. Due to the tiny size of the restaurant, reservations can be hard to grab, but there are cute little spots to have a drink while you wait for your table.

The capacious Crown Street site formerly known as Toko is now the home of Andrew Becher’s latest grand venture, Armorica. No stranger to dropping a casual few mill on a resplendent refit, this grandiose renewal is as tastefully opulent as one has come to expect from the self-confessed Francophile behind Potts Point’s fine-dining duo Franca and Parlar. Armorica Grande Brasserie is a grand, glittering jewel on Sydney’s crown (street) and is a stellar option for a romantic evening.

Sydney’s EDV 2.0 serves up classy signature cocktails in a dark, speakeasy-style setting with flashes of razzle dazzle. Bring your date here, go down the stairs and settle in for a whole multisensory experience. If you're looking for an out-of-the-ordinary date night out, this is it.

If you’re looking for a cool, relaxed and delicious spot to take your hot date, consider Bar Copains in Surry Hills. This gem by mates and chefs Morgan McGlone, Nathan Sasi and his wife Sali, slings seriously tasty plates with seriously good vino. Bring your A-Game and Bob's your uncle.

One minute you’re standing outside an unmarked charcoal-grey door in the CBD with King Street traffic rushing behind you, next minute you’re buzzed into the kind of stately home you’d expect to find in the Southern Highlands, or hunting country in the UK. The Gidley is a carnivore's delight, with steak and Martinis abounding. And while yes, we love our children, date night is a nice little break from the ankle biters, and The Gidley respectfully asks the under 18's to stay at home.

Lil Sis is the kind of place we wish we lived around the corner from (and we wish was open when we went to uni right across the road). We reckon it’s also the kind of place you should visit on a date. Mostly because the snacks and drinks are on-point. The prices won’t make your palms sweaty. And with unpretentious and vintage decor, sitting there feels like you’re in the home of someone you love, and instantly makes you feel at ease. Which is exactly what you need when you’re trying to woo your date.

As far as wow venues for a cocktail in this town go, Marble Bar is the one to beat. Pillars made of multi-coloured marble hold up the arches that make this feel more like a gallery than a bar – an impression reinforced by the collection of 14 French realist-style paintings by Julian Ashton. But few galleries also feature two fully stocked cocktail bars prepped and ready to get your date night off to a great start. The bar was built in 1893 and rebuilt, piece by piece after a move across town from the Tattersals club in 2005. A small but tidy snack list means you can settle in, grab a bite, and drink the night away.

Located on Kings Cross Road, Vermuteria is both a love letter to old-school European wine and aperitivo bars, and an homage to the places and people that have come before. The space has as much charm as Matthew McConaughey’s character in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Read: a lot. Vermouth and sherry are the name of the game here, and the snacks are salty, vinegary and delicious – the kind of thing you want to have with drinks. It’s a pocket of neon-red magic on an otherwise grey road, and a sure spot to get the romance vibes flowing.

If you're able to tear your gaze away from your loved one while dining at Infinity at Sydney Tower, you might notice that you're sitting 81 storeys above ground level, with views from the Blue Mountains and out to the Pacific. The degustation menu is as dazzling as the vista and is one heck of a way to have a special date. Grab yourself a sunset booking and watch the pinks and oranges fade to inky blue-black while you sip Champagne and fall in love all over again.