What's happening in Sydney
The best things to do this week
Join over 100,000 visitors converging on Sydney Fish Market during the annual shopping marathon
David Williamson's AFL classic has been reimagined for three female actors
Solve your last minute Christmas crisis at this artist warehouse
Get acquainted with an 18-metre sperm whale, walk through the heart of a blue whale and follow the discovery trail with the kids
Dance under real snow at this ten-day Christmas extravaganza
[Sponsored] See Sydney through someone else’s eyes at this photography exhibition of everyday lives
The drawings of one of Sydney's most loved artists are celebrated in this exhibition
Latest news stories
Competitions and announcements
Sydney Festival 2019 is just around the corner
Help yourself to a cool stream of Prosecco while picnicking in the leafy laneway every weekend until the end of the year
The best of Sydney
Welcome to the Time Out EAT List, our handpicked ‘best of’ for Sydney's food scene.
Whether it's a reward after tackling one of Sydney's beautiful walks or a caffienated catch up or a hangover fixer.
Take a read and get cracking on that ultimate to-do list.
Whether it’s the brekky pho or racks of vintage threads that gets you out of bed in the morning.
Point your compass in the direction of one of these nearby towns, regions and bush walks.
We'll party on the roof, in the basement, by the pool, even once every few months in a suburban bowling club.
Let us be your guide to the sights you need to see and the ones you can wave to from an open-top bus.
It’s worth investing a little time into who and where you should get inked before making the decision to permanently commit.
Sydney is obsessed with high tea, and with good reason – we know how to bake a good scone.
While away an afternoon or simply catch a break at lunch time.
Sydney packs a punch when it comes to spectacular views and thrilling activities.
Time Out took the challenge of visiting all the escape rooms in the city.
Coastal walks, bush walks, historical walks and inner city ambles: there are many routes to choose from.
There are a few hotels whose hospitality is just as popular with locals as with those visiting town.
Sometimes there's nothing better than the sun on your back and a cool drink to keep things chill.
Neighbourhood guides
Our guide to casual dining in Sydney with American Express
Creative sushi chefs and excellent produce make Sydney a great place to explore the magical combination of rice, seaweed and protein. The fact that it makes for a swift, filling and inexpensive lunch makes sushi an irresistible siren song to busy workers and students, who flock to the hundreds of restaurants that fill every corner of the city. To make things even easier, at all these venues, you’ll be able to dine in confidence with the knowledge that these venues welcome American Express.
Plant eater or not, the thrill of landing a plate of crunchy, just-fried falafel is the stuff of every food nerd’s dreams. These deep-fried balls of goodness can look and taste slightly different depending on which country they come from. Syrian and Lebanese falafel tend to have a chickpea centre, while Egyptian ones are usually made of ground fava. Use our cheat sheet to track down your favourite version in Sydney, and pay in confidence with American Express at all of these venues.
Twirling spoons at the ready? We’ve scoured Sydney’s many Italian restaurants to find these Nonna-approved pasta dishes, from pillowy soft gnocchi to just-made tongues of ribbony linguine. We’ve also looked beyond the Boot to bring you to the best non-Italian interpretations of the flour-egg-water brief. At all these venues, you’ll be able to dine in confidence with the knowledge that these venues welcome American Express.
You can easily drop your week’s wages on dining out in Sydney but there’s no need. The city’s hot dining destinations have plenty of satisfying and scintillating stuff on their menus for less than a lobster. And when it comes to settling up you can use your American Express® Card with confidence. How about a complementary side dish with your meal? Check out the offers at Side with Amex.
Sydney is home to excellent Chinese restaurants that serve up dim sum with serious style. Whether you're after an elegant banquet, a hangover-soothing repast or some steaming hot dumplings, these restaurants have some seriously great dim sum dishes. At all these venues, you’ll be able to dine in confidence with the knowledge that they welcome American Express.
What's $20 worth in Sydney these days? If you're looking for a good feed at least, a humble $20 note will actually get you pretty far. From Bondi to Barangaroo, Sydney's sprawl is dotted with foodie gems that won't cost you the earth. Grab your wallet and your comfy pants and tuck into our must-try dishes for $20 or less. And when it comes to the bill, you can pay with confidence knowing these venues take American Express.
Antipasto plates may not always involve much cooking, but they have the potential to show off a chef’s ability for sourcing some of the best deli goods from across the world. They also demonstrate a knack for the age-old art of preserving, pickling and curing the best local produce around. Whether it’s neat folds of cold cut meats, wedges of moreish cheese or pots of sour pickled veggies you’re after, these are the top spots in Sydney to get your antipasto fix. Then, when it comes to getting the cheque, you can pay in confidence knowing these venues welcome American Express.
