Opera Bar

A bona fide crowd-pleaser, Opera Bar is the place to take the jetlagged tourists and jaded Sydneysiders in your life. It’s located spitting distance from our world-beating harbour, and not much further from the Opera House and Harbour Bridge - there are myriad places to take up a seat and nearly of all these catch a glimpse of the two. They serve an excellent house (‘OB’) pale, Little Creatures Bright and other brews, and a nice selection of cocktails to toast that view. Come during a quiet time to give the barkeeps a workout, or just keep it simple, with a Hendrick’s and tonic. What surprises here is a really interesting selection of wines by-the-glass, with a focus on value, and giving smaller NSW producers a good show. There is nothing more Sydney than the citrus and grass of young Margan Hunter Semillon with a rock oyster or two, while the sprightly ‘'Avancé' from Tasmania’s Glaetzer Dixon should keep the pinot-philes happy. The food takes an all-bases-covered approach that travels the world through platters, pizzas, pastas, and proteins, but our pick is to ward off the gulls over an excellent beer-battered flathead, with chips and another semillon, G'n'T, or house brew.