A snazzy little beer bar…read more.. Walk a bit too fast and you will miss it. The entrance is a bit strange, actually IMHO the entire set-up is a bit strange. The entrance to the venue is a narrow flight of stairs that leads you upstairs, so if you are coming from the street all you see are stairs! Other than signs pointing you in the right direction, there isn't a hint of where you are off too. If memory serves me correctly, there is a sheek bar or restaurant on the street level next to the stairs, don't confuse that venue with Bitter Phew. The staff is friendly, well informed and attentive. There are a healthy selection of local beers on tap that rotate, just don't get carried away trying everything on the menu as it can get pricey...$$$ The menu itself is not fancy; old school hand written marker on a board, probably due to the rotating menu and to possibly to save costs, definitely no high tech billboard. Bitter Phew is not a big venue either, it's pretty cozy. On a hot summer day this place is an oven...don't say I didn't warn you! Worth a visit if you are a craft brew aficionado...

If you are craving craft beer this place is the place in go when in Sydney, well at least it's my…read morego to. I have tried pretty much all the craft beer bars, breweries South of the Harbour and there are plenty of really good ones! However I always end up here. 12 rotating taps of quality independent craft beer. Always a great mix of Aussie and imported beers, they often have tap takeovers, if you follow their FB page you can always see their up coming events or download the now tapped app and you can see what's on tap. Great atmosphere and the staff are super friendly and engaging. They don't serve food but they have menus from several quality eateries that they will order for you and have delivered to the venue.

Great chips brought to start up - very smooth prohibition vibe Tge service was fast, attentive,…read moreand upbeat attitude. Loved the atmosphere, very New Orleans, easygoing positive and Rey!

I love all things NOLA. I mean, I had been there 3 times and still had my bachlorette's in New…read moreOrleans. We did not have a reservation, but they fit us in as a walk-in at a small coffee table with 2 ottoman seats. Not the most comfortable set up, but I appreciate the cozy atmosphere, almost like you are sitting in someone's very posh and dimly lit den. All the NOLA classics were featured, like Vieux Carre (no likey), old fashioned (likey), and hurricane. There were some twists on the classics as well. I liked the newer house specialties, and ended up having 3 drinks, more than I intended. We snacked on some popcorn chicken, which was nothing special, but very satisfying when hungry. We were also lucky enough to be there when the live jazz band played a brief set, which really set the mood. I took off a star because not every drink was a homerun, and the service was a bit too impersonal for a speakeasy. We had a different server each time. One of my favorite parts of going to a speakeasy is to watch the bartenders work their magic and ask them for recommendations, and if I'm lucky, maybe get an off menu drink. Not quite set up that way here.

Great hangout, cold beers…read more We showed up later, so we were able to find a seat and get quick access to the main bar. We ordered in person but each table has the ability to order directly to the table. The upstairs bar closes early, but the party remained downstairs The pints are served full and cold. The barkeeps are super nice. It is a place that is more mature than the surrounding clubs, so despite being loud and dimly lit, it will not have the rowdiness and strobing light of the youth filled locales. Great for chilling.

I recently went back here for the rooftop cinemas and watched Die Hard with my friends on a Tuesday…read morenight. We booked online for 10 bucks each and came here around 7PM. The movie didn't start right away, so we grabbed some food. They have pretty good deals from Mon-Thurs. $15 for parm and pint on Tuesdays! And its huge and you also get fries and salad. I didn't feel like eating that so I got the mushroom and haloumi burger, which was really nice. It came with these ginormous wedges - both regular and sweet potato. Good but too thick for my taste. Had some of my friend's chips, which was yummy. After we ate, we proceeded to the roof top. It was a long way up, had to climb numerous stairs! The set up of the movie was really cool. They had the tables laid out and had our names on paper reserved on the table. Mine said Rachel Q and her crew, which I thought was really cool. We sat down and they started handing out headphones. Its pretty cool because they are loud enough and you feel like you're in the actual theatre. For the 10 bucks, you also get a glass of red or white wine or a beer, which is a really great deal. In addition, they passed out popcorn! Huge fan, will come back for more silent movie fun!

Yeah, this is probably one of the better places in Kings Cross, which honestly, isn't really saying…read moremuch. Mind you, it is pretty much one of those backpacker nightspots, which is what Kings Cross has really become these days. I have been here a few times, and it does have a pretty decent upstairs area. The downstairs area isn't all that bad as well. Mind you, as I mentioned, it does happen to be Kings Cross, so it is probably best to be avoided - there are much better places in Sydney to visit.

