Sydney’s Best Bar Openings of 2022

After a relentless few years, we definitely needed a well-made, stiff drink in 2022 – and, whether your libation of choice is a Martini, a lager or a well-chosen sake, Sydney’s newest bars delivered.

Here we raise a glass to those bars that found a niche in a market already spilling over with good stuff. There’s an inner-west warehouse brewery pairing prawn toast and pale ale (and pulling it off with aplomb), a glittering Newtown bar making a mean Martini, a spot where sake (and brilliant snacks) reigns supreme, and an underground bar serving luxury and live music.

Here are our top new openings of 2022, in alphabetical order.

Alice, The Rocks

The Rocks is a suburb awash with great pubs – and while it’s traditionally been a hub for backpackers and tourists, it’s slowly shedding that rep and gaining restaurants and bars Sydneysiders are willing to brave the crowds for. And Alice might just be the best of The Rocks’ new bar bunch. It’s the group behind Rockpool and Spice Temple’s first foray into the bar world, and brings the same top-shelf approach as you’ll find in those venues. The plush, heavy-backed booths are made for long nights with your mates, and the drinks – many of them theatrically presented – definitely encourage sticking around. The Lunchbox Milk Punch is the underdog here. It’s a fresh, nostalgic sip involving pisco, lime, makrut lime syrup and clarified Nippy’s iced banana milk. And the food is made for drinking – think fried chicken, pork katsu sandos and, naturally, a caviar service. With its raw sandstone walls, art deco-style chandeliers and bouquets of pink feathers, it feels like time stops at Alice.

Ante, Newtown

We could have easily included this outstanding bar in the best restaurant openings of 2022; co-owner Jemma Whiteman (Pinbone, Cafe Paci, Lankan Filling Station, Billy Kwong), who makes the kind of food we want to eat all the time, builds a solid argument to visit just to dine. But Ante is modelled on the Japanese “jazzu kissa” concept, a jazz cafe or bar where customers come for both the records and the drinks, and Whiteman’s food not only complements the cocktails and sakes, it encourages enthusiastic sipping. Think creative pastas like gnocchetti with prawn and pickled clementine (clementine!), or a bonito crudo with burnt honey and shiso. Ante is pouring some of the world’s best sakes, curated by the other owner, Matt Young. His Black Market Sake is one of Australia’s leading importers of junmai (pure rice) sake, and Ante lets you explore this fascinating and immensely delicious world, with more than 60 options open to try. Young has put a lot of effort into creating an atmosphere that transports you from bustle of King Street, and thanks to clever soundproofing, you can enjoy one of his 2500-plus vinyl records and still have a conversation. Ante is a well thought out and executed bar, and we can easily see this Newtown joint making it to our best Sydney bar list of all time.

Bar Conte, Surry Hills

A bar dedicated to Negronis – so much so, it’s named after the cocktail’s inventor – could easily slip into novelty territory. But Bar Conte isn’t remotely a gimmick riding on the Negroni’s popularity: it’s a genuine, thoughtful tribute to the cocktail and the drinking culture of its founder’s native Italy. The lovely corner spot, with rust-red walls and a handsome forest-green bar, serves 20 variations on the Negroni. You have the classic (made with a rare, quality Italian vermouth), and familiar takes like the Negroni Bianco and Barrel-Aged Negroni. But then you also have twists on the theme, including a version with coffee liqueur, a rhubarb number and a mezcal-spiked spin. All are tasty – and while you sip Negronis and snack on pappardelle, burrata and a Negroni-infused tiramisu, you really do feel a little bit like you could be in Italy.

Bar Planet, Newtown

The team behind laneway Margarita bar Cantina OK isn’t resting on its rep for making the city’s best Margarita. Instead, when it opened its new venue Bar Planet earlier this year, it switched gears to focus on another drink: the Martini. Bar Planet’s version (dry, and crafted using a bespoke spirit from Marrickville’s Poor Toms) is poured from on high from porrons (large Spanish carafes) by enthusiastic bartenders, then deftly garnished with an olive. If you prefer yours a bit dirtier or wetter, you can have a Martini made to order as you please. As behoves a venue called “Bar Planet”, the space itself is an interstellar acid trip; the terrazzo bar top has been custom-made by Australian artist David Humphries and is embedded with cut-outs of stars, galaxy-like spirals and sprawling suns, while black lamps with squiggly stems arch over the bartenders from the back wall. The overall impression is like stepping into an art nouveau-era bistro that’s been installed on the moon. Just call us Neil Armstrong.

