If you are going to be in Sydney for a while, and you like good food, I recommend you stop by a bookshop and buy the SMH good food guide. It's updated yearly, and gives you the place the locals go to. It covers restaurants, bars, and places to shop for good food. Well worth shelling out for.

Any good book shop, Dymocks etc, even some news stands.

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It's a restaurant/bar on the fifth floor of the old Customs House (which also includes a library with a scale model of Sydney under a glass floor). It's not that expensive and you get a fantastic panoramic view from the Bridge to the Opera House & beyond.

It's not open that late, however only until about 11pm.

31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay, NSW 2000
Telephone: 02 9242 8551
www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/customshouse/index.html or
www.cafesydney.com

Neraest Station/ bus stop/ ferry stop is Circular Quay.

Google map: tinyurl.com/qmqk8h

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It’s been called THE backpacker bar in Sydney and its easy to see why – ping pong tables, discount drinks every day (2 for 1 cocktails on Fridays, yum) and fancy dress theme nights.
Not the most authentic experience in some ways, but as Sydney is so huge on the backpacking trail, it’s definitely worth the experience!

2-24 Rawson Place, Haymarket
www.scubar.com.au

Google map: tinyurl.com/kjktzd

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Plenty of dance music, loud crowds and cheap drinks during the week (avoid for the queues and cover charge on the weekend), the World Bar is a good mix of backpackers and Sydney youngsters and makes for a fun night out in this party city.

24 Bayswater Road (Kings Cross)

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For a place to stay, Shangri-la draws the suited and booted but is also the hangout for beautiful people. The Horizon Club serves canapés in the lounge every evening and there’s wireless broadband throughout.

www.shangri-la.com/sydney/horizonclub/

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There is an amazing, high-ceilinged bar called The Establishment on George Street, where Sydney’s stockbrokers hang out. It has massive cast-iron pillars and a 42-metre white marble bar. This is a bit on the big size, so if you want a more intimate feel, head upstairs to The Hemmesphere. It’s pricier, but is there’s much more lounging going on.

www.merivale.com

Google map: tinyurl.com/la5fr9

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Great view. If you're from out of town, you can sign in as a guest downstairs for free.

Bondi, south end of beach. www.icebergs.com.au/
1 Notts Avenue

Google map: tinyurl.com/lm56t4

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Laid back but stylish large multi-level bar, in Sydney CBD. Better on weekdays. Tuesday salsa night is pretty hot - great dancing guys and girls, charged and sexy.

Main bar can have occasional losers, but mostly good. Service can be tricky, but atmosphere is worth it. Upstairs, chilled-out Hemmesphere bar is about lounging, cushions, cigars, good wine, good staff - all in all a good spot. Where Sydney unwinds.

252 George Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
Telephone:
00 612 9240 3000
www.worldsbestbars.com/public/venue_listing.jsp?categoryId=46&currentVenueId=1076

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I actually don't recommend it. It is AWFUL!!! Rude staff. Over-priced. Noisy. With delusions of grandeur. It is on a suburban beach in Australia and imagines itself to be some cool nightclub.

Arden St Coogee

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Great bar near Bondi.

Campbell Parade
Google map: tinyurl.com/obgq5t

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You'll get advertising for Tooheys and Carltons rammed down your throat - avoid like the plague unless you really are a cheap drunk. Instead, try one of James Squire's beers (www.malt-shovel.com.au). My personal favourite is the Golden Lager, but they do a nice Porter and India Pale Ale as well. No, I don't work for them!

Most good pubs in the east, city and inner west stock it.

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Modern Vietnamese restaurant and bar. The bar is great if you want a cocktail/beer and some nibbles, try the crispy squid. The restaurant has a outdoor terrace filled with chinese laterns and has very reasonable beautifully presented food. Try the sticky ribs/scallops on papaya salad.

1 kellet st, Kings Cross. 3 mins from Kings Cross station. check out website, www.libertine.net.au

Google map: tinyurl.com/pmwr23

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It's close to the SCG, the beers are reasonably priced and the staff and regulars are friendly. Oh, and you can get a decent meal there too.