A good stir-fry is all about the breath of the wok – that magical combination of heat, timing and squeaky-fresh produce that transports you straight to the backstreets of buzzy Asian cities. Whether it’s fiery kung pao chicken or a plate of Indomee Goreng with a twist, we’ve sought out the best stir fries in Sydney. Check out the diverse range of dishes that come alive in the wok, and pay in confidence knowing these venues welcome American Express.
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Choosing where you'll spend the final hours of the year can be stressful. You want excellent views with minimal crowds and the chance to celebrate the countdown to 2019 in style. Well, Cruise Bar has just that, with three levels of fun bang-on Circular Quay, excellent food and drinks, and a pumping dancefloor to boogie on led by DJs, the Stafford Brothers. Lock in your revelries with Cruise Bar's New Year countdown party. General admission will get you a glass of sparkling wine on arrival (before 9pm), food and drink stands with menus curated by executive chef Patrick Haney, and access to the harbour views on levels one and two until 2am for only $99pp. Or, if you really want to ring in the New Year with gusto, get your hands on a VIP ticket from $349pp, which gives you three hours of free-flowing Pol Roger NV Champagne, beer and wine, with roaming canapés and stellar views of the fireworks on all three levels. You're sure to dance your way into 2019, as the Stafford Brothers will be joined by a huge line-up of DJs, who will be pumping out the good-time tunes well past midnight. Find out more and nab your tickets to New Years at Cruise Bar.
If your little roadrunners have a fascination with the concrete jungle around them, you can blow their minds with architectural and urban design facts at How Cities Work. This exhibition at the Museum of Sydney will showcase everything from the city's green spaces to the secret underground world of sewers in the belly of the city. It’s the world premiere of this family-friendly exhibit, which is based on the popular Lonely Planet children's book of the same name, written by Jen Feroze and illustrated by James Gulliver Hancock, who’s collaborated with Sydney Living Museums to create this exciting exhibition. This is one exhibition where you're allowed to, and are even encouraged to, touch the exhibits. Kids can take what they’ve learnt off the pages and get to know the city even better through a series of interactive, tactile experiences. They’ll be poking through buildings, wandering around city streets like Godzilla among the skyscaper miniatures and exploring the underground without leaving the museum. This thriving metropolis will be on show from December 15, 2018 until July 21, 2019. Entry is free for Sydney Living Museums members and kids under the age of five.
Escape into a world of mystique and masquerade this New Year's, and indulge in a night of fine dining and free-flowing beverages. The Ternary is throwing a party, but think not of the thumping base and blaring club tunes. This is something a little more upscale. Step into the restaurant’s transformed interior and be greeted with your choice of cocktail or Champagne. You’ll be drawn into an evening of live music, interactive food stations and drinks as you enjoy the best of that the Ternary has to offer. Indulge in the seafood buffet and watch the restaurant’s talented chefs prepare everything from vegetable samosas and spiced lamb naan bread to blow torched salmon and mini Ternary cheeseburgers in the open kitchens peppered throughout the venue. Fancy feasts and masquerades don’t cut it if you can’t bring in the year with sparkle. You’ll be able to soak up every spark of the fireworks over Darling Harbour with views of the city skyline through the Ternary’s floor-to-ceiling windows. The night comes with a cool $319 per person price tag and includes a five-hour food and drinks package. The dress code is cocktail, black tie and masquerade, and is of course exclusively for those 18 and over. Book your tickets at the Ternary website here.
Wander through Sydney’s street photography history at the Museum of Sydney’s new exhibition. With more than 250 snaps exploring the city through time, you’ll get a glimpse into the everyday lives of its people through the years. See the city as it was in the 1930s-60s with a huge collection of black and white photographs. The photographs unravel the story of Sydney during the Great Depression, World War II, and beyond. Each piece is a fleeting moment, captured forever with ink and paper. Acclaimed photo-media artist, Anne Zahalka contributed to the project to recreate nine of the original images, working with the descendants of those featured to reimagine the scenes that took place so long ago. The results are a beautiful mix of the old and new, set on the page for all to see. The exhibition runs from Saturday December 8 to Sunday July 21 in 2019 and features pictures sourced from private family albums and public collections alike. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for concession card holders, or $38 for a family, and free for Sydney Living Museum members. Find out more at the Sydney Living Museums website.