Clocktower Bar, CBD

This bar tucked discreetly within Shell House was technically a 2021 opening, throwing open its doors at the end of last year. But it’s been somewhat overshadowed by the launch of the venue’s other spaces, so we wanted to give it the attention it deserves. It gets its name from its location under Shell House’s 400-tonne clocktower, on level 9 of the sky-high venue, and if you look up you can see the restored timepiece overhead. The bar is partially hidden behind sliding doors, but when you enter you feel like you’ve stepped onto the set of Mad Men – it’s a mix of plush red velvet chairs, sexy lighting, marble tables, beautiful timber walls and a bar that encourages the ordering of stiff cocktails. The cocktails are well made and the snack game is strong, and you can even go large and add a tin of caviar to your order. Ironically, Clocktower Bar is the kind of place where you lose your sense of time. Another drink? Why not.

Curly Lewis, Bondi

Sydney’s most famous beach finally got a brewery – and it’s an appropriately upbeat kinda place. Its name, Curly Lewis, is a play on one of Bondi’s prominent thoroughfares, Curlewis Street, but you won’t find it there: the brewery is on Campbell Parade, right opposite the beach. Unlike most Sydney breweries, Curly Lewis feels less working warehouse and more a bar. That’s partly thanks to Acme’s (Fred’s, Margaret, Mimi’s) fun colour scheme and design, which doesn’t make the tanks a huge focus. Instead it reflects the brewery’s ethos as a maker of easy-drinking, preservative-free beer. Along with stacks of ales, there are decent cocktails and an excellent wine list, as well as food courtesy of Bronte Road’s popular Frank’s Deli. Think meatballs, Reuben sandwiches, chicken burgers and chargrilled prawns with Aleppo butter. It’s not the greatest feed you can get in Bondi, but it goes well with the rest of the set-up.

Lokal, Surry Hills

If you’re a wine bar fan, get to this little cutie, stat. Pocket-sized Lokal is pouring an exciting array of low-intervention producers from here and abroad, with a great mix of tasty, wine-friendly food. To make life easy and guarantee a delicious vino journey, let the crew make suggestions. You should 100 per cent order the deeply flavoursome fried chicken, which is crunchy and outstanding. There are also lots of trad wine bar options like cheese, charcuterie, oysters and olives alongside plenty of vego dishes including our pick: the fried cauliflower florets drizzled in a gorgonzola mornay sauce. Why, hello taste town. It’s walk-ins only, and because the kitchen is tiny it’s only manned by a small crew. But that’s part of what makes Lokal so good – it’s personable and completely nails the neighbourhood bar brief.

Next Door, Double Bay

For a guy who claimed to be entering retirement not that long ago, Neil Perry isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Around this time last year he opened Margaret, a beautiful Double Bay diner named for his late mother. It was an instant classic, putting Perry’s produce-driven cuisine and beloved woodfire grill back on the menu in a big way. Not long after, he snapped up the vacant tenancy next door and launched this elegant little sequel, which sits snug between Margaret and Baker Bleu, the Melbourne bakery he and owners Mike and Mia Russell brought to Sydney back in September. With space for around 50 inside and out, Next Door borrows Margaret’s polished look, stellar wine list and knack for a well-made cocktail. But the similarities end there, with this more casual spot sporting a walk-in-only style and relaxed menu full of Perry’s exacting touches. Drop in for snacks like caviar tartlets, or build an antipasti spread with woodfired peppers, anchovies, house-made ricotta and Baker Bleu bread. Staying a while? Go large with classic dishes from around the world: eggplant parmigiana, mussels mariniere, a Wagyu silverside Reuben. But really, when the Martini comes out on that monogrammed tray, there’s no better sidekick than Perry’s legendary American cheeseburger: “They’re just really great versions of themselves with only the best ingredients being used,” Perry told us back in September. Enough said.