Saw the sign outside for the special of the day: curry. I love curry. My fiance loves curry. We…read morelove trying new restaurants so we walked in. Ordered the curry and some grilled halloumi. Visually, the curry was disappointing. As far as taste, it didn't taste bad but it wasn't good either. I swear I remember they advertised it as the best curry you'll ever have. That's definitely not true, but I doubt the sign was meant to be taken literally. I don't think you can really mess up halloumi, so that was as good as expected. The inside decor is nice from what I could tell (it's really dark in there at night!). The bathrooms are clean. This place wasn't particularly memorable. I think they probably get a lot of tourist traffic.

This pub was okay, but certainly not one of the best. There was some charm about it, but it was a…read morelittle too crowded for my tastes. Okay, that probably had more to do with Australia Day than anything else, but while a part of it was nice, other parts of it were a bit too tacky. There were some decent beers available, but none that would really grab my attention. Once again there was a beer garden, but that was more for the smokers.

Darlo bar (as it is known to pretty much everyone) is a tale of 2 bars. Downstairs you have the…read moremix-match retro-chic look, complete with old-school arcade games. Upstairs, you'll find the outdoor patio area - complete with wrought-iron garden furniture - with walls so high, it almost feels indoors (except when it rains). It can get very busy in the evenings, especially Friday and Saturday, so if you want a seat, you better get there early! Both bars over a good variety of drinks, ranging from local boutique beers to a variety of wines and cocktails, so all bases are covered in that respect. Although there is no kitchen, food is on offer from a number of local outlets (order at the bar), with a minor surcharge for delivery. They also nightly specials and events, so check out the website and see what's on when you're heading down!

Away from the grime of Oxford Street, Lo-Fi provides a safe haven of trendy people, slick drinks…read moreand smooth tunes. The balcony is probably the highlight, with 80% of the patrons drinking, talking and hitting on each other out here. Inside there are lounges running along a significant length of room and allow for a more chilled out lounge session. I usually come on a Sunday when it is less busy but no less enjoyable. The Ginger Ninja cocktail jug is an incredible explosion of lychee and ginger beer. Winner! Upstairs at Lo-Fi Collective there are lowbrow art exhibitions promoted every so often. Checkout their Facebook page (http://facebook.com/pages/Lo-fi-collective/140757972621366) and get yourself to one of the opening nights. Just sit back, have a beer and experience this creative space.

I was blindly led to Darlinghurst on Saturday night after having a couple of drinks. Not knowing…read morewhere I was, my friends and I exited the taxi and went straight up to Lo-Fi, which is located above Kinselas. With no expectations, I was quite impressed with the hip atmosphere and the artsy crowd of attractive 20-somethings. Like a warehouse that skipped on its electricity bill, the place is dark and spacious, but certainly not empty. The bar is clustered, yet colorful, and the blackboard on the wall is scribbled to the brim with food and drink items. They offer a multitude of retro and inventive cocktails, and the hipster bar staff appeared capable in executing these drinks to perfection. There's a large balcony that offers views of Taylor Square, allowing you to spy on the sloppy messes trying to navigate Oxford Street. I felt lucky to be up here. From what I remember, the music was primarily 90s and RnB, all coming from a pretty decent speaker system. I kinda shrugged of confusion when I heard 'errybody in the club getting tipsy,' reminded briefly of when that song was played at my high school dances of yesteryear. So I just busted out my high school moves. Up the stairs from the main bar, there's a whole other room with a large dance floor and high ceilings, decor in the same vein as below. Except that there are ping-pong tables behind the bar! Great thinking.

This is a joint where $10 gets you 3 live bands…read more That's, like, three bucks a band. Is that even legal? How are these kids making money? Financial concerns aside, what an ass-kicking deal. Combine that with a super intimate venue and cheap drinks and why would you not come here, eh? The bartender was having an off night when I went - lost his bottle opener, had to run downstairs to find a new one, and couldn't find a light beer (I was driving, awright) on the register and asked "How does $5.20 sound?" Good question. Caught me out. Should have gone for some happy bartering but didn't think quickly enough. But hells, this is run by community radio station FBI and I saw 2 hrs of cracking tunes, what's a couple bucks between friends. Plus he was super nice about it in a Fawlty Towers kinda way. And you'll notice this still gets 5 stars. They could spit on me when i come in and it would still get 5 stars, that's how much I rate the local live music scene and these dudes that make it happen.

