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Upscale Nightlife in Sydney

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- 1
  
  1. Bodhi Cafe
  
  Right at the station
  
  CBD
  
  Nile Expert Tip: Very highly recommended chinese vegan cuisine. Perhaps the best thing about this place is its location,...
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- 2
  
  2. East Village
  
  Slick and trendy bar and restaurant
  
  Pubs
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- 3
  
  3. City Recital Hall
  
  A new addition to Sydney's music venues
  
  Classical Music/Opera
  
  CBD
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- 4
  
  4. Basement (The)
  
  A little night music in the CBD
  
  Live Music
  
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- 5
  
  5. Longrain
  
  Cool Asian fusion
  
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- 6
  
  6. Sepia Restaurant & Wine Bar
  
  Sepia is a little hard to find. It is worth the search. Flapper jazz music, warm tones of soothing coffee and chocolate, as suggested by the name. A Sydney fine dining hot spot.
  
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- 7
  
  7. Sydney Theater Company (The)
  
  The best in drama
  
  Theater
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- 8
  
  8. Orbit Lounge Bar
  
  Gastronomic Revolution
  
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- 9
  
  9. Bizzo's
  
  Suburban Sydney Entertainment
  
  Live Music
  
  Cronulla
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- 10
  
  10. Favela
  
  Flavors Of the World
  
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See all 513 Bars and Clubs in Sydney: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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It's hard not to party here. So many like-minded people and venues to cater for just about any taste, budget, age bracket and body clock. Small bars are 'big' right now. Recent changes to liquor licensing laws have encouraged a plethora of new, intimate, 'hole in the wall' or basement bars. Hardly a week goes by without a new venue opening. This is long overdue, and adds a more urbane touch to Sydney that was sadly lacking.
Surry Hills and Darlinghurst are the more vibrant nightlife hubs, while Kings Cross, with its seedy back streets, is still worth seeking out. Absinthe Salon in Surry Hills takes you back to 1930s Paris, while Grandma's, with its eccentric basement entrance (think wall mounted stag's head) describes itself as a "retro-sexual haven of cosmopolitan kitsch and faded granny glamor". Inner city Bambini and The Winery by Gazebo cater for a more upmarket, older crowd. As does Zeta Bar in the Hilton Hotel, which is like stepping onto a James Bond movie set, except you're the star, while down on Darling Harbor, the crowd at the Loft is mostly after-work professional types, but then a shift change strangely happens later when groups of tottering young girls and their impossibly cool consorts fill the space. DJs play until very late.
For the those who party late and hard, there's no place like Home at Cockle Bay. Reputed to be the largest nightclub in Australia, its waterside location, slick interior design spread over three levels, and luxurious rooftop terrace make it hard to go past. For a slight change of pace, Tone occupies a stylishly converted warehouse in Surry Hills, and bills itself as a discerning space catering to music lovers, artists and party people.
Gay and lesbian action happens in and around Oxford Street in Darlinghurst, but hetero is OK here too. Q Bar in the Exchange Hotel still packs them in; likewise ARQ, with an extraordinary sound and lighting setup, it's a venue with the lot (nightclub, bars galore exuding a different vibe, depending on your mood, as well as a restaurant).

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