The Twelve Best Hidden Gems in Sydney

Down an unmarked laneway off Clarence Street, behind a door with no sign, sits one of the world's great whisky bars. Over 1,200 bottles line the walls of this low-ceilinged 1920s coal storage room, and the bartenders know every one of them.

Named one of the 50 best bars in the world for three consecutive years, Maybe Sammy operates from a 1950s-inspired cocktail lounge at the end of a quiet block in The Rocks. The menu changes seasonally, and every cocktail tells a coherent st

A narrow, deliberately intimate cocktail bar on Kirketon Road that rewards return visits as you work through the list. Eau de Vie specialises in spirit-forward cocktails with tableside preparation and a theatrical flair that never tips into

Up a staircase above the CBD street level, Bulletin Place runs a daily changing cocktail menu built entirely around what is at peak season in Sydney's markets that morning. The menu is handwritten at 6pm and sold out when the last glass is

Sydney's most progressive bar occupies a small ground floor space on King Street with a zero-waste ethos applied rigorously to every drink. They make their own sodas and syrups from produce scraps, and the cocktail list reads as a manifesto

Accessed through the back of a junk shop on Crown Street, Shady Pines is the most convincing American roadhouse saloon outside of America. Taxidermy on the walls, sawdust on the floors, and a bar pouring 70 American whiskeys alongside cold

A long basement bar beneath York Street that operates behind a door marked with only a small needle icon. Stitch manages the trick of being genuinely hidden without feeling like it is trying to be. The cocktail list is balanced between appr

A basement rum bar beneath the CBD that the city's cocktail community largely considers one of the most underrated rooms in Sydney. Over 400 rums sit behind the bar, and the cocktail list treats rum with the same seriousness that London or

A Surry Hills natural wine bar that has flown under the radar despite consistently excellent pours and a kitchen that outperforms its modest setup. The wine list is deep in Australian and European naturals, and the weekly selection rotates

Potts Point's best kept secret occupies the upper floor of an art deco building on Macleay Street, with low lighting, leather booths, and a list of classic cocktails made with serious intent. The Roosevelt does not appear in mainstream list

The most fun bar in Darlinghurst operates behind a neon-lit facade on Victoria Street with no explanation of what lies inside. Hinky Dinks serves serious tropical cocktails in a room decked with vintage Polynesian decor and occupies the pre

A 20-seat room accessed via a service lift in a CBD office building that opens Thursday through Saturday evenings with a live pianist, a short menu of eight cocktails, and absolutely no concept of anything beyond the next two hours. The Pia