Hotel Palisade

With a convict-cum-chic menu, craft beers and views of the coat hanger, one of Sydney’s oldest pubs has reopened with a vengeance. Overlooking Barangaroo, it still has a certain quietness, with a whiff of potential; and with plans to open a penthouse bar upstairs, the owners are surely banking on this. Grab yourself a Feral Hop Hog ($6.50/$11), a pale ale that packs a punch of hops from the Swan Valley and pull up at the bar, or for a little speakeasy elegance, take the Governors Gimlet ($16), a petite cocktail with gin, celery liqueur and lime, into the parlour room and find a cosy, dark nook. The food is very working class English, with a side of Sydney sophistication, like the Potted Chicken Liver Pate ($12) topped with cider jelly, or the Chicken and Tarragon Pie ($22) with minted peas and potato mash. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a gastro pub a stone’s throw from The Rocks, full of revelry, even on a Sunday night. And if you want to stick to historically themed revelry, you simply must end with smashed Toffee Cheesecake ($10) and a Spiced Negroni ($17) – the sweetness of the former will caress the bitterness of the latter nicely.

Hotel Palisade
35 Bettington Street, Millers Point
Ph: (0421) 001 474 hotelpalisade.com.au
Pub Bistro $$