I love live music and any venue dedicated to keeping Sydney's live music scene from fizzling into…read moreextinction. If I'm honest, I secretly want Sydney to be filled with divey-style bars like this level of the Kings Cross Hotel... I'm a sucker for dim lighting, cheap drinks and good tunes... throw in a few tall men in shirts and tight jeans and my little heart is content. The music can be hit and miss (as it should be) and occasionally the painfully-hipster:regular-person ratio is too heavy on the hipster... but if you're happy to chill out, go with the flow and get your indie on, you'll have a fun night here.

I probably have been to this place a few times, namely because it happens to be a bar on Kings…read moreCross, and sadly, and I found myself wandering around there on occasion. Well, this bar is pretty tacky, and it certainly isn't anything that I would want to return to. The beer selection is pretty limited, and the bar itself is, well, not sleazy, but it certainly isn't all that great. Yeah, there really isn't anything that would attract me to this place.

After a long 14-hour flight from California I arrived in Sydney at 7:30am on a Sunday morning. My…read moreGF and I had hotel reservations in King's Cross and her flight had been cancelled and rescheduled for the next day, so I made my way out to KC to get the hotel check-in done. I arrived around 10am; check-in time at our hotel was noon so I had a couple of hours to kill. The hotel stored my luggage for me and I set out on a leisurely Sunday morning exploration of King's Cross. After a bit of seriously jet-lagged, zoned-out strolling I noticed on a corner an enclosed patio area open to the street, empty but beckoning. It was attached to the Empire Hotel, an historic-looking building with a very cool art-deco facade. I crossed the street and walked in and met bartender Albert, who kindly sat me down and gave me a sample tour of all the Australian beers the Empire had on tap. All were fantastic; Australia is a kind of beer paradise if you're a golden lager fan like me. I made my choice and retired to the patio with my pint to relax and soak up the vibe of Sunday morning King's Cross street life. Over the next couple of hours (and pints) I met several colorful characters on the patio, notably well-dressed long-time KC local Tim, who was in the Australian Army and was preparing to deploy back to Afghanistan in a couple of days. Tim filled me in on the history of King's Cross, which has through the decades been Sydney's bohemian zone, red-light district, gay-pride zone, and seedy all-night party bar destination. It was easy to see "The Cross" as it's called was currently in transition, undergoing a steady gentrification as befits its gorgeous physical setting amid historic architecture and streets lined with mature shade trees. Around noon I made my way back to our hotel to secure our room and a well-deserved nap, happy to have been so well-received by the friendly Australians at the Empire Hotel and looking forward to our Sydney adventure that was soon to begin.

My wife and I stumbled on this place a week ago after a conversation about how much we missed and…read morewanted really good wings. This is exactly what we wanted...an upstairs bar you can only get to through a barely marked back door entrance. Huge selection of beers in cans, bottles and on tap and the wings are legit. Approximately 20 different flavors and we had three including a smoke rub, Alabama white sauce and buffalo...along with the greatest of all inventions...halloumi fries. We are going back this weekend. We live 40 minutes away...it's that good.

Visiting from America, we stumbled across this place and WOW we were impressed. Looks like a seedy…read moreentrance but the food and ambiance are so fun! Definitely recommend :)

Little hard to find but mainly because we forgot about the hidden door, but overall cool spot with…read morea relaxed divey speakeasy vibe. Bar staff were very friendly and helpful!

If you get lost coming here, that's okay. Keep calm and carry on. And honestly, find the bar. I…read moreain't playing wit chu. I wish I had come here earlier while I lived in Sydney because it is such a classy joint. Not to mention a lil country, a lil rock & roll, and quite frankly... one of my favorite bars in Sydney. A good point of reference is the American Apparel on Oxford Street. It's in the lil alley right behind. There will be no sign, but there will be a security guard (and depending on the time of day: a line). I have had several drinks here and must have enjoyed myself a little too much bc I don't remember the names. But there is a great selection of cocktails and if you want something a lil different or a lil special, the cool bartenders can fix something up for ya! Yes, the peanuts are a nice touch. Not to mention the candles, the wooden decor, and the funkiness of it all. If you don't believe me, here's another reason why five stars is earned: a moose on the wall. Need I say more?