Bar entertainment in Sydney
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A
Taxi Club
Chances are if you can't remember the end of last night, you probably finished it off at the Taxi Club. Refreshingly seedy after all these years, this place is a national treasure that no tourist brochure's going to tout, but that no tourist's visit should be without. Mind the stairs, which are breakneck-steep, even when you're sober.
Bring ID, because you'll have to present it at the door - this is a club of sorts, but all are welcome. Head on upstairs to the small but casual and comfy areas (which have too many pokies for our taste). At least happy hour sees cheap beer and spirits, and there's bingo on Monday nights. Taxi Club is popular with cross-dressers and gets mos…
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B
Ryan’s Bar
On hot summer’s weeknights, Ryan’s outdoor courtyard is packed with after-workers and travellers, sipping not-so-subtly-named cocktails such as the Get Sum and the Golden Nuts. Sexy anticipation laces the air, put momentarily on hold as the punters scoff affordable bar food (pizza, pasta, salads and burgers; mains $10 to $16). A vibrant place to launch your evening.
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C
Judgement Bar
Many Sydneysiders only know the grungy Judgement Bar as a blurry memory before being trundled into a taxi at the end of a big night. It's a shame, as it's actually a nice spot to sneak into during the day for a quiet, unpretentious bevvie and filling pub grub. The best that can be said for the main Courthouse Hotel bar downstairs is that it beats drinking on Taylor Square.
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D
Soho Bar & Lounge
The beautiful Art Deco Piccadilly Hotel is a dark, relaxed establishment whose smooth leather lounges have felt the weight of Keanu Reeves', Nicole Kidman's and Ewan McGregor's celebrity booties. It's rumoured to be where Kylie met Michael Hutchence. Soho is actually the upstairs cocktail bar (evening's only), but the ground floor Piccadilly Room is just as elegant.
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E
Bourbon
Flash to the max, this place attracts young, hip and upper-crust crowds that come to lounge in booths, sit back on sofas or overlook the park and bustling sidewalk. Hip music, mod lighting and swanky service are included, there's a cool nightclub upstairs, and late-night drinkers will love the hours. There is also another bar attached called The Cross.
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F
Flying Fish
Beyond the bathroom showrooms, architects and investment groups along Jones Bay Wharf is this romantic bar. The city lights work their magic all too easily here, aided by an indulgent cocktail list (from $18). Aside from all that romance stuff, the clear-glass toilet stalls here frost over when you close the door – très witty.
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G
Water Bar
After a few martinis inside BLUE hotel in the heart of Woolloomooloo’s Finger Wharf, time becomes meaningless and escape pointless. This lofty romantic space sucks you in to its pink-love world of candles, corners, deep lounges and ottomans as big as beds. Great for business (if you really must), but better for lurve.
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H
Lenin
The Soviet decor is so inspiring it's tempting to sit inside and forget the view. Vodka lovers can choose between 12 Russian varieties, 23 Polish, nine Swedish, seven French and 23 from other unlikely places including Ireland, New Zealand and the Ukraine. Upstairs is icy Minus 5 and swanky cocktail lounge Bubbles.
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Zeta
Ride the Hilton escalators up to Zeta, which captivates a chic young city crew with its white vinyl lounges, discrete curtained booths (what was Snoop Dogg doing in there?) and enormous gas inferno. Sip grilled-fruit cocktails and eyeball the QVB dome from the terrace. Cover charge ($20) on Saturdays.
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J
Establishment
Establishment’s cashed-up crush proves that the art of swilling cocktails after a hard city day is not lost. Sit at the majestic marble bar, in the swish courtyard or be absorbed by a leather lounge as stockbrokers scribble their phone numbers on the backs of coasters for flirty city chicks.
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K
Fringe Bar
Sumptuous red-velvet curtains drape across exposed brick in this cool bar, hung with chandeliers and gilt mirrors. There’s a busy weeknight schedule: comedy Monday, trivia Tuesday, DJs Wednesday and Friday, and, the backpacker’s best friend, $10 all-you-can-eat pizza Thursday.
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Jimmy Lik’s
Understated, slim and subtle, Jimmy’s is very cool, with benches almost as long as the cocktail list (try a Thai Mekong Mary with chilli nam jim ). Jimmy’s Thai restaurant is next door – there’s usually a wait for a seat, but with tasty bar snacks available here, what’s the hurry?
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Senate Bar
Beneath Sydney’s main post office is this cavernous bar, seemingly carved out of subterranean sandstone. Duck under the gloriously chunky archways and unwind with the business bods, sipping quality tap beers and munching takeaway tapas, pizza and sushi from the adjacent food court.
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Victoria Room
Plush chesterfields, art-nouveau wallpaper, dark-wood panelling and bamboo screens – the Victoria Room is the spoilt love child of a 1920s Bombay gin palace and a Hong Kong opium den. Don your white linen suit and panama and order a Raspberry Debonair at the bar.
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Bar Europa
Basement vibe, subtle lighting, DJs spinning laid-back funk and three debonair rooms divided by sexy screens cement Europa's reputation as an intimate, clubby hideaway for inner-city professionals. Sip a 'Sydneysider Sour', sigh, and wonder what he/she is doing now.
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Blu Horizon
Look, George Clooney’s skinny-dipping in the Park Hyatt roof pool! If you can tear your eyes away, the horizon is indeed blue, the views stretching to New Zealand. Can you believe there are 300 cocktails at the bartenders’ disposal? Believe it.
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Orbit Lounge Bar
A murderously cool revolving Goldfinger -esque bar, orbiting your mind with killer cocktails and views to die for. Sink into an Eero Saarinen tulip chair and sip a Mango Rush: crushed mango, Bacardi, red-fruit jam, mango spirit and lychee juice.
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R
Tank Stream Bar
After-work suits and secretaries get high and heady above Sydney’s original water supply. The Tank Stream runs thick with bottled beer, wine and cocktails, with high stools and flashes of steel enhancing the original warehouse interior.
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