The Best Cocktail Bar Restaurants in Sydney

ANTE offers a unique experience for both seasoned sake enthusiasts and those new to the Japanese rice wine. The restaurant features a sleek, dark, and sophisticated interior, complemented by a menu that constantly changes, reflecting thoughtful and clever cooking. With a selection of rare and artisanal sake, and an impressive vinyl collection providing the soundtrack, ANTE ensures a truly immersive and enjoyable experience.

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Pat Nourse

Food Writer – Melbourne, Australia

Sake never looks better in Sydney The combination of Jemma Whiteman, a chef with experience across everything from Pinbone to Billy Kwong and Lankan Filling Station, and Matt Young, the former 10 William Street somm behind Black Market sake imports, was always going to be great, but Ante is even better than you’d have guessed – a sake bar with a killer menu, great tunes and a vibe wonderfully all its own.

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With an iconic view of Australia, Icebergs Dining Room and Bar offers a unique dining experience. The place is known for its fresh seafood and a variety of wines, making it a popular spot after a long walk from Coogee to Bondi. The restaurant is also celebrated for its high service levels, oceanic cocktails, and a menu filled with shellfish, creating a unique ambiance that is hard to replicate.

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Beau Clugston

Chef – Copenhagen, Denmark

The city’s most iconic restaurant. If you're dropping in after the Coogee to Bondi walk and having a glass of wine and fresh seafood on the terrace with Australia’s most iconic view or a full blown meal in the evening, Icebergs is the place to be for many reasons. To me it is an important part of the Sydney culture and more than a restaurant.

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Lana offers a unique blend of modern Italian dining with Asian flavours, using the finest Australian produce. The restaurant is located in the historic Hinchcliff House near Circular Quay, providing an effortless and comfortable dining experience. The menu offers a range of options, including a 2 or 3 course set menu and an express lunch, with accommodations for common dietary requirements.

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Beau Clugston

Chef – Copenhagen, Denmark

A house that has it all. A classy restaurant with fun at its core, Steve Seckold’s bringing his years of experience in creating a restaurant with care and commitment suitable for all types of occasions. Don’t forget to have a drink in the cocktail bar downstairs pre or post dinner.

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This restaurant offers a unique dining experience, with a rotating 11-course degustation menu that changes every 10 weeks, ensuring no two dishes are alike. The head chef, Nelly Robinson, infuses fun into fine dining with creative concepts like a Disney-themed menu featuring blue genie cocktails and a venison dish named 'Bambi's Mum'. With a relaxed and entertaining atmosphere, this restaurant also offers a range of functions for events of any size, from intimate gatherings to large parties.

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Zoe Bowker

Food Consultant – Dubai, UAE

You won’t find egos or snooty behaviour here, this is fine dining gone fun - ‘fun dining’ if you will. Chef Nelly Robinson’s infectious persona permeates every part of the meal at Nel. and we’re living for it. We experienced their Disney menu that boasted blue genie cocktails poured from the lamp, a venison dish accompanied by a shotgun shell of topping entitled ‘Bambi’s Mum’ and a Peter Pan-inspired crocodile croquette. You can probably see where we’re going with this. Their themed menus change regularly and one thing’s for sure - Nel.’s food will put a smile on your face.

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This restaurant, known as Re -, is focused on sustainability, making use of recycled materials and waste products. The establishment prides itself on its innovative approach to recycling, with the interior featuring materials recycled from 84,000 milk bottles and lamp shades made from discarded mushroom casts. The food and drinks menu is just as inventive, incorporating waste products from the local community, such as cake trim, tasting wines, and fruit and vegetable scraps.

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Monty Koludrovic

Chef & Culinary Director – Los Angeles, USA

Clever Drinks in a Clever Space with an important message. Matt Whiley has always been known gor World Class cocktails. Coming to fame with Scout London then Scout Sydney, Whiley has now woven an important and inspiring message into the day to day of a new world bar. Re is all about re using and re cycling in the name of a better world. The whole place is clad with a material which recycled 84’000 milk bottles. The lamp shades from discarded mushroom casts… it doesn't stop there tho… the cocktails also masterfully utilises waste products from the community around it. Cake trim, tasting wines, fruit and vegetable scraps all find a home on this truly ingenuitive menu via the Re lab aka distillery. The food is as creative and delicious as the drinks, this place should be on your list for Sydney, just like its on the Worlds 50 best bar list!

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