Once again we all blinked and a year passed. Now Christmas is on its way and following that, 2019. With it, comes the return of Luna Park’s New Year’s Eve Harbour Party. Located within a stone’s throw of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Harbour Party is the perfect spot to soak up the fireworks as they glitter across the night sky. Get lost on the park grounds while you gorge on delicious food and unlimited free rides, and rock out to the night’s epic line-up of Australian and international artists. Among the entertainment will be the Veronicas, Nicole Millar, KLP, and Joyride, to name a few. The party will feature a variety of pop up bars to cater to your drinking desires, and if you’re feeling peckish then you can stop by the newly opened, Hungry Horse or Helter Skelter. Tickets range from general admission ($149) to Palais VIP ($579). All tickets will give you entry to the Big Top and Crystal Palace, but get exclusive access to the Deck, Sonar, and Palais with one of the VIP tickets, each of which include a selection of canapés, a carvery and a range of beverages from which to choose. Book your tickets on the Sydney Luna Park website here.
Creative sushi chefs and excellent produce make Sydney a great place to explore the magical combination of rice, seaweed and protein. The fact that it makes for a swift, filling and inexpensive lunch makes sushi an irresistible siren song to busy workers and students, who flock to the hundreds of restaurants that fill every corner of the city. To make things even easier, at all these venues, you’ll be able to dine in confidence with the knowledge that these venues welcome American Express.
More than 200 Roman artefacts from the British Museum's collection have been flown across the world for this exclusive exhibition in Canberra. A collection of rare jewellery pieces, statues and medallions from around 27 BC to 395 AD are now on show, depicting the life and times of the Roman era. The exhibition uses these objects to tell the story of how Rome became one of the largest cities in the world at the time, which was headed up by emperors who ruled large territories, and created architectural and historical monuments that are still around (and admired) today. To complement the historical objects, the exhibition also has interactive sections, including tactile replicas, story telling displays and a digital colouring-in portrait. You can also wonder inside the Olfactorium, which recreates the different parts of the ancient Roman city by using an array of scents. On your visit, you'll also have the chance to enter a competition, where you can win a Roman holiday for two, including flights, airport transfers, accommodation and a tour of the Colosseum and ancient sites with an expert guide. Find out more about Rome: City and Empire.
Have you got a brood of buzzing, sugar-high roadrunners to entertain these school holidays? Does the thought of six weeks of finding activities to keep your lovable yet demanding younglings busy terrify you? Well, Sky Zone will be your knight in shining Christmas armour these school holidays, with their great value AirTime Pass. This $50 wonder present gives the kids 30 one-hour jumping sessions to use over 30 days, so they can channel all that extra holiday energy into a safe, active adventure while you chill out. You can head to the Alexandria or Miranda Sky Zone locations to redeem this pass that offers more than $500 worth of value. The massive deal brings each session down to less than $2, and gives your little long-jump stars access to the tramp area, squishy foam pits and the Ninja Warrior-worthy Enduro zone. Here, kids over five and grown-up jumpers can test their physical limits climbing the monkey bars, spinning out on the trapeze and flying down zip lines. Whether you’ve got your own horde of children or know parents who could use a fun holiday idea, the AirTime Pass will make a great Xmas present this year. The offer is available now and throughout the school holidays. Book your month of fun today.
Another year has sped by and it's time to farewell 2018 in style. Portside Sydney Opera House sits right under the big white sails of our glorious Opera House, which makes it the ultimate spot to watch the harbour fireworks glow this New Year’s Eve. Their swish NYE package includes a full evening of free-flowing Champagne, beer and wine, plus roaming canapés and luxe grazing stations. There’ll be party-ready entertainment all night from three of Sydney’s favourite DJs, and unobstructed views of the glistening harbour. The celebrations at Portside Sydney Opera House kick off at 7pm, and you’ll be dancing your way into 2019 while the Bridge transforms into a halo of light. Tickets are selling fast so book now or you may miss out on a NYE to remember.
This NYE, Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel is hosting the ultimate summer party. Watch the sun set over the harbour and farewell 2018 as Sydney’s famous midnight fireworks light up the sky. Enjoy tunes from Sydney DJ and producer Jesse Porches and Northern Beaches local turned festival star Muto as you dance your way into the new year. General admission will grant you entry to the Hotel’s Beach Club, VIP tickets will get you exclusive bar and balcony access and complimentary bites and beverages from 6-8pm. Concerned about how you’ll get home? Don’t worry, Watsons Bay Hotel have pre-booked ferry tickets to ensure all partygoers have a hassle-free journey home, including a ferry to Rose Bay, a bus to Bondi and a return ferry to Manly.
