Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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CHAPTER 3 . SYDNEY
The Mercantile Sydney’s original Irish bar is scruffy and loud when the Irish
music’s playing in the evening, but an essential stop on any pub crawl in The
Rocks. The Guinness is some of the best you’ll taste in Sydney. Irish bands kick
off every night at around 8pm. 25 George St., The Rocks. & 02/9247 3570.
Slip Inn This multifunctioning bar and bistro setup is a popular city place to
drink and meet. There’s a garden bar downstairs set in a courtyard, along with a
trattoria selling pizzas. Upstairs there’s a Thai bistro open for lunch and a large
square bar. It’s crowded on Friday evenings, but you’ll never feel like a sardine.
It’s a 2-minute walk towards the city from the Town Hall/Cockle Bay side of the
pedestrian bridge across to Darling Harbour. Sussex St., Darling Harbour. & 02/9299
4777.
Watsons Bay Hotel If it’s a sunny afternoon, get over to Watsons Bay for the
best food you’ll find in the sun anywhere. The beer garden serves good seafood
and barbecue meat dishes while you sip your expensive wine or beer overlooking
the harbor. Nearby are the fabulous Doyles Wharf Restaurant and Doyles at
the Beach takeout. 1 Military Rd., Watsons Bay. & 02/9337 4299.
MOVIES
The city’s major movie houses, Hoyts (& 13 27 00 in Australia), Greater Union
(& 02/9267 8666), and Village (& 02/9264 6701), are right next to each other
on George Street just past Town Hall. They tend to show big-budget movie
releases. Other options are the Dendy Cinemas, located at 19 Martin Place, City
(& 02/9233 8166); 261–263 King St., Newtown (& 02/9550 5699); and the
latest Dendy Quay movie theater located just before you reach the Opera House,
at 2 East Circular Quay (& 02/9247 3800). All show art-house movies; the latter
allows wine and beer bought on the premises to be consumed in the cinema.
In Paddington the Verona, 17 Oxford St. (& 02/9360 6099), and the Academy
Twin, 2 Oxford St. (& 02/9361 4455), conveniently located next to each other,
are always screening the best local and foreign films in Sydney.
Another exceptional art-house/recent blockbuster cinema is the Hayden
Orpheum Picture Palace, 380 Military Rd., Cremorne (& 02/9908 4344).
This eight-screen Art Deco gem is an experience in itself, especially on Saturday
and Sunday evenings when a Wurlitzer pops up from the center of the Cinema
2 stage, and a musician in a tux gives a stirring rendition of times gone by. Eat
“Jaffas,” round candy-coated chocolates, if you want to fit in.
Movie prices hover around A$15 (US$9.40), with a half-price night generally
on Tuesdays.
THE CASINO
Star City This huge entertainment complex, which opened in 1997, has 15
main bars, 12 restaurants, 2 theaters—the Showroom, which presents Las
Vegas–style revues, and the Lyric, Sydney’s largest theater—and a huge complex
of retail shops. All the usual gambling tables are here, in four main gambling
areas. In all there are 2,500 slot machines to gobble your change. Open 24 hours.
80 Pyrmont St., Pyrmont (adjacent to Darling Harbour).& 02/9777 9000. No cover. Ferry: Pyrmont
(Darling Harbour). Monorail: Casino.