1114 Botany Road, Sydney.
www.captaincookhotel.com.au/

Google map: tinyurl.com/owthre

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Bar and cafe; amazing location, good food and drink (reasonably priced considering its location) and the most breathtaking views from the terrace. Great flathead and chips, risotto, wine, cocktails etc. Also, if you happen to be around on a Sunday afternoon they also have live jazz.

Terrace below Opera House, nearest station Circular Quay.
www.operabar.com.au

Google map: tinyurl.com/pgmxfy

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Glorious Sydney suburb with excellent pubs, bars, cafes, restaurants and harbour views. Recommend drinks in the Welcome Hotel, the Exchange, the William Wallace, the Bald Rock and for any homesick Cockneys a beer on the balcony of the London with the harbour bridge in the background. Birchgrove Oval is probably the best place to kick a football (Association) or chuck a few balls down in the nets.

10 mins by ferry from Circular Quay to East Balmain, Balmain Thames street or Birchgrove. Any bueses from the Queen Victoria Building - 441 or 442.

Google map: tinyurl.com/pcktaf

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Whether you’re into dirty funky beats or retro classics, the Cross is the place to be, more for sinners than saints.

The World Bar is an eccentric place, serving alcoholic beverages in tea pots and cool cocktails that slip down a treat. With a comfortable atmosphere, live music and friendly people it’s definitely the place to begin the night’s proceedings.

Down the main street, take your pick from Moulin Rouge, Plan B, YU and Dragonfly, which are just a few of the clubs that will have you dancing till the early hours of the morning.

Moulin Rouge has a seductive feel to it as you enter, with a voluptuous red and gold interior that surrounds you. A small but intimate dancefloor sees the ladies and gents strut their stuff.

If you’re into some thing a bit more deep and progressive then head down to YU, situated off the main street. It’s a dark club with a twist of contemporary art. “Mirror, mirror on the wall you are the fairest of them all”, adorns the toilet area: different, yet somehow it works. The club always pull in a friendly crowd, and is certainly a place to get your groove on.

Trains from Central, Town Hall and Martin Place to Kings Cross are probably the quickest way to get there. Taxis also.

The World Bar: 24-26 Bayswater Rd;
Moulin Rouge: 39 Darlinghurst Rd;
YU: 171 Victoria St;
Plan B: 22 Darlinghust Rd;
Dragonfly: 1 Earl Place

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The Opera Bar, situated under the Opera House, has the most stunning views in the world. It could therefore serve bad food and drink and charge a premium for the pleasure, but it doesn't.

Food is bistro-style, very reasonably priced and of decent standard. Bar staff are friendly and knowledgeable. Cocktails are mixed without pretension but with care. My bloody mary was the best I've had outside my house.

Lower concourse level, Sydney Opera House;
tel: 9247 1666;
www.operabar.com.au

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An excellent institution, which sometimes confuses European visitors. The acronym means "bring your own", i.e. alcohol when you dine at a restaurant.

Formerly almost ubiquitous, the practice is becoming less common - some say even dying out - no doubt to the pleasure of many Sydney restaurateurs.

It makes dining far more affordable than when you have to include the restaurant's alcohol mark-up, which is usually greater than on anything else you consume.

It also means you can occasionally splash out on a very nice bottle - of Hunter Valley Semillon, say - to accompany a spread of Sydney seafood without worrying about your starving bank account.

BYO is more common at medium range and casual restaurants.

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The first is that if you take the ferry to Manly from Circular Quay in the dark, you can enjoy the beautiful and eerie sight of phosphorescent algae glowing green-blue in the wake of the ferry.

The second is the Steyne Hotel. Dodgy name, but a fantastic, busy place, about six bars in one, and a real landmark in Manly. Get upstairs and outside on the balcony.

Circular Quay, Sydney - regular ferries

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This is a restaurant precinct near the University of Sydney, and home to lots of goths, gays, upwardly mobile africans, professors and students, and people who like to people-watch. There are some 60 restaurants in the 2 kilometres or so, all of which are reasonably cheap and usually good. You can get a good feed for about $20 a head. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Bring your tastebuds! Several pubs and a couple of backpackers' joints.

Take a bus from the city (438, 426, 423 ,422), go past the university and get off when you smell cooking and see weird folk walking around. Or take a train to Newtown.

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