Going Out In Sydney!

Sydney! The largest, most populous city on the entire Australian continent, the first British settlement, home of the world’s best new year’s eve parties, and the world’s most famous building to be shaped like a segment chocolate orange. A place of culture and history, the prospective visitor has only question on their mind: Where’s the best place to go out of an evening?

Well, that’s what we’re here for, so sit back, and read out guide to the best hang out spots in Sydney.

Best Bars:

Zeta Bar:
Hilton Sydney 488 George Street
http://www.zetabar.com.au/

As far as I know James Bond’s never been in Australia (apart from George Lazenby, and he doesn’t count), but if he did, you can bet real money that this would be where he went for a martini, shaken, not stirred. Based in the Sydney Hilton, atop an astonishing four escalators, you’ll soon find yourself crossing a futuristic white glass walkway and entering a fashionable bar that Britain’s favourite secret agent wouldn’t be ashamed to be caught hanging out in. Furnished with plush velvet armchairs and fashionable drapes, you can take your martini (because really, what else are you going to order) across the floor of the bar, through a set of curtains and onto a magnificent terrace overlooking the Sydney skyline. If everything’s going your way, this is where you’ll meet a beautiful woman in a sleek black evening dress- with a deadly secret...

Jimmy Liks
186 Victoria Street Potts Point
http://www.jimmyliks.com/

You’ll find this bar and restaurant on the leafy streets of Potts Point, and no sooner are you through the door than you’re being charmed by the contemporary style, seductive lighting and friendly, welcoming staff. Just beyond the hub of Sydney’s night life in Kings Cross, this bar has the feeling of a more exclusive bar, decorated in earthy tones backed with laid back jazz in the early evening, evolving into deep, warm electro as the night goes on.

The venue centres around the huge wooden banquette table where Thai and South East Asian dishes are ripe for the picking. You didn’t just come here for the food however- and Jimmy Liks specialises in Asian cocktails made by a staff of skilled mixologists who are just as happy to mix you your old favourite as they are to introduce you to something new.

The Shakespeare
200 Devonshire St, Surry Hills 2010

Of course, this might all be just a bit too fancy for you- you don’t a “bar” you want a pub. You know, a real pub, with beer and colourful local characters and bar staff who you won’t mistake for the cast of Reservoir Dogs. If that’s your kind of thing, then The Shakespeare, or “The Shakey” as the regulars call it, is where you want to be drinking. This was voted Sydney’s Best Pub of 2011 by Time Out magazine, and it doesn’t take much effort to see why. It’s a place with atmosphere, rather than ethos, where the background noise is provided by the friendly chatter of the punters rather than the juke box. On a warm evening, the customers will often spill out onto the street outside. This is a real pub- it gets most of its custom from the locals, but they’re always willing to give a warm welcome to newcomers.

The Basement
7 Macquarie Place, Circular Quay
http://www.thebasement.com.au/

If you fancy something a bit different, why not try The Basement- one of the best jazz clubs in Sydney, if not the world? Over the years this place has seen performances from jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Art Pepper, Galapagos Duck and Jimmy Webb. You can book a reservation just to get your music fix or make night of it by starting out with one of The Basement’s excellent two course meals. The club’s kitchen boasts dishes as varied as prawn ravioli with napolitana sauce, sirloin steak-char-grilled with garlic and herb mushrooms and béarnaise sauce, or braised chicken in sweet chilli with rice and cucumber salsa- I’m getting hungry just typing that!

As well as the jazz club itself, the Basement boasts two bars, The Blue Note and The Green Room, a great place to grab a snack, a drink and maybe play some pool.

El'Circo at Slide
http://www.slide.com.au/
41 Oxford St, Darlinghurst

Housed behind the sliding glass doors of this fabulous art deco building, El’Circo is like a little bit of France dropped into the middle of Sydney, and by a little bit of France, I mean the Moulin Rouge. If you want to take in dinner and a show, you could do far worse than this unique act that combines Parisian cabaret with the distinct flavour of Sydney’s performance artists.

With a bill that includes magicians, fire breaths, acrobats and live music, performed while you’re being served up a nine courses of excellent French cuisine, you’ll be feasting your eyes as well as actually feasting.

The Bank
42 Darlinghurst Rd Kings Cross
http://www.thebanknightclub.com.au/

A newcomer the Kings Cross- the heart of Sydney’s clubland. Describing itself as “a sanctuary for all things precious and sinful” this is the place to come for a good time if you want to be bad. Decked out in black and gold with luxurious fixtures and fittings, state-of-the-art sound systems and custom-designed ambient lighting, this is exactly the sort of place you could imagine spending your huge annual bonus while laughing about the so called “recession”. From the moment you enter the elaborate, high-ceilinged foyer, to when you order your drinks from the rich mahogany bar you’ll feel like a million Australian dollars.

Indeed, this is a club that truly lives up to the word “exclusive”- the door policy has a ban on baggy t-shirts, sports wear, beanies, open shoes or “any clothing that is believed to be related to any groups representing crime” (I think we can assume white-collar crime doesn’t count). Also, and this is perhaps a mark of just how classy this club is- they have a ban on mullets.

-Chris Farnell