Surf Deck, Collaroy

While it was busy heralding the launch of a landmark 64 venues in Sydney’s new Allianz Stadium, Merivale quietly opened the Surf Deck, a breezy beachfront bar next to the hospitality group’s northern beaches pub, The Collaroy. It’s a place designed to while away afternoons with a Pina Colada (“a thing of iced beauty”, according to executive chef Jordan Toft), and summery plates that take big inspiration from Mexico and the Med. Think zesty swordfish carpaccio served with lemon and pink peppercorn, and tacos stuffed with either battered fish, citrusy grilled pork belly or crispy squash flower. (Toft’s pick is the yellowfin tuna tostada.) As at the pub next door, there’s a hefty menu of Vinnie’s Pizza, the woodfired pizza brand also served at Merivale beachside destinations Coogee Pavilion and The Newport. As for the look – which includes a centrepiece rattan bar hung with dried palm leaves, exposed floorboards and windows on every side – the Surf Deck echoes Narooma waterfront bar The Quarterdeck, a 20-year-old South Coast institution that Merivale took over in 2021. Most importantly, there are no bad seats here. It’s perched almost right on the sand, with sublime views in every direction. But the best spot has to be at the countertop facing out towards the water, with waves crashing just metres away.

The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre, Marrickville

“Another warehouse brewery? In Marrickville?” we hear you cry. Well, yes. But this isn’t anything like the other Marrickville warehouse breweries. It’s an homage to its namesake, beer-swilling former PM Bob Hawke, who was a partner in the brewery before he passed away in 2019. A floor-to-ceiling photo of the big guy, shirtless, is right there as you walk in. And that’s just the beginning. The whole space is decked out with interior trends that hark back to his ’80s heyday. The walls are wood-panelled, brown vinyl abounds and oriental-style rugs dot the floors. But it’s not all about looking to the past. Hawkes’ very of-our-time crafties are on tap, and you’ll also find natural wines and a good range of cocktails as well. The brewery even has its own Chinese restaurant, Lucky Prawn. It’s a mashup of your local RSL and the quintessential ’80s-era Australian-Chinese joint found in regional towns across the country, complete with ornately decorated red carpet, lazy Susan tables and paper menus with a hitlist of classics: sweet-and-sour pork, prawn toast and sizzling beef. The pièce de résistance of the place – a room dedicated to Hawke’s legacy, created in collaboration with his daughter – is out the back. Modelled on Hawke’s pool room at his Northbridge home, it’s filled with memorabilia, photos and tributes. See, we told you it’s like no other brewery you’ve been to before.

Tiva, CBD

Joining Alice in the “luxe basement bar” ranks is Tiva – the subterranean, late-night element of new three-in-one venue The Charles. But while the upstairs brasserie is all soaring ceilings and light flooding through the windows, the bar is more low rafters and dark corners for whispering secrets well into the morning. Tequila is the thing here, found in classic champagne cocktails and a Martini-style drink made with rosé vermouth, as well as a 20-strong list that can be served to your liking. Director of bars Jonothan Carr has also added an element of theatre to the cocktail service; he wanted to acknowledge that many of us mastered a cocktail or two during lockdowns and want something a little extra when we’re out. The bar’s Old Fashioned serves two and comes in a three-part decanter that’s poured at the table. Tiva’s not all about the drinks, though – what really sets it apart is its dedication to live music (often an afterthought, or not even a consideration, in a bar positioning itself in the “luxe” category). It has DJs till late Monday to Sunday, and plenty of live music – from hip-hop to soul, house and disco. It’s promising some heavy-hitting local and international players down the track; we can’t wait to see who pops up on its stage.

Honourable mentions
We’ve always had a soft spot for Surry Hills’s Irish bar The Wild Rover, but we reckon its recent makeover has given it the renewed sense of energy it needed. Now called The Rover, it’s less speak-easy, and food is more of a thing. Don’t stress, the beautiful copper bar remains, and so do the railway timetable boards, but the drinks and vibe is more 2022. Plus, we love the tiny private dining room tucked in the corner, and the brand-new British-inspired bistro upstairs. Here’s to another decade.

@thisisalice_sydney
@ante_syd
@barconte_surryhills
@barplanetbar
@curlylewisbrewingco
@lokal_wine
@nextdoordoublebay
@shellhousesydney
@thecollaroy
@hawkesbeerandleisure
@theroversurryhills
@tivalounge.sydney

Additional reporting by Jasmine Crittenden, Pilar Mitchell, Karina Arora, Chloe Sachdev, Aimee Chanthadavong.

Check out Broadsheet's best restaurant openings of 2022 here. And the best cafe openings of 2